2 Corinthians 1:5: Abound and Aboundeth

For daily Bible reading, I turn to my NIV Bible with its cracked teal cover and creased pages. In it, 2 Corinthians 1:5 reads:

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives;

so also through Christ our comfort overflows.

 

 

In reading this verse, I was intrigued by the parallelism of flow over / overflows.

 

So I looked up the verse in the King James Version:

 

For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,

so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.

 

Here the parallelism is abound / aboundeth.

 

The same verb!

That verb is perisseuō and it is appropriately translated both as “abounds” and “overflows.”

Here’s a neat little bit of trivia from the Blue Letter Bible website:

“‘Abounding’ is used of a flower going from a bud to full bloom.”

 

Blossoming flowers remind me of spring, new life, happiness, beauty.

But this verse is talking about sufferings and sorrows.

And yet . . . flowers are also given to provide comfort and consolation, to cheer a hospital room, to brighten a funeral.

I think Paul is saying that the comfort equals the sorrow. No matter how great the sorrow may be, Christ’s comfort is just as great.

Like a flower, opening from a bud to a fragrant blossom.