2 Corinthians 8:12
For if the will be forward, it is accepted according to that which a man hath, not according to that which he hath not.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Si enim voluntas prompta est, secundum id quod habet, accepta est, non secundum id quod non habet.
- Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)
- εἰ γὰρ ἡ προθυμία πρόκειται, καθὸ ἐὰν ἔχῃ εὐπρόσδεκτος, οὐ καθὸ οὐκ ἔχει.
Haydock's commentary
On verses 12 to 13
He tells them that it is the will that chiefly makes their charity acceptable to God, who sees the heart. And that the design is not to make others live at their ease, in a richer condition than those who give, but to make a kind of equality, their brethren in Judea being now in great poverty and want. (Witham)
God regards two things in our alms: first, the zeal and good-will with which we give our alms; secondly, the greatness of our charities, that is, if they be proportionate to our means. If you have little, give a little, but with good-will; if you have much, give also much, but with equal benevolence and zeal. God measures the extent of our charity by the greatness of our zeal, not requiring of us what we have not, but what we have to spare, relieving others, without overcharging ourselves. (Bible de Vence)
Yielding our superfluities, that the poor may not want necessaries. (Menochius)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Clement of Alexandria The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Chapter XIX. The True Gnostic is an Imitator of God, Especially in Beneficence
We are taught that there are three kinds of friendship: and that of these the first and the best is that which results from virtue, for the love that is founded on reason is firm; that the second and intermediate is by way of recompense, and is social, liberal, and useful for life; for the friendship which is the result of favour is mutual. And the third and last we assert to be that which is founded on intimacy; others, again, that it is that variable and changeable form which rests on pleasure. And Hippodamus the Pythagorean seems to me to describe friendships most admirably: “That founded on knowledge of the gods, that founded on the gifts of men, and that on the pleasures of animals.” There is the friendship of a philosopher, that of a man and that of an animal. …
St Cyprian Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews, Testimony II
In the second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: “If there be a ready will, it is acceptable according to what a man hath, not according to that which he hath not; nor let there be to others a mitigation, but to you a burdening.
St Augustine Of the Work of Monks, Section 17
17. On account then of these either occupations of the servants of God, or bodily infirmities, which cannot be altogether wanting, not only doth the Apostle permit the needs of saints to be supplied by good believers, but also most wholesomely exhorteth. For, setting apart that power, which he saith himself had not used, which yet that the faithful must serve unto, he enjoins, saying, “Let him that is catechised in the word, communicate unto him that doth catechise him, in all good things:” setting apart, then, this power, which that the preachers of the word have over them to whom they preach, he often testifieth; speaking, moreover, of the saints who had sold all that they had and distributed the same, and were dwelling at Jerusalem in an holy communion of life, not saying that any thing was their own, to whom all things were in common, and their soul and heart one in the Lord: that th …
St John Chrysostom Homilies on Second Corinthians, Homily XVII
[2.] Ver. 12 . “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according as a man hath, not according as he hath not.”
St John Chrysostom The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews 12.18-24
I have often said and I say now also: the greatness of the charity is not shown by the measure of what is given, but by the disposition of the giver. You know the case of the widow. It is well continually to bring this example [forward], that not even the poor man may despair of himself, when he looks on her who threw in the two mites. Some contributed even hair in the fitting up of the temple, and not even these were rejected. ( Ex. xxxv. 23 .) But if when they had gold, they had brought hair, they [would have been] accursed: but if, having this only, they brought it, they were accepted. For this cause Cain also was blamed, not because he offered worthless things, but because they were the most worthless he had. “Accursed” (it is said) “is he which hath a male, and sacrificeth unto God a corrupt thing.” ( Mal. i. …
St Jerome The Letters of St. Jerome, To Exuperantius
For the present I will content myself by suggesting to your discretion that you should bear in mind the apostle’s words: “Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife;” that is, seek not that binding which is contrary to loosing. He who has contracted the obligations of marriage, is bound, and he who is bound is a slave; on the other hand he who is loosed is free. Since therefore you rejoice in the freedom of Christ, since your life is better than your profession, since you are all but on the housetop of which the Saviour speaks; you ought not to come down to take your clothes, you ought not to look behind you, you ought not having put your hand to the plough, then to let it go. Rather, if you can, imitate Joseph and leave your garment in the hand of your Egyptian mistress, that naked you may follow your Lord and Saviour. …
St Ambrose On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter XXX. On kindness and its several parts, namely, good-will and liberality. How they are to be combined. What else is further needed for any one to show liberality in a praiseworthy manner
151. So far we have given our advice, now let us look for our authority. First, then, no one ought to be ashamed of becoming poor after being rich, if this happens because he gives freely to the poor; for Christ became poor when He was rich, that through His poverty He might enrich all. He has given us a rule to follow, so that we may give a good account of our reduced inheritance; whoever has stayed the hunger of the poor has lightened his distress. “Herein I give my advice,” says the Apostle, “for this is expedient for you, that ye should be followers of Christ.” Advice is given to the good, but warnings restrain the wrong-doers. Again he says, as though to the good: “For ye have begun not only to do, but also to be willing, a year ago.” Both of these, and not only one, is the mark of perfection. …