2 Corinthians 9:7

ἕκαστος καθὼς κ. τ. λ.: let each man give (understanding διδότω) according as he hath purposed (note the perf.; he implies that they had already made up their minds to give. προαίρεσις is Aristotle's formal word in Nic. Eth., iii. 3.19, for a free act of moral choice) in his heart (cf. Exodus 25:2, “of every man whose heart maketh him willing, ye shall take my offering”); not grudgingly or of necessity, for “ God loveth a cheerful giver ”. In this quotation from Proverbs 22:8, St. Paul substitutes (perhaps to avoid the cognate of εὐλογία) ἀγαπᾷ for εὐλογεῖ, the LXX reading as it has come down to us, but the sense is not altered. The duty of almsgiving played a large part in Hebrew ethics, and that it should be carried out ungrudgingly is often insisted on in the O.T. and Apocrypha, a point specially to be emphasised in the case of a people who have always had the repute of being over-fond of money e.g., “Thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him” (Deuteronomy 15:10); “Let not thine eye be envious” (Tob 4:7); “In every gift show a cheerful countenance” (Sir 35:9). These precepts St. Paul commends to the Corinthians (cf. Romans 12:8). (Note that the practice of having “all things common,” which was initiated by the enthusiasm of the first converts (Acts 4:32 ff.), did not last long; it was a noble attempt to express in outward deed the brotherhood of men as revealed in the Incarnation, but was, in fact, impracticable).