complete verse (2 Corinthians 8:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 2 Corinthians 8:12:

  • Uma: “For if we have a heart to give, and we give according to what we have, God is happy to receive our gift. He doesn’t ask for a gift that is more than our ability.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Because if you are happy giving and give what you can afford, God will receive what you give because he does not tell you to give what you cannot afford.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “For if your desire to give help according to what you can do is great, this pleases God because He never asks from us what we cannot give, but rather the thing He asks is that which we are able to give Him.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Because if you give in proportion to your ability, God is pleased/satisfied with that, as-long-as you are eager to give. He doesn’t expect you to give what you are not able to.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Because, as long as we give with a thoroughly-happy mind/inner-being as much as we have ability to give, God is pleased with it. It’s not that he is still looking for us to give what we don’t have ability to.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because concerning the person who truly has pleasure in giving help, God looks well upon what that person does, even though he might not have much in his ability to give. God does not ask us for something which we don’t have.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 2 Corinthians 8:12

If the readiness is there: this, of course, refers to the willingness of the Corinthians to give to those in need. In most languages it will be more natural to fill in what is implied here: “if you really want to give….”

It is acceptable: the Greek does not specify to whom the gift will be acceptable. Good News Translation no doubt correctly makes God the subject of the verb: “God will accept your gift.” Less likely, the Christians in Jerusalem could be the subject, since in Rom 16.31 Paul expresses concern that the Jerusalem Christians might accept the collection.

The Greek verbs are in the third person singular, which Revised Standard Version makes apply to a hypothetical man. Since the context makes it clear that these words are spoken concerning the situation of the Corinthians, Good News Translation changes to second person pronouns. These, of course, are to be understood as second person plurals and should be so translated in most receptor languages. Some, however, may prefer a general statement more like the Greek: “God accepts gifts on the basis of what people are able to give, not on the basis of what they cannot give.”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellingworth, Paul. A Handbook on Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on 2 Corinthians 8:12

8:12a For if the eagerness is there,

For as long as a person is eager/willing ⌊to give⌋,
-or-
Because if someone wants to ⌊give something⌋,

8:12b the gift is acceptable according to what one has,

the gift pleases ⌊God⌋, because it is given from the things he has,
-or-
God will accept his gift in accordance with what he has.

8:12c not according to what he does not have.

but not given from the things he does not have.
-or-

⌊He is⌋ not ⌊expected to give⌋ more than he has ⌊to give⌋.

© 2016 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.