2 Corinthians 5:7-8 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 2 Corinthians 5:1-11

The apostle in these verses pursues the argument of the former chapter, concerning the grounds of their courage and patience under afflictions. And, I. He mentions their expectation, and desire, and assurance, of eternal happiness after death, 2 Cor. 5:1-5. Observe particularly, 1. The believer's expectation of eternal happiness after death, 2 Cor. 5:1. He does not only know, or is well assured by faith of the truth and reality of the thing itself?that there is another and a happy life after... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:1-10

5:1-10 For we know that if this earthly house of ours, that tent which is the body is pulled down, we have a building which comes from God, a house not made with hands, eternal and in the heavens. For indeed so long as we are as we are we earnestly long to put on our abode which is from heaven, and if indeed we have put it on we shall not be found naked. For, while we are in this tent of the body, we groan, for life weighs us down, for it is not so much that we desire to be stripped of this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith, and not by sight. Faith is a grace which answers many useful purposes; it is the eye of the soul, by which it looks to Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation; the hand by which it receives him, and the foot by which it goes to him, and walks in him as it has received him; which denotes not a single act of faith, but a continued course of believing; and is expressive, not of a weak, but of a strong steady faith of glory and happiness, and of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 5:8

We are confident, I say, and willing rather ,.... We are cheerful in our present state, being assured of future happiness; though we choose rather to be absent from the body ; that is, to die, to depart out of this world. The interval between death, and the resurrection, is a state of absence from the body, during which time the soul is disembodied, and exists in a separate state; not in a state of inactivity and sleep, for that would not be desirable, but of happiness and glory,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:7

For we walk by faith - While we are in the present state faith supplies the place of direct vision. In the future world we shall have sight - the utmost evidence of spiritual and eternal things; as we shall be present with them, and live in them. Here we have the testimony of God, and believe in their reality, because we cannot doubt his word. And to make this more convincing he gives us the earnest of his Spirit, which is a foretaste of glory. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:8

We are confident - We are of good courage, notwithstanding our many difficulties; because we have this earnest of the Spirit, and the unfailing testimony of God. And notwithstanding this, we are willing rather to be absent from the body - we certainly prefer a state of glory to a state of suffering, and the enjoyment of the beatific vision to even the anticipation of it by faith and hope; but, as Christians, we cannot desire to die before our time. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:7

Verse 7 7.For we walk by faith (Εἰδος) I have here rendered aspectum , (sight,) because few understood the meaning of the word species , (appearance.) (520) He states the reason, why it is that we are now absent from the Lord — because we do not as yet see him face to face. (1 Corinthians 13:12.) The manner of that absence is this — that God is not openly beheld by us. The reason why he is not seen by us is, that we walk by faith Now it is on good grounds that faith is opposed to sight,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 2 Corinthians 5:8

Verse 8 8.We are confident, I say He again repeats, what he had said respecting the confidence of the pious — that they are so far from breaking down under the severity of the cross, and from being disheartened by afflictions, that they are made thereby more courageous. For the worst of evils is death, yet believers long to attain it, as being the commencement of perfect blessedness. Hence and may be regarded as equivalent to because, in this way: “Nothing can befall us, that can shake our... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Corinthians 5:1-7

"For we know that if our earthly house," etc. Two things are to be noticed at the outset. 1 . Metaphorical representations of the body. The body is here spoken of under the figure of a "tabernacle" or a tent, and of a vestment or clothing. These two things would not be so distinct in the mind of the apostle as they are in ours, for both had the same qualities of movableness and protection . The "house" to which the apostle refers was not a building of bricks or stone, a... read more