2 Corinthians 4:7 Parallel Translations

Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn't come from us.(GOD'S WORD®)

KJV:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

ASV:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;

BBE:

But we have this wealth in vessels of earth, so that it may be seen that the power comes not from us but from God;

DBY:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be of God, and not from us:

ERV:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;

WEY:

But we have this treasure in a fragile vase of clay, in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be seen to belong to God, and not to originate in us.

WBS:

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not from us.

WEB:

But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.

YLT:

And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us;

2 Corinthians 4:7 Cross References

XREF:

Judges 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.'

Job 4:19 'How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth!

Job 10:9 'Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again?

Job 33:6 "Behold, I belong to God like you; I too have been formed out of the clay.

Lamentations 4:2 The precious sons of Zion, Weighed against fine gold, How they are regarded as earthen jars, The work of a potter's hands!

1 Corinthians 2:5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 Timothy 2:20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. (NASB ©1995)

Commentaries and Concordances

GSB:

4:7 {4} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, {5} that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
(4) He takes away a stumbling block, which darkened among some, the bright shining of the ministry of the Gospel, that is, because the apostles were the most miserable of all men. Paul answers that he and his associates are as it were, earthen vessels, but yet there is in them a most precious treasure.
(5) He brings marvellous reasons why the Lord does so afflict his principal servants, to the end, he says, that all men may perceive that they do not stand by any man's power, but by the singular power of God, in that they die a thousand times, but never perish.

PNT:

4:7 We have this treasure in earthen vessels. The treasure of the knowledge of Christ and of the ministry of the gospel of life. Perhaps his enemies pointed to his sorrows as a proof that he was not so favored as a minister of Christ. A splendid treasure was placed in a fragile, cheap earthen vessel. Then it was manifest that the great work wrought was the power of God,
and not from us, the apostles and evangelists.

WES:

4:7 But we - Not only the apostles, but all true believers. Have this treasure - Of divine light, love, glory. In earthen vessels - In frail, feeble, perishing bodies. He proceeds to show, that afflictions, yea, death itself, are so far from hindering the ministration of the Spirit, that they even further it, sharpen the ministers, and increase the fruit. That the excellence of the power, which works these in us, may undeniably appear to be of God.

MHC:

4:1-7 The best of men would faint, if they did not receive mercy from God. And that mercy which has helped us out, and helped us on, hitherto, we may rely upon to help us even to the end. The apostles had no base and wicked designs, covered with fair and specious pretences. They did not try to make their ministry serve a turn. Sincerity or uprightness will keep the favourable opinion of wise and good men. Christ by his gospel makes a glorious discovery to the minds of men. But the design of the devil is, to keep men in ignorance; and when he cannot keep the light of the gospel of Christ out of the world, he spares no pains to keep men from the gospel, or to set them against it. The rejection of the gospel is here traced to the wilful blindness and wickedness of the human heart. Self was not the matter or the end of the apostles' preaching; they preached Christ as Jesus, the Saviour and Deliverer, who saves to the uttermost all that come to God through him. Ministers are servants to the souls of men; they must avoid becoming servants to the humours or the lusts of men. It is pleasant to behold the sun in the firmament; but it is more pleasant and profitable for the gospel to shine in the heart. As light was the beginning of the first creation; so, in the new creation, the light of the Spirit is his first work upon the soul. The treasure of gospel light and grace is put into earthen vessels. The ministers of the gospel are subject to the same passions and weaknesses as other men. God could have sent angels to make known the glorious doctrine of the gospel, or could have sent the most admired sons of men to teach the nations, but he chose humbler, weaker vessels, that his power might be more glorified in upholding them, and in the blessed change wrought by their ministry.

CONC:

All-surpassing Belong Belongs Clay Earthen Exceeding Excellence Excellency Fragile Greatness Jars Order Originate Ourselves Power Surpassing Surpassingness Transcendent Treasure Vase Vessels Wealth

Belong Belongs Clay Earth Earthen Exceeding Excellence Excellency Fragile Greatness Jars Order Originate Ourselves Power Show Surpassing Transcendent Treasure Vase Vessels Wealth

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GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

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