[God] comforts us in all our distress so we’ll be able to comfort others in any distress—using the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God (2 Corinthians 1:4 Becky’s No-nonsense Paraphrase).

We All Need Comfort

A catastrophic brain bleed killed my younger sister. One instant changed our lives. Before she died, I didn’t comprehend the depth of sorrow for those who’d lost close family members. Without a point of comparison, my heart couldn’t relate to the ongoing pain, the sudden reminders, or the grief of yet another birthday. 

Before my sister died, I had no idea how to comfort others who’d lived through a great loss. After she died, my experience changed. I’ve lived with brain fog, worked to overcome the feeling I was missing a limb, and tried not to roll my eyes at well-meant platitudes. Over time, I’ve found the deep comfort only God can provide. A new understanding allows me to help others.

The Meaning of Comfort

In many Bible versions, 2 Corinthians 1:4 has the mouthfeel of a limerick. Comfort, comfort, comfort, comforted. The English language sometimes muddles nuances, which is why I love understanding the Greek meaning. (BlueLetterBible.org provides accessible tools for understanding the Bible as originally written: God’s love letter to broken hearts.)

The word for comfort in this verse comes from the Greek root word parakaleō, which is a combination of pará(close beside) and kaléō (make a call). The Greek idea of comfort involves the thought of making a call personally or coming alongside and speaking close to someone. Encouraging. Strengthening. Consoling. Close at hand. God is near when we are desperate for comfort. 

In English, the word comfort is . . . comfort. Though Greek uses the same root word, small changes in form adjust the meaning to something deeper.

Comfort Comes from God

In this verse, the first two instances of comfort are present active participles—nouns used as verbs to show action. God actively comforts us, and we actively comfort others. But in the last half of the verse (the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God) the first instance of comfort is a genitive singular noun. This matters because genitive tense shows ownership. The comfort belongs to God. The second use, “comforted,” is aorist passive infinitive, which indicates something has been done to someone else. We are passive recipients of God’s comfort. We don’t have to come up with the strength to comfort others on our own—we simply pass on God’s comfort, which he’s poured into us.

God of All Comfort

The same Greek word from the root pas (all) is used prior to the word thlipsis (distress), a singular noun. The addition of one little Greek word (τῇ) between the word for “all” and the word for “distress” creates a small (and enormous) difference, which is why one instance is translated to English as “all, total” and the second is translated “any,” or “any variety.” 

 “[God] comforts us in all our distress, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of distress…” Amazing, right? God is able to comfort us in all our troubles. He can handle the total load. He carries the entire burden. We are not equipped to cover all the trouble at once—particularly for someone else—but we can help during a difficulty by passing on the comfort God creates, owns, and provides to us.   

We Can Comfort Others

So many of our friends’ hearts are hurting, just as our hearts have ached. Some of us aren’t ready to console and support others, because we’re still receiving God’s comfort for our own pain. But as we heal, let’s look for others who need the incredible comfort God provides. What a relief we’re not responsible to create the comfort ourselves—we can draw strength from the comfort God has given us and pass it on.