2 Corinthians 8–9: people and preparation worksheet

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Original Bibleward resource · BSB v5.9 paraphrases · Read both chapters. This worksheet asks about the text, not your income or gifts. No answer needs to be submitted. It is not a fundraising appeal or financial advice.

Open the printable six-role card diagram.

Six completed role slots

Six slots are a reading tool, not six individual travelers. The saints in need are the beneficiaries of the service (9:1, 12), distinct from the donor role above.

Process and handover boundaries

Representatives commended (8:16–24) → promised gift prepared (9:1–4) → brothers sent ahead to arrange it (9:5) → intended service meets needs and produces thanksgiving (9:11–12).

This is a plan-and-purpose map, not a narrated final handover or a complete itinerary. The passage gives no final delivery receipt, exact travel dates, or modern auditing procedure. The printable process diagram uses the same limitations.

Eight questions

1. What is Titus’s attitude, and how does Paul describe their working relationship? ____________________

2. Which two descriptions identify the brother in 8:18–19 without supplying a name? ____________________

3. What distinguishes the brother in 8:22? Is his name supplied? ____________________

4. Are the church messengers an additional group that must be added to Titus and the brothers? What can the passage establish? ____________________

5. What reason for careful administration appears in 8:20–21? ____________________

6. Why does Paul send brothers ahead in 9:3–5? ____________________

7. What constraints appear in 8:12–13 and 9:7, and does 9:6 state a cash-return formula? ____________________

8. Who benefits in 9:12, and does this passage provide a completed-delivery receipt? ____________________

Explained answers

1. Titus eagerly welcomes the appeal and goes willingly (8:16–17). Paul identifies him as his partner and coworker for the readers (8:23). Those descriptions do not give him a modern professional title.

2. He is praised among the churches for gospel work and is chosen by the churches to accompany the offering (8:18–19). Both belong to the same described brother; his name remains unstated.

3. He has repeatedly proved earnest and has great confidence in the readers (8:22). He is introduced alongside those already mentioned. No personal name appears.

4. Not necessarily. Verse 23 describes the brothers as messengers of the churches; it does not require inventing a new group of additional travelers. The six slots organize roles and groups, not a headcount.

5. Paul wants to avoid criticism in administering the gift and to take care over what is right before both the Lord and people (8:20–21). This gives a stated motive, not proof that a particular modern compliance system existed.

6. To ensure the promised preparation is real, avoid an embarrassing gap between expectation and readiness, and arrange the gift beforehand so it is generous rather than grudging (9:3–5). These are reasons in the letter, not a description of a completed final transfer.

7. Acceptance is according to what one has, and the aim is not to relieve others by burdening the donors (8:12–13). Giving should not arise from regret or compulsion (9:7). The sowing image supplies no fixed donation amount, percentage return, or payment date; 9:8–12 continues toward good work, generosity, needs, and thanksgiving.

8. The service supplies the saints’ needs and produces thanksgiving to God (9:12). The chapter describes purpose and preparation, not a signed final receipt or complete delivery account.

Worked anonymous-person card

Person: brother in 8:18–19.

Name: not supplied here.

Description: praised for gospel work; selected by the churches.

Role: accompanies the offering Paul and coworkers administer.

Unsupported addition to remove: a guessed personal name or invented treasurer’s title.

The brother in 8:22 needs a separate card. A missing name does not erase the role that is actually described.

Blank role and uncertainty cards

My one-sentence explanation of why this passage is about more than an amount: ____________________. A textual reason for advance preparation: ____________________. A question for next reading: ____________________.

BSB chapter 8 · BSB chapter 9 · USCCB chapter 8 notes · Berean permissions · Companion guide.

AI-assisted reading aid; not Scripture, a request for money, investment guidance, or individual pastoral endorsement.