Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 5:6
Therefore we are always confident, although we know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church, positioning this declaration between his statement on the Spirit as a divine pledge and his command to live by faith, addressing believers navigating the interval between conversion and final resurrection.
The words — Θαρροῦντες (Tharrountes) translates literally as “being confident,” and ἐνδημοῦντες (endēmountes) means “being at home,” both present participles that ground the verse’s assertion in an ongoing, unbroken state of assurance despite present physical residence.
The thread — The contrast between earthly dwelling and heavenly reality appears in 2 Corinthians 5:1, which describes the dismantling of an earthly tent and the reception of an eternal house, and Philippians 3:20, which identifies the believer’s actual citizenship as located in heaven.
Why it lands — The passage demands that the reader accept the factual reality of being absent from the Lord while inhabiting a mortal body and maintain confidence without relying on visible evidence, directly applying the preceding promise of God’s preparation to the following instruction to walk by faith.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
- Philippians 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
- Psalms 39:12 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.
- Hebrews 11:13 All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
- Hebrews 13:14 For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
- 1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
- Psalms 27:3 Though an army encamps around me, my heart will not fear; though a war breaks out against me, I will keep my trust.
- Proverbs 14:26 He who fears the LORD is secure in confidence, and his children shall have a place of refuge.
- 2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
- Hebrews 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.