Devine Scripture

2 Corinthians 4:9

What does 2 Corinthians 4:9 mean?

A plain-English look at 2 Corinthians 4:9 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 2 Corinthians 4:9 means

Opposition intensifies: hunted by enemies and physically knocked down. Still, Paul is not abandoned by God and not destroyed. Divine presence guards him in dangers that would seem to prove divine absence. His survival is not luck; it is covenant faithfulness toward a servant of Jesus. The phrase “struck down” may imply public shaming or violence, yet even then the story does not end in ruin. This is a window into the cost of ministry and the sufficiency of God: the weaker the vessel appears, the more surprising its preservation, pointing away from Paul’s endurance to God’s steady, sustaining hand.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed;

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed;

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

We are cruelly attacked, but not without hope; we are made low, but we are not without help;

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

We suffer persecution: but are not forsaken. We are cast down: but we perish not.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

persecuted, but not abandoned; cast down, but not destroyed;

Context

Completing the pair of paradoxes begun in verse 8, this verse highlights external hostility and God’s faithful nearness. Together they display the clay-jar principle (verse 7). With the experience of ongoing preservation established, verses 10–11 will provide the theological lens: these sufferings mirror Jesus’ death so that His life becomes visible in Paul’s body. The flow moves from description of trials to interpretation of their Christ-centered purpose, and then to the ministry outcome in verse 12—life working in the Corinthians.

v.8we are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair;

v.9This passage

v.10always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • John 15:20

    Remember the word that I said unto you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also.

  • Isaiah 43:2

    When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

  • Proverbs 24:16

    For a righteous man falleth seven times, and riseth up again; But the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

  • 2 Corinthians 7:6

    Nevertheless he that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted us by the coming of Titus;

  • Psalms 22:1

    My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou sofar from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

  • Psalms 37:24

    Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For Jehovah upholdeth him with his hand.

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