II Corinthians 4:15 · Bible study
2 Corinthians 4:15 Commentary: Grace Multiplied, Thanksgiving Abounding
Greek · 11 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
How Paul's sufferings serve believers, grace multiplies through more recipients, and thanksgiving overflows to God's glory.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Paul's apostolic sufferings serve believers, so grace multiplies through an increasing number of recipients, generating thanksgiving that overflows to God's glory.
- Key words: χάρις (grace, divine favor/energy), πλεονάσασα (aorist participle of πλεονάζω, “having abounded”), πλειόνων (comparative plural, “more and more” recipients), περισσεύσῃ (aorist subjunctive of περισσεύω, “may cause to abound” in transitive sense), εὐχαριστία (thanksgiving), δόξα (glory).
- Main debate: Whether περισσεύσῃ is transitive (“may cause thanksgiving to abound”) or intransitive (“may abound”), most commentators (Vincent, Cambridge, JFB) prefer the transitive reading, parallel to Ephesians 1:8 and 1 Thessalonians 3:12.
- Theological theme: The purpose of suffering and ministry: God's glory achieved through multiplied grace and manifold gratitude; the church as the arena where grace circulates and thanksgiving ascends.
- Best use: Teaching the logic of Christian ministry, comforting suffering believers, motivating prayer and thanksgiving in corporate worship.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people may overflow in thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
WEB World English Bible 2000
For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
KJV King James Version 1769
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
for the all things are because of you, that the grace having been multiplied, because of the thanksgiving of the more, may abound to the glory of God;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For all things [are] for your sakes, that the grace abounding through the many may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
For all things are for your sakes: that the grace, abounding through many, may abound in thanksgiving unto the glory of God.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Porque todas estas cosas padecemos por vosotros, para que abundando la gracia por muchos, en el hacimiento de gracias sobreabunde á gloria de Dios.
Porque todas estas coisas são por causa de vós, para que a graça aumente por meio de muitas pessoas ,superabundando os agradecimentos à glória de Deus.
Car tout cela arrive à cause de vous, afin que la grâce en se multipliant, fasse abonder, à la gloire de Dieu, les actions de grâces d’ un plus grand nombre.
Denn das geschieht alles um euretwillen, auf daß die überschwengliche Gnade durch vieler Danksagen Gott reichlich preise.
Want al deze dingen zijn om uwentwil, opdat de vermenigvuldigde genade, door de dankzegging van velen, overvloedig worde ter heerlijkheid Gods.
Poiché tutte queste cose avvengono per voi, affinché la grazia essendo abbondata, faccia sì che sovrabbondi per bocca di un gran numero il ringraziamento alla gloria di Dio.
Boć to wszystko dzieje się dla was, aby łaska ona obfitująca przez dziękowanie wielu ich rozmnożyła się ku chwale Bożej.
Ибо всё для вас, дабы обилие благодати тем большую во многих произвело благодарность во славу Божию.
凡事 都是為 你們，好叫 恩惠 因 人多 越發加增，感謝 格外顯多，以致 榮耀歸與 神。
For we go through all things on account of you, because the greater the number to whom the grace is given, the greater is the praise to the glory of God.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Koine Greek)
New Testament · Koine Greek · II Corinthians 4:15
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that this verse traces a chain from apostolic suffering to God's glory. Paul's opening phrase “For all things are for your sakes” (v.15a) gathers up everything in the preceding context, his afflictions, deliverances, the dying of Jesus he carries, and the life that works in believers (vv.8, 12). As Calvin notes, Paul “lets them know, that, if he is afflicted, it is for their benefit.” This is not abstract: the very hardships the Corinthians saw in Paul were designed for their advantage.
