2 Corinthians 9:6

Τοῦτο δέ. Neither φημί (1 Corinthians 7:29) nor λέγω (Galatians 3:17) nor ἴστε (Ephesians 5:5) need be supplied, although any one of them may. ‘But as to this,’ or ‘But it is just this,’ is quite intelligible. Comp. ἔν δέ (Philippians 3:14) and the classical δυοῖν θάτερον. The Apostle is dictating and uses brevity. The τοῦτο emphasises what follows, in which the chiasmus should be preserved in translation: He that soweth sparingly, sparingly shall also reap, and he that soweth on the principle of blessings, on the principle of blessings shall also reap. Comp. Galatians 6:7. The fitness of the metaphor of sowing and reaping is insisted on by Chrysostom. Comp. εἰσὶν οἳ τὰ ἴδια σπείροντες πλείονα ποιοῦσιν· εἰσὶν καὶ οἳ συνάγοντες ἐλαττονοῦνται (Proverbs 11:24): also Non esse cupidum, pecunia est, non esse emacem, vectigal est (Cic. Parad. VI. iii. 51). For this use of ἐπί comp. Romans 5:14 and see Westcott on Hebrews 8:6. The rare word φειδομένως occurs here only in Biblical Greek: once in Plutarch (Alex. xxv). For the chiasmus comp. 2 Corinthians 2:16; 2 Corinthians 4:3; 2 Corinthians 6:8; 2 Corinthians 10:11; 2 Corinthians 13:3.