2 Corinthians 6:2

2. A parenthesis, showing why the Corinthians should at once follow his exhortations. The nom. to λέηει is ὁ θεός (2 Corinthians 6:1) who gives the grace, and with whom the Apostle works. The quotation is from the LXX. of Isaiah 49:8. At an acceptable time I hearkened to thee, and in a day of salvation I succoured thee. In the original the words apply to Jehovah’s ideal Servant, and they are here transferred to the followers and members of Christ. The καιρὸς δεκτός in the original is ‘a season of favour’: comp. λόγοι τῆς χάριτος (Luke 4:22): it is that in which ἡ χάρις τοῦ θεοῦ specially abounds. Comp. ἐνιαυτὸν Κυρἱου δεκτόν (Luke 4:19). The aorists point to this blessed season as certain. In the LXX. εἰσακούω is very frequent; in the N.T. here only.

ἰδοὺ νῦν καιρὸς εὐπρόσδεκτος. This is the Apostle’s comment on the Scripture just quoted, and in his earnestness he intensifies the δεκτός into a strong double compound: Behold now is the welcome and acceptable time: 2 Corinthians 8:12; Romans 15:16; Romans 15:31.