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2 Corinthians 5:7

New Testament Epistle (Pauline) ASV (1901)

What does 2 Corinthians 5:7 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “(for we walk by faith, not by sight);” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

(for we walk by faith, not by sight);
2 Corinthians 5:7 — American Standard Version

Context — 2 Corinthians 5

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
4For indeed we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life.
5Now he that wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
6Being therefore always of good courage, and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord
7(for we walk by faith, not by sight);
8we are of good courage, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
9Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him.
10For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he hath done, whether [it be] good or bad.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“For we walk by faith, and not by sight.] Faith is a grace which answers many useful purposes; it is the eye of the soul, by which it looks to Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation; the hand by which it receives him, and the foot by which it goes to him, and walks in him as it has received him; which denotes not a single act of faith, but a continued course of believing; and is expressive, not of a weak, but of a strong steady faith of glory and happiness, and of interest in it: and it is opposed to “sight”: by which is meant, not sensible communion, but the celestial vision: there is something of sight in faith; that is a seeing of the Son; and it is an evidence of…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“we walk--in our Christian course here on earth. not by sight--Greek, "not by appearance." Our life is governed by faith in our immortal hope; not by the outward specious appearance of present things [TITTMANN, Greek Synonyms of the New Testament]. Compare "apparently," the Septuagint, "by appearance," Num 12:8. WAHL supports English Version. Co2 4:18 also confirms it (compare Rom 8:24; Co1 13:12-13). God has appointed in this life faith for our great duty, and in the next, vision for our reward [SOUTH] (Pe1 1:8).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“For we walk - To walk, in the Scriptures often denotes to live, to act, to conduct in a certain way; see the notes on Romans 4:12; Romans 6:4. It has reference to the fact that life is a journey, or a pilgrimage, and that the Christian is traveling to another country. The sense here is, that we conduct ourselves in our course of life with reference to the things which are unseen, and not with reference to the things which are seen. By faith - In the belief of those things which we do not see. We believe in the existence of objects which are invisible, and we are influenced by them. To walk by faith, is to live in the confident expectation of things that are to come; in the belief of the…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“For we cannot clearly see him in this life, wherein we walk by faith only: an evidence, indeed, that necessarily implies a kind of "seeing him who is invisible;" yet as far beneath what we shall have in eternity, as it is above that of bare, unassisted reason. 2 Corinthians 5:8”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“5:7 Our hope for future resurrection can only be known by faith (see Heb 11:1, 3, 27), yet we do have Jesus’ own resurrection and the presence of the Holy Spirit as evidence of what is to come (1 Cor 15:1-9; Eph 1:14).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Co2 1:24, Co2 4:18; Deu 12:9; Rom 8:24, Rom 8:25; Co1 13:12; Gal 2:20; Heb 10:38; Heb. 11:1-26, Heb 11:27; Pe1 1:8, Pe1 5:9 2 Corinthians 5:8”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification