2 Corinthians 4:9

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

2 Corinthians 4:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Corinthians 4:9

Persecuted, but not forsaken
Pursued from place to place, and followed with menaces, curses, and reproaches; laid hold on, proscribed, imprisoned, and threatened with the severest tortures, and death itself; but our God never leaves us nor forsakes us; though we are followed close by evil men, and left by our friends, we are not forsaken of God:

cast down
we sometimes are, as an earthen vessel; ( 2 Corinthians 4:7 ) , which may be cast out of a man's hands, in order to be dashed to pieces; or as a man in wrestling, see ( Ephesians 6:12 ) may be thrown to the ground by his antagonist, so we are sometimes foiled by sin, Satan, and the world:

but not destroyed;
we are still safe in the hands of Christ, and are kept by the power of God; and, indeed, to what else can all this be ascribed? it is surprising that earthen vessels should bear and suffer so much, and not fall, or be dashed to pieces.

2 Corinthians 4:9 In-Context

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

8 [we are] pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair;

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

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

11 For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.