<p>8:2 <i>For in a severe test of affliction- </i>The severe famine in Palestine was matched by a severe test of some sort in Macedonia; perhaps there was a famine there too.</p><p><i>Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part</i>- They were indeed cheerful givers, for their joy was the motivation for their giving. Their joy for what the Lord had done for them, for the &ldquo;abundance&rdquo; s.w. of His grace and giving to them (Rom. 5:17), led to their giving to the poor. The request for the Corinthians to be cheerful givers was therefore directly based on the Macedonian example (9:7). Likewise the &quot;generosity&quot; of the Macedonians was to be emulated by the Corinthians (9:11,13).</p>