2 Corinthians 5:20

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - 2 Corinthians 5:20

are ambassadors . Greek. presbeuo. Only here and Ephesians 6:20 . did beseech = is beseeching. App-134 . pray . App-134 . in . . . stead = on behalf of. Greek huper, as in 2 Corinthians 5:12 . read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:20

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.Ambassadors ... Throughout history, the office of an ambassador has been one endowed with plenary authority; and it is this aspect of Paul's ministry which is stressed here. David Lipscomb laid heavy stress upon this most important office of Christ's apostles. He said:The apostles were and are the ambassadors of Christ. They sustained a relation to... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:20

2 Corinthians 5:20. We are ambassadors for Christ,— The Apostles were so in a peculiar sense; but if it be the will of Christ that ministers, in all ages, should press men to accept the treaty of reconciliation established in him, then it is evident they may be called his ambassadors, even though such a phrase had never been used in scripture. The term 'Υπερ Χριστου plainly means, in Christ's stead, as we render it. When Christ was in the world, he pressed this treaty of reconciliation; and we... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:20

20. for Christ . . . in Christ's stead—The Greek of both is the same: translate in both cases "on Christ's behalf." beseech . . . pray—rather, "entreat [plead with you] . . . beseech." Such "beseeching" is uncommon in the case of "ambassadors," who generally stand on their dignity (compare 2 Corinthians 10:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 2:7). be ye reconciled to God—English Version here inserts "ye," which is not in the original, and which gives the wrong impression, as if it were... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

The ministry of reconciliation 5:18-21This section and the first two verses of chapter 6 constitute the crux of Paul’s exposition of the apostolic office (2 Corinthians 2:14 to 2 Corinthians 7:4) and of the entire letter. [Note: Barnett, p. 300.] read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 2 Corinthians 5:20

This ministry makes us God’s ambassadors, one of the most exalted titles the Christian can claim."The ambassador has to be persona grata with both countries (the one that he represents and the one to which he goes)." [Note: Robertson, Word Pictures . . ., 4:233.] Ambassadors authoritatively announce messages for others and request, not demand, acceptance. The Christian ambassador, moreover, announces and appeals for God.". . . when Christ’s ambassador entreats it is equivalent to the voice of... read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - 2 Corinthians 5:20

5:20 were] (g-10) 'As of God beseeching;' 'as though,' or 'as if,' is too much similarity or comparison. God being in Christ, and they Christ's ambassadors, they besought on God's behalf. He was as beseeching by them. The apostle will not say God was beseeching, but softens it by 'as it were.' yet it amounted to that, as done on his behalf. It is difficult to translate, though the sense is most evident and beautiful. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:1-21

The subject of 2 Corinthians 4 is continued. St. Paul has been pointing out that amid bodily weakness and decay he is encouraged by the thought that the temporal is transient, while the spiritual is eternal. He now goes on to speak more particularly of the great prospect that sustains him—the replacement of the earthly material body by an eternal heavenly one. He hopes to survive till Christ’s coming, and receive the heavenly body without passing through the experience of death: but, if it... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 2 Corinthians 5:20

(20) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ—The preposition “for” implies the same representative character as in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. The preachers of the Word were acting on behalf of Christ; they were acting also in His stead. The thought or word meets us again in Ephesians 6:20. “I am an ambassador in bonds.” The earlier versions (Tyndale, Geneva, Cranmer) give “messengers,” the Rhemish “legates.” “Ambassadors,” which may be noted as singularly felicitous, first appears in the version of... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 2 Corinthians 5:1-21

2 Corinthians 5:10 Carts go along the streets; full of stript human corpses, thrown pell-mell; limbs sticking up: seest thou that cold Hand sticking up, through the heaped embrace of brother corpses, in its yellow paleness, in its cold rigour; the palm opened towards Heaven, as if in dumb prayer, in expostulation de profundis , take pity on the Sons of men! Mercier saw it, as he walked down 'the Rue Saint-Jacques from Mont-rouge, on the morrow of the Massacres': but not a Hand; it was a Foot,... read more

Group of Brands