I speak not by commandment, but to prove by the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love.
All Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 8:8 Go To 2 Corinthians 8
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
By occasion of the forwardness of others. I do not command, but seek to move you by the example of the Macedonians, who were so anxious to help the poor.
And improve the sincerity of your love. I say this to make test of your love, sincerity, and goodness, and to stimulate you by others" example. The Latin ingenium, which is the rendering of the Greek γνήσιον, does not here denote the good disposition of charity, as Anselm thinks, in which case the meaning would be: I say this, not to test and show that your charity has a good disposition, by its suggesting, dictating, and advising that you do this good deed without any order from me; but γνήσιον denotes, not ingenium, but ingenuum, or an innate disposition. Again, the word for prove has the double idea of testing and then demonstrating. Maldonatus, indeed (Notæ Manusc.), renders it, "longing to prove to others;" for, as he says, the Greek verb here denotes not the effect but the affection.