The second half of the verse (v.15b) describes the mechanism. Grace, the divine favor sustaining Paul and enabling his ministry, “having abounded” (πλεονάσασα, aorist participle) is multiplied through an increasing number of recipients. Vincent explains that grace is the “divine gift of spiritual energy” shown in Paul's labor and suffering. Because more people receive this grace, more people give thanks. And that surge of thanksgiving, the word εὐχαριστία points to a grateful response, overflows “to the glory of God.” Barnes captures the aim: “that God may have augmented praise; that his glory in the salvation of people may abound.” The chain is clear: grace abounds → more recipients → more thanksgiving → God's glory.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Paul's apostolic sufferings and labors are for the benefit of believers; through an increasing number of recipients, grace multiplies and results in abundant thanksgiving that gives glory to God.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The recipients of grace | Grace is God's gift shown in Paul's ministry; it is multiplied through an increasing number of believers. | Some commentators (Barnes, Vincent) focus on grace as spiritual energy sustaining Paul; others (Calvin, Gill) include deliverance from trials and the gifts of the Spirit. Both agree the grace is not abstract but tangible in suffering and service. |
| The meaning of πλειόνων (pleionōn) | It means 'the many' or 'the greater number', referring to the growing number of believers. | The Cambridge Bible notes three possible constructions: (1) thanks for the greater number, (2) grace multiplied through the larger number causing thanks, (3) grace multiplied on account of the thanks of the greater number. Most favor (2), making 'the many' the means by which grace multiplies thanksgiving. |
| The end goal: glory of God | The entire chain terminates in God's glory; thanksgiving to God is the immediate end, and it contributes to His honor. | Traditions differ on whether 'glory' is primarily God's internal splendor displayed or the external praise He receives. Both agree that God is the final object and that human gratitude participates in His glorification. |
| The relationship between suffering and thanksgiving | Paul's suffering serves believers, and their reception of grace produces thanksgiving; there is a causal link between the apostle's hardship and the church's gratitude. | Reformed readers (Calvin, JFB) emphasize that suffering itself is a gift of grace that provokes dependence; Wesleyan/Arminian readers (Clarke, Wesley) stress the abundance of the Spirit's gifts that elicit thanks. Both see suffering as instrumental, not punitive. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Second Corinthians is Paul's most personal letter, written from Macedonia around AD 55, 57. The situation in Corinth was tense. Earlier, Paul had written a severe letter (now lost) and sent Titus to address conflicts. A faction questioned Paul's integrity, his apostolic authority, and his motives (2 Cor 10, 12). Chapter 4 fits inside a longer defence (chapters 2, 7) where Paul reinterprets his sufferings not as weakness but as the very shape of apostolic ministry.
Corinth was a prosperous, competitive Roman colony. Honor and status mattered deeply. Paul's opponents apparently boasted in vision, eloquence, and letters of recommendation. By contrast, Paul's ministry looked inglorious: beaten, shipwrecked, anxious. In chapter 4, he reframes that shame. He carries the dying of Jesus so Jesus' life may be seen (v.10, 11). His “death” works life in believers (v.12). This verse then delivers the punch line: “all things”, including the hard, visible side of Paul's ministry, are for the Corinthians' benefit.
The phrase “for your sakes” echoes the logic of earlier letters. In 1 Corinthians 3:21, 23 Paul declared that “all things are yours,” including the apostles. Now he roots that claim in the purpose of his own suffering: everything flows from God, through the apostle, to the church, and back to God as thanksgiving. The cross-reference with 2 Corinthians 1:11 is especially close. There Paul asked for the Corinthians' prayers so that “thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.” That same pattern, grace given through suffering, answered by many prayers and many thanks, returns here in concentrated form.
The verse also anchors Paul's argument in the wider biblical story. Psalm 50:23 promises that “whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me.” Paul takes that Old Testament logic and applies it to the life of the church: the gratitude of multiplied believers is a sacrifice that brings glory to God.
Textual Notes
The supplied sources and the Greek text show no significant textual variants for 2 Corinthians 4:15. The phrase “that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound” is stable across all major manuscripts. The main difference among readers is syntactical, how to construe the case of πλειόνων and the transitivity of περισσεύσῃ, but the wording itself is not in dispute.
Reception History
From the early church onward, this verse has been used to explain the purpose of apostolic labor and the link between grace and gratitude. Chrysostom (homily on 2 Corinthians) focused on the joy of multiplied thanksgiving and saw it as an incentive for generosity. The medieval tradition often quoted it in sermons on the priestly office: the minister's trials are for the people, and their praise completes the work. The Reformed tradition (Calvin, the Geneva Bible) emphasized that the glory of God is the final end of every gift, including suffering. In the Pietist and Methodist movements, where revival and conversion were central, this verse was often cited to show that spiritual growth (more recipients of grace) directly correlates to increased praise. Contemporary missions literature uses 2 Corinthians 4:15 as a rationale for church planting: the multiplication of believers multiplies the thanksgiving that God receives.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- All things serve the church. Paul's hardships, his labors, his deliverances, none of it is for his own pocket. Everything is “for your sakes” (v.15a). Preaching this moves a congregation from seeing their pastor as a celebrity to seeing their pastor as a servant, and it turns their church from a consumer mentality to an apostolic one.
- Grace multiplies when it is shared. The participle “having abounded” (πλεονάσασα) suggests that grace is not a static quantity. It increases as more people receive it. This challenges the scarcity mindset: we do not divide God's favor up; it spreads when we put it in circulation.
- Thanksgiving overflows to God's glory. The ultimate end is not human gratitude for its own sake. That gratitude is gathered and directed “to the glory of God.” The whole economy, suffering, grace, church growth, praise, orbits around God's fame. This frees a congregation from measuring success by numbers and teaches them to measure by praise.
Five-point outline
- “All things” includes hard things (vv.8, 12).
- Paul's suffering works the Corinthians' life.
- Grace abounds in the apostle and is multiplied through many.
- More recipients = more thanksgiving.
- The thanksgiving redounds to God's glory.
Illustration hooks
- A farmer plants seed that multiplies into grain, which feeds a village, which gathers at harvest to give thanks. The seed did not stay in the planter's hand.
