2 Corinthians 1:18

But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.

2 Corinthians 1:18, King James Version

2 Corinthians 1:18 in other translations

BSB	But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.”
WEB	But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not “Yes and no.”
ASV	But as God is faithful, our word toward you is not yea and nay.
YLT	and God is faithful, that our word unto you became not Yes and No,
DARBY	Now God is faithful, that our word to you is not yea and nay.
BBE	As God is true, our word to you is not Yes and No.
Webster	But as God is true, our word towards you was not yea and nay.

What does 2 Corinthians 1:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

18. He adds this lest they might think his DOCTRINE was changeable like his purposes (the change in which he admitted in 2Co 1:17, while denying that it was due to "lightness," and at the same time implying that not to have changed, where there was good reason, would have been to imitate the fleshly-minded who at all costs obstinately hold to their purpose). true--Greek, "faithful" (1Co 1:9). our word--the doctrine we preach. was not--The oldest manuscripts read "is not." yea and nay--that is, inconsistent with itself.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 18. But as God is true. Tindal renders this, in accordance more literally with the Greek, "God is faithful; for our preaching unto you was not yea and nay." The phrase seems to have the form of an oath, or to be a solemn appeal to God as a witness, and to be equivalent to the expression "the Lord liveth," or, "as the Lord liveth." The idea is, "God is faithful and true. He never deceives; never promises that which he does not perform. So true is it that I am not fickle and changing in my purposes." The idea of the faithfulness of God is the argument which Paul urges why he felt himself bound to be faithful also. That faithful God he regarded as a witness, and to that God he could appeal on the occasion.

Our word. Marg., preaching, (ολογος). This may refer either to his preaching, to his promises of visiting them, or his declarations to them in general on any subject. The particular subject under discussion was the promise which he had made to visit them. But he here seems to make his affirmation general, and to say universally of his promises, and his teaching, and of all his communications to them, whether orally or in writing, that they were not characterized by inconstancy and changeableness. It was not his character to be fickle, unsettled, and vacillating.

(1) "our word" "preaching"

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 18 But as God is true - Setting the God of truth before my eyes, I could not act in this way: and as sure as he is true, so surely were my purposes sincere; and it was only my uncertainty about your state that induced me to postpone my visit. See 2Cor 1:23.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1:15-24

The apostle clears himself from the charge of levity and inconstancy, in not coming to Corinth. Good men should be careful to keep the reputation of sincerity and constancy; they should not resolve, but on careful thought; and they will not change unless for weighty reasons. Nothing can render God's promises more certain: his giving them through Christ, assures us they are his promises; as the wonders God wrought in…

Read the full comment on 2 Corinthians 1:15-24 →

2 Corinthians 1:18 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

πιστὸςpistosFaithfulG4103

δὲdehoweverG1161

ὁho<the>G3588

θεός,theosGod [is],G2316

ὅτιhotithatG3754

ὁhotheG3588

λόγοςlogoswordG3056

ἡμῶνhēmōnof usG3165

ὁho<the>G3588

πρὸςprostoG4314

ὑμᾶςhumasyouG4771

οὐκouknotG3756

ἔστινestinwasG1510

ναὶnaiYesG3483

καὶkaiandG2532

οὔ·ouNo;G3756

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Corinthians 1:18

1 Corinthians 1:9
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
Revelation 3:7
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
Revelation 3:14
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
John 7:28
Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.
2 Corinthians 11:31
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
2 Corinthians 1:23
Moreover I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.
2 Corinthians 2:17
For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.
John 8:26
I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

as.
23; 11:31; Joh 7:28; 8:26; 1Jo 5:20; Re 3:7,14
word. or, preaching.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

2 Corinthians 1:17
When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?
2 Corinthians 1:18
But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
2 Corinthians 1:19
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.

Read all of 2 Corinthians 1

2 Corinthians 1:18 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Antes, Dios fiel sabe que nuestra palabra para con vosotros no es Sí y No.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Mais Dieu est fidèle, que notre parole que nous vous avons adressée, n’est pas oui et non.
German Elberfelder 1871	Gott aber ist treu, daß unser Wort an euch nicht ja und nein ist.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Fidelis autem Deus, quia sermo noster, qui fuit apud vos, non est in illo Est et Non.