2 Corinthians 1:9 (DBY)

Passage

But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not have our trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

Nearby Context

2 Corinthians 1:7 (and our hope for you [is] sure;) or whether we are encouraged, [it is] for your encouragement and salvation: knowing that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so also of the encouragement.

2 Corinthians 1:8 For we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, as to our tribulation which happened [to us] in Asia, that we were excessively pressed beyond [our] power, so as to despair even of living.

2 Corinthians 1:9 But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not have our trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;

2 Corinthians 1:10 who has delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver; in whom we confide that he will also yet deliver;

2 Corinthians 1:11 ye also labouring together by supplication for us that the gift towards us, through means of many persons, may be the subject of the thanksgiving of many for us.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "ourselves", "sentence", "death", "should", "trust", and "raises". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "ourselves" and "sentence", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "For we do not wish you to..." into verse 10's "who has delivered us from so great...", so "ourselves" and "sentence" belong inside that flow. In 2 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "ourselves" and "sentence" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.