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2 Corinthians 4 · a question people ask

"But we have this treasure in clay vessels" (4:7). What is the treasure?

In the text

The verse says this treasure and doesn't say what it is. It gives a reason in its own words: "that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves" (4:7). The chapter doesn't name the treasure or the clay vessels anywhere, and these notes don't either.

The verses

“But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.”
2 Corinthians 4:7 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 4: Treasure in clay vessels

Behind light in "the light of the Good News" (4:4) and "the light of the knowledge" (4:6) is one Greek noun, and the New Testament has it only in these two verses. And "we don’t faint" (4:1) comes again at 4:16, after "pressed on every side, yet not crushed" (4:8).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions