5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.



Ver. 5. Not of covetousness] Non ut extortum aliquid, saith Piscator, vel ut illiberale aliquid. Not as wrung out of you, squeezed out, as verjuice {a} is out of a crab. Covetous persons part with their penny as with blood out of their hearts. Citius aquam ex pumice, clavam ex manu Herculis extorqueas. God will set off all hearts from such misers, in their misery, that are so unreasonably merciless. Bounty or blessing (for so the Greek word åõëïãéá signifies) is here fitly opposed to covetousness; and St Paul concludes, that when church contributions are not free and liberal, covetousness is the cause.



{a} The acid juice of green or unripe grapes, crab-apples, or other sour fruit, expressed and formed into a liquor; formerly much used in cooking, as a condiment, or for medicinal purposes. ŒD