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2Co_9:7. But Paul does not desire them to give richly against their will; hence the new exhortation: Let every one give freely and willingly!
ἕκαστος καθὼς κ . τ . λ .] as each one purposes it to himself in his heart, namely, let him give,—a supplement, which readily flows from the previous ὁ σπείρων ; comp. the subsequent δότην . Let him give according to cordial, free, self-determination. On τῇ καρδ ., comp. τῇ ψυχῇ , Gen_34:8. The present is used, because the προαιρεῖσθαι is conceived as only now emerging after the foregoing teaching.[288] In προαιρέομαι (only here in the N. T., but often in the sense of resolving in Greek writers; comp. 2Ma_6:9; 3Ma_2:30; 3Ma_6:10; 4Ma_9:1), προ has the notion of the preference, which we give to that on which we resolve, because the simple αἰρεῖσθαι has the sense of sibi eligere, where it likewise expresses a resolve or purpose (Xen. vii. 6. 37; Ages. iii. 4; Soph. Ajax, 443; Isocrates, Panath. 185). Hence μᾶλλον also, though in itself superfluous, may be added to προαιρεῖσθαι (Xen. Mem. ii. 1. 2, iii. 5. 16, iv. 2. 9).
ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης ] The opposite of καθὼς προαιρ . τ . καρδ .: out of sadness, namely, at having to lose something by the giving, or out of necessity, because one thinks himself forced by circumstances and cannot do otherwise (comp. Phm_1:14). Ἐκ denotes the subjective state, out of which the action proceeds. To the ἐκ λύπης stands contrasted ἐξ εὐμενῶν στέρνων , Soph. Oed. C. 488; and to the ἐξ ἀνάγκης , the ἐκ θυμοῦ φιλέων , Hom. Il. ix. 486.
ἱλαρὸν γὰρ κ . τ . λ .] Motive for complying with this precept. The emphasis is on ἱλαρόν , whereby the opposite, as the giving ἐκ λύπης and ἐξ ἀνάγκης , is excluded from the love of God. Comp. Rom_12:8. The saying is from LXX. Pro_22:8, according to the reading: ἀγαπᾶ instead of εὐλογεῖ . It is wanting in our present Hebrew text. Comp. also Sir_14:16, and the Rabbinical passages in Wetstein; Senec. de benef. ii. 1. 2 : “in beneficio jucundissimo est tribuentis voluntas.” Instead of δότης , δοτήρ or δωτήρ only is found in classical authors; in Hes. Op. 353, δώτης also. See in general, Lobeck, Paralip. p. 428.
[288] The θέλειν , not yet taking definite shape, already existed ἀπὸ πέρυσι ; but the definite determination how much each desires to give, is conceived by Paul as occurring now, after the readers have read ver. 6.