1 Corinthians 9

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle, one sent out by Jesus? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? And are you yourselves not the result of my work for the Lord?

1Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

Note"Apostle" means one sent out as an authorized representative, with the sender's backing. Having seen the risen Jesus in person was treated