Passage Research
2 Corinthians 4 — Sermon Preparation
Paul describes the gospel of Christ's glory as a treasure carried in clay jars, with God's transcendent power sustaining ministers through all manner of suffering. Below is a research summary for 2 Corinthians 4, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 18
- verses
- 320 / 123
- Greek words / lemmas
- 19
- classic sermon excerpts
- 6
- preachers & commentators
2 Corinthians 4 in the Greek
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Greek | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | KJV renderings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὑπερβολή | hyperbolḗ | G5236 | 3 | abundance, exceeding, excellency, more excellent |
| βλέπω | blépō | G991 | 4 | behold, beware, lie, look |
| δόξα | dóxa | G1391 | 4 | dignity, glory, honour, praise |
| φωτισμός | phōtismós | G5462 | 2 | light |
| ἐγκακέω | ekkakéō | G1573 | 2 | faint, be weary |
| ζωή | zōḗ | G2222 | 3 | life |
| λάμπω | lámpō | G2989 | 2 | give light, shine |
How preachers through history handled this text
19 public-domain excerpts on 2 Corinthians 4, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“The grace of faith is an effectual remedy against fainting in times of trouble. They knew that Christ was raised, and that his resurrection was an earnest and assurance of theirs. The hope of this resurrection will encourage in a suffering day, and set us above the fear of death. Also, their sufferings were for the advantage of the church, and to God's glory. The sufferings of Christ's ministers, as well as their preaching and conversation, are for the good of the church and the glory of God. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on 2 Corinthians 4:13–30 (Public Domain)
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