2 Corinthians 5:5

ὁ δούς (אBCDFGP) rather than ὁ καὶ δούς (א3D2D3KL).

5. ὁ δὲ κατεργασάμενος ἡμᾶς εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο θεός. But he who wrought us out for this very thing is God. ‘But’ implies ‘This may seem strange.’ But δέ may have reference to the wish in 2 Corinthians 5:4 and to its fulfilment: ‘Now he who &c.’ The aorists point to the time when the fitness and the Spirit were given, and κατεργασάμενος refers to redemption and regeneration rather than to creation: comp. 2 Corinthians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 7:10-11; 2 Corinthians 9:11; 2 Corinthians 12:2. By αὐτὸ τοῦτο is meant what is mortal being absorbed in life. It was for precisely this (Romans 9:17) that God prepared as, who gave to us the earnest of the Spirit (see critical note). The Spirit is an earnest of the realization of the yearning for future glory. With the doctrine of the Spirit as a pledge, here and 2 Corinthians 1:22, comp. Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 4:30 and Romans 8:15-17; Romans 8:23.