2 Corinthians 4:7
New International Version
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

New Living Translation
We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

English Standard Version
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Berean Standard Bible
Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.

Berean Literal Bible
Now we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassingness of the power may be from God, and not from us,

King James Bible
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

New King James Version
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

New American Standard Bible
But we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

NASB 1995
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

NASB 1977
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves;

Legacy Standard Bible
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves;

Amplified Bible
But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves.

Christian Standard Bible
Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us.

American Standard Version
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But we have this treasure in Earthen vessels, that the greatness of the power would be from God and not from us.

Contemporary English Version
We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not of us.

English Revised Version
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Our bodies are made of clay, yet we have the treasure of the Good News in them. This shows that the superior power of this treasure belongs to God and doesn't come from us.

Good News Translation
Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us.

International Standard Version
But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us.

Literal Standard Version
And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us,

Majority Standard Bible
Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.

New American Bible
But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.

NET Bible
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.

New Revised Standard Version
But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.

New Heart English Bible
But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves.

Webster's Bible Translation
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not from us.

Weymouth New Testament
But we have this treasure in a fragile vase of clay, in order that the surpassing greatness of the power may be seen to belong to God, and not to originate in us.

World English Bible
But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.

Young's Literal Translation
And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Treasures in Jars of Clay
6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;…

Cross References
Judges 7:2
Then the LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many people for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

Job 4:19
how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!

Job 10:9
Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?

Job 33:6
I am just like you before God; I was also formed from clay.

Lamentations 4:2
How the precious sons of Zion, once worth their weight in pure gold, are now esteemed as jars of clay, the work of a potter's hands!

John 16:33
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!"

1 Corinthians 2:5
so that your faith would not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.


Treasury of Scripture

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

this.

2 Corinthians 4:1
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

2 Corinthians 6:10
As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

Matthew 13:44,52
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field…

in.

2 Corinthians 5:1
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 Corinthians 10:10
For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

Judges 7:13,14,16-20
And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along…

that.

2 Corinthians 3:5,6
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; …

2 Corinthians 12:7-9
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure…

2 Corinthians 13:4
For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.

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Belong Belongs Clay Earth Earthen Exceeding Excellence Excellency Fragile Greatness Jars Order Originate Ourselves Power Show Surpassing Transcendent Treasure Vase Vessels Wealth
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Belong Belongs Clay Earth Earthen Exceeding Excellence Excellency Fragile Greatness Jars Order Originate Ourselves Power Show Surpassing Transcendent Treasure Vase Vessels Wealth
2 Corinthians 4
1. Paul declares how he has used all sincerity and diligence in preaching the gospel,
7. and how his troubles and persecutions did redound to the praise of God's power,
12. to the benefit of the church,
16. and to the apostle's own eternal glory.














(7) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels.--The imagery here begins to change. The treasure is "the knowledge of the glory of God" as possessed by the Apostle. It was the practice of Eastern kings, who stored up their treasures of gold and silver, to fill jars of earthenware with coin or bullion (Herod. iii. 103. Comp. also Jeremiah 32:14). "So," St. Paul says, in a tone of profound humility, "it is with us. In these frail bodies of ours--'earthen vessels'--we have that priceless treasure." The passage is instructive, as showing that the "vessels of wood and of earth" in 2Timothy 2:20 are not necessarily identical with those made for dishonour. The words have probably a side glance at the taunts that had been thrown out as to his bodily infirmities. "Be it so," he says; "we admit all that can be said on that score, and it is that men may see that the excellence of the power which we exercise comes from God, and not from ourselves." The words that follow, contrasting sufferings and infirmities in their manifold variety with the way in which they were borne through God's strengthening grace, show this to be the true underlying sequence of thought.

Verses 7-15. - Glory of the ministry in the midst of its weakness and suffering. Verse 7. - In earthen vessels. The glorious light which we have to show to the world is, like Gideon's torches, carried in earthen pitchers. The word skenos, vessel, is used in Mark 11:16, and "vessels of earthenware" in Revelation 2:27. St. Paul, in Acts 9:15, is called "a vessel of election," whence Dante calls him lo vas d elezione. Man can never be more than an earthen vessel, being frail and humble, and the metaphor specially suits an apostle of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:3-5; 2 Timothy 2:20). But when he takes the Word of life from the earthen pitcher and waves it in the air, it illuminates all on whom the light shines. No commentator seems to have seen the probable allusion to Gideon's pitchers. It is the "light," of which he has been speaking exclusively in the last verses, which constitutes the "treasure." Those who suppose that the "treasure" is gold or silver or something else of value, refer to Jeremiah 32:14, and Herod., 3:103; Pers., 'Sat.,' 2:10. The excellency; literally, the excess or abundance. Of God, and not of us; rather, of God, and not from us.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Now
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

we have
Ἔχομεν (Echomen)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 2192: To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

this
τοῦτον (touton)
Demonstrative Pronoun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3778: This; he, she, it.

treasure
θησαυρὸν (thēsauron)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2344: A store-house for precious things; hence: a treasure, a store. From tithemi; a deposit, i.e. Wealth.

in
ἐν (en)
Preposition
Strong's 1722: In, on, among. A primary preposition denoting position, and instrumentality, i.e. A relation of rest; 'in, ' at, on, by, etc.

jars
σκεύεσιν (skeuesin)
Noun - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 4632: A vessel, implement, equipment or apparatus (specially, a wife as contributing to the usefulness of the husband).

of clay
ὀστρακίνοις (ostrakinois)
Adjective - Dative Neuter Plural
Strong's 3749: Made of clay, earthen. From ostrakon; earthen-ware, i.e. Clayey; by implication, frail.

to show that
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

[this]
(hē)
Article - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

surpassingly great
ὑπερβολὴ (hyperbolē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5236: From huperballo; a throwing beyond others, i.e. supereminence; adverbially pre- eminently.

power
δυνάμεως (dynameōs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1411: From dunamai; force; specially, miraculous power.

is
(ē)
Verb - Present Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

from God
Θεοῦ (Theou)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

not
μὴ (mē)
Adverb
Strong's 3361: Not, lest. A primary particle of qualified negation; not, lest; also (whereas ou expects an affirmative one) whether.

from
ἐξ (ex)
Preposition
Strong's 1537: From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.

us.
ἡμῶν (hēmōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1473: I, the first-person pronoun. A primary pronoun of the first person I.


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NT Letters: 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in clay (2 Cor. 2C iiC 2Cor ii cor iicor)
2 Corinthians 4:6
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