So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.
Parallel translations
- WEB So we urged Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace.
- KJV Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.
- BSB So we urged Titus to help complete your act of grace, just as he had started it.
- NKJV So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well.
- NLT So we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to return to you and encourage you to finish this ministry of giving.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul urged Titus to help the Corinthians complete the gracious giving he had already begun among them. He wanted their generosity brought to completion.
Overview
Encouraged by the Macedonian example, Paul asks Titus to return and finish organizing the collection in Corinth that he had earlier started. He calls this work of giving a 'grace,' tying it to God's grace at work. Good intentions are to be carried through to completion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 2 Cor 12:18I exhorted Titus, and I sent the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage of you? Didn’t we walk in the same spirit? Didn’t we walk in the same steps?
- 2 Cor 8:19Not only so, but who was also appointed by the assemblies to travel with us in this grace, which is served by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our readiness.
- 2 Cor 8:16–17But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.
- 2 Cor 8:4begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints.
- 1 Pet 4:10As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms.
- Phil 4:18But I have all things, and abound. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you, a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God.
- 2 Cor 9:5I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you, and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
How 2 Corinthians 8:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.