KJV: Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
YLT: in behalf of Christ, then, we are ambassadors, as if God were calling through us, we beseech, in behalf of Christ, 'Be ye reconciled to God;'
Darby: We are ambassadors therefore for Christ, God as it were beseeching by us, we entreat for Christ, Be reconciled to God.
ASV: We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating by us: we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God.
| Χριστοῦ | Christ |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: Χριστός Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God. |
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| πρεσβεύομεν | we are ambassadors |
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Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural Root: πρεσβεύω Sense: to be older, prior by birth or in age. |
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| ὡς | as though |
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Parse: Adverb Root: ὡς Sense: as, like, even as, etc. |
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| τοῦ | - |
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Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| Θεοῦ | God |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: θεός Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities. |
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| παρακαλοῦντος | is beseeching |
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Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: παρακαλέω Sense: to call to one’s side, call for, summon. |
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| δι’ | through |
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Parse: Preposition Root: διά Sense: through. |
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| ἡμῶν | us |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural Root: ἐγώ Sense: I, me, my. |
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| δεόμεθα | We implore |
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Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 1st Person Plural Root: δέομαι Sense: to want, lack. |
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| ὑπὲρ | on behalf |
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Parse: Preposition Root: ὑπέρ Sense: in behalf of, for the sake of. |
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| Χριστοῦ | of Christ |
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Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: Χριστός Sense: Christ was the Messiah, the Son of God. |
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| καταλλάγητε | Be reconciled |
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Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Passive, 2nd Person Plural Root: καταλλάσσω Sense: to change, exchange, as coins for others of equivalent value. |
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| τῷ | - |
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Parse: Article, Dative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| Θεῷ | to God |
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Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Singular Root: θεός Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities. |
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Greek Commentary for 2 Corinthians 5:20
Old word from πρεσβυς presbus an old man, first to be an old man, then to be an ambassador (here and Ephesians 6:20 with εν αλυσηι en halusēi in a chain added), common in both senses in the Greek. “The proper term in the Greek East for the Emperor‘s Legate” (Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East, p. 374), in inscriptions and papyri. So Paul has a natural pride in using this dignified term for himself and all ministers. The ambassador has to be persona grata with both countries (the one that he represents and the one to which he goes). Paul was Christ‘s Legate to act in his behalf and in his stead. [source]
Genitive absolute with ως hōs used with the participle as often to give the reason (apparent or real). Here God speaks through Christ‘s Legate. Be ye reconciled to God (καταλλαγητε τωι τεωι katallagēte tōi theōi). Second aorist passive imperative of καταλλασσω katallassō and used with the dative case. “Get reconciled to God,” and do it now. This is the ambassador‘s message as he bears it to men from God. [source]
Second aorist passive imperative of καταλλασσω katallassō and used with the dative case. “Get reconciled to God,” and do it now. This is the ambassador‘s message as he bears it to men from God. [source]
Only here and Ephesians 6:10. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 2 Corinthians 5:20
Matthew has kingdom of heaven, or of the heavens ( τῶν οὐρανῶν )a phrase used by him only, and most frequently employed by Christ himself to describe the kingdom; though Matthew also uses, less frequently, kingdom of God. The two are substantially equivalent terms, though the pre-eminent title was kingdom of God, since it was expected to be fully realized in the Messianic era, when God should take upon himself the kingdom by a visible representative. Compare Isaiah 40:9, “Behold your God. ” The phrase kingdom of Heaven was common in the Rabbinical writings, and had a double signification: the historical kingdom and the spiritual and moral kingdom. They very often understood by it divine worship; adoration of God; the sum of religious duties; but also the Messianic kingdom. The kingdom of God is, essentially, the absolute dominion of God in the universe, both in a physical and a spiritual sense. It is “an organic commonwealth which has the principle of its existence in the will of God” (Tholuck). It was foreshadowed in the Jewish theocracy. The idea of the kingdom advanced toward clearer definition from Jacob's prophecy of the Prince out of Judah (Genesis 49:10), through David's prophecy of the everlasting kingdom and the king of righteousness and peace (Daniel 7:14-27; Daniel 4:25; Daniel 2:44). In this sense it was apprehended by John the Baptist. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- The ideal kingdom is to be realized in the absolute rule of the eternal Son, Jesus Christ, by whom all things are made and consist (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-20), whose life of perfect obedience to God and whose sacrificial offering of love upon the cross reveal to men their true relation to God, and whose spirit works to bring them into this relation. The ultimate idea of the kingdom is that of “a redeemed humanity, with its divinely revealed destiny manifesting itself in a religious communion, or the Church; asocial communion, or the state; and an aesthetic communion, expressing itself in forms of knowledge and art.”-DIVIDER- This kingdom is both present (Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 16:19; Luke 11:20; Luke 16:16; Luke 17:21; see, also, the parables of the Sower, the Tares, the Leaven, and the Drag-net; and compare the expression “theirs, or yours, is the kingdom,” Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20) and future (Daniel 7:27; Matthew 13:43; Matthew 19:28; Matthew 25:34; Matthew 26:29; Mark 9:47; 2 Peter 1:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Revelation 20:1-15 sq.). As a present kingdom it is incomplete and in process of development. It is expanding in society like the grain of mustard seed (Matthew 13:31, Matthew 13:32); working toward the pervasion of society like the leaven in the lump (Matthew 13:33). God is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and the Gospel of Christ is the great instrument in that process (2 Corinthians 5:19, 2 Corinthians 5:20). The kingdom develops from within outward under the power of its essential divine energy and law of growth, which insures its progress and final triumph against all obstacles. Similarly, its work in reconciling and subjecting the world to God begins at the fountain-head of man's life, by implanting in his heart its own divine potency, and thus giving a divine impulse and direction to the whole man, rather than by moulding him from without by a moral code. The law is written in his heart. In like manner the State and the Church are shaped, not by external pressure, like the Roman empire and the Roxnish hierarchy, but by the evolution of holy character in men. The kingdom of God in its present development is not identical with the Church. It is a larger movement which includes the Church. The Church is identified with the kingdom to the degree in which it is under the power of the spirit of Christ. “As the Old Testament kingdom of God was perfected and completed when it ceased to be external, and became internal by being enthroned in the heart, so, on the other hand, the perfection of the New Testament kingdom will consist in its complete incarnation and externalization; that is, when it shall attain an outward manifestation, adequately expressing, exactly corresponding to its internal principle” (Tholuck). The consummation is described in Revelation 21,22. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Lit., working together. With Him is implied in the compounded ούν withThat it refers to God, not to the fellow-Christians, is evident from the parallel 1 Corinthians 3:9, laborers together with God, and because the act of exhortation or entreaty in which the fellowship is exhibited is ascribed to God in 2 Corinthians 5:20. The phrase Θεοῦ πάρεδροι assessorsof God, occurs in Ignatius' letter to Polycarp. Compare Mark 16:20. [source]
In 2 Corinthians 10:1, παρακαλῶ is used for beseech. It is doubtful whether the two words can be strictly distinguished as indicating different degrees of feeling. It may be said that δέομαι and its kindred noun δέησις are frequently used of prayer to God, while παρακαλῶ occurs only twice in this sense, Matthew 26:53; 2 Corinthians 12:8. On the other hand, παρακαλῶ is used of God's pleading with men, while in the same passage δέομαι is used of men's entreating men; 2 Corinthians 5:20. Rev., in 2 Corinthians 10:1, renders entreat, which, according to older English usage, is the stronger word, meaning to prevail by entreaty, just as persuade, which originally meant to use persuasion, now signifies to prevail by persuasion. The construction of the passage is difficult. Literally it is: I pray the not showing courage when present, with the confidence, etc. The sense is: I pray you that you may not make it necessary for me to show, when I am present, that official peremptoriness which I am minded to show against those who charge me with unworthy motives. [source]
The verb to be an ambassador occurs only here and 2 Corinthians 5:20. See on Philemon 1:9. In bonds, lit., in a chain: the particular word for the coupling-chain by which he was bound to the hand of his guard. [source]
“For which mystery” of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19). Πρεσβευω Presbeuō is an old word for ambassador (from πρεσβυς presbus an old man) in N.T. only here and 2 Corinthians 5:20. Paul is now an old man Paul will wear a chain at the close of his life in Rome (2 Timothy 1:16). [source]
First aorist (effective, timeless) active indicative (a sort of parenthetical anacoluthon). Here B reads αποκαταλλαγητε apokatallagēte be ye reconciled like καταλλαγητε katallagēte in 2 Corinthians 5:20 while D has αποκαταλλαγεντες apokatallagentes Lightfoot prefers to follow B here (the hard reading), though Westcott and Hort only put it in the margin. On the word see Colossians 1:20. In the body of his flesh (εν τωι σωματι της σαρκος αυτου en tōi sōmati tēs sarkos autou). See the same combination in Colossians 2:11 though in Ephesians 2:14 only σαρκι sarki (flesh). Apparently Paul combines both σωμα sōma and σαρχ sarx to make plain the actual humanity of Jesus against incipient Docetic Gnostics who denied it. Through death The reconciliation was accomplished by means of Christ‘s death on the cross (Colossians 1:20) and not just by the Incarnation (the body of his flesh) in which the death took place. To present (παραστησαι parastēsai). First aorist active (transitive) infinitive (of purpose) of παριστημι paristēmi old verb, to place beside in many connections. See it used of presenting Paul and the letter from Lysias to Felix (Acts 23:33). Repeated in Colossians 1:28. See also 2 Corinthians 11:2; 2 Corinthians 4:14. Paul has the same idea of his responsibility in rendering an account for those under his influence seen in Hebrews 13:17. See note on Romans 12:1 for use of living sacrifice. Holy Positively consecrated, separated unto God. Common in N.T. for believers. Haupt holds that all these terms have a religious and forensic sense here. Without blemish (αμωμους amōmous). Without spot (Philemon 2:15). Old word α a privative and μωμος mōmos (blemish). Common in the lxx for ceremonial purifications. Unreproveable Old verbal adjective from α a privative and εγκαλεω egkaleō to call to account, to pick flaws in. These three adjectives give a marvellous picture of complete purity (positive and negative, internal and external). This is Paul‘s ideal when he presents the Colossians “before him” (κατενωπιον αυτου katenōpion autou), right down in the eye of Christ the Judge of all. [source]