- A cook prepares a meal for a large family. The cost of the ingredients, the heat of the kitchen, the time spent, none of it is for the cook's own enjoyment. The joy is seeing the table full and hearing “thank you.” That gratitude honors not the cook but the generosity that made the meal possible.
- A coach who spends hours in practice, takes injuries, and never plays a single minute. The victory belongs to the team, and the team's cheers are directed to the school, not the coach. The coach's satisfaction comes from the team's success.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why does God allow his faithful servants to suffer if he loves them? This verse shows that the suffering of one person can produce life and gratitude in many.
- Does my small contribution really matter? Grace multiplies through the many; each new recipient adds to the final chorus of thanksgiving.
- What is the point of the church? The verse gives an answer: the church is the place where grace is received, gratitude is voiced, and God is glorified.
Leading a Discussion
This small-group session explores how suffering, grace, thanksgiving, and glory fit together in Paul's vision of ministry. The group should read 2 Corinthians 4:7, 15 together before diving into the questions.
Discussion questions
- Look at verses 7, 12. What “all things” does Paul include in the phrase “For all things are for your sakes” in verse 15? Name at least three specific items from the context.
- Paul says that grace “having abounded” is multiplied. Why does he see grace as something that grows when more people receive it? How is this different from how the world usually treats resources?
- The Greek word εὐχαριστία (thanksgiving) appears here. How does this verse connect with 2 Corinthians 1:11? What does that parallel tell us about the role of the community's prayers and thanks?
- In verse 15 the final goal is “the glory of God.” How does the whole chain, suffering, grace, many recipients, many thanks, actually bring God glory? What kind of glory is this?
- If a Christian is going through a hard time, what comfort does this verse offer? How does knowing that their situation may multiply grace in others change how they view their hardship?
- Paul wrote these words to a church that was suspicious of him. How does verse 15 function as a defense of his ministry? What would change in a church if they truly believed their leaders' hardships were “for your sakes”?
- Romans 8:28 promises that all things work for good. How does verse 15 give a specific example of that principle in action?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Psalms 50:14 | Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High. |
| Psalms 50:23 | Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.” |
| Romans 8:28 | We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose. |
| I Corinthians 3:21 | Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, |
| I Corinthians 3:23 | and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. |
| II Corinthians 1:4 | who comforts us in all our affliction, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. |
| II Corinthians 1:6 | But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. |
| II Corinthians 1:11 | you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gift given to us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
10 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke emphasizes Paul's motive: the apostle gladly endures any hardship if it wins converts or strengthens believers. The distinctive point is that the outpouring of grace believers receive demands an equally abundant response of thanksgiving, so that God's glory matches the measure of His gifts.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes emphasizes that Paul's labors and self-denials were entirely for the Corinthians' benefit, not his own. The goal was to produce abundant grace in them, leading to widespread thanksgiving that ultimately multiplies God's glory. Paul's driving ambition was to bring as many people as possible to praise God forever.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin stresses that Paul's afflictions are not his own burden but are suffered for the Corinthians' benefit. This flows from the secret fellowship all believers share in Christ, where the stronger are afflicted for the common advantage. Such hardship brings consolation and causes God's grace to overflow for His glory.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge commentator untangles the grammar of the phrase "grace having abounded" to show a chain of purpose: God's grace increases as more people turn to Him, their thanksgiving multiplies in proportion, and this whole cycle brings glory to God. The point is that human gratitude is not an afterthought — God designed it as the intended outcome of His overflowing grace.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note highlights a chain of grace: everything Paul suffers is for the Corinthians' benefit, so that abundant grace may produce widespread thanksgiving. This multiplied gratitude from many people then overflows fully to God's glory and praise.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasizes that "all things" includes everything connected to Christ and his ministers: their gifts, comforts, reproaches, afflictions, and deliverances. All of it serves the believers' good, with the ultimate goal that abundant grace, seen in sustaining them, brings thanksgiving and glory to God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB observes that the Greek can be read two ways: either grace is multiplied as more people receive it, and their thanksgiving brings glory to God, or thanksgiving for grace already given invites even more grace to abound. Both readings highlight a cycle where grace and thanksgiving reinforce each other for God's glory.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry highlights the remarkable paradox in the apostles' experience: they faced every kind of trouble yet were never crushed by it. Their secret was not human grit but divine support, so that even in the worst circumstances they found relief and were kept from despair.
Vincent's Word Studies Evangelical 1887
Vincent rearranges the Greek grammar so that "through the many" modifies the multiplying of grace, not the thanksgiving. The grace given to the apostles multiplies as more believers share it, and this overflow then causes thanksgiving to abound to God for what they see.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley notes that every situation, whether difficult or favorable, works for the benefit of both believers and preachers. The goal is that the abundant grace sustaining them may increase even more through widespread thanksgiving, since giving thanks invites further grace.