Bible Strands
2 Corinthians 7:4
Great is my confidence in you; great is my pride in you; I am filled with encouragement; in all our troubles my joy overflows.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian believers immediately after clarifying his pastoral intent in the preceding verse. He speaks this declaration just before detailing his own severe physical and emotional distress upon reaching Macedonia.
The words — παρρησία (parrēsia) means boldness or open confidence, and καύχησις (kauchēsis) denotes boasting or proud joy. Paul applies these terms to describe his unreserved assurance and confident delight toward the Corinthian church.
The thread — Boldness grounded in hope appears in 2 Corinthians 3:12, while counting trials as joy is recorded in James 1:2. The pattern of sustaining joy through affliction aligns with the comfort exchange outlined in 2 Corinthians 1:4.
Why it lands — The text states that joy can overflow even during comprehensive trouble, not despite it. It requires a reader to accept that relational faithfulness and divine endurance produce confidence without denying the reality of hardship.
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
Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
- 2 Corinthians 3:12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.
- James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
- Romans 5:3 Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
- 1 Corinthians 1:4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace He has given you in Christ Jesus.
- Philippians 2:17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
- Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.
- Acts 5:41 The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
- 2 Corinthians 1:14 as you have already understood us in part, that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.
- 2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us triumphantly as captives in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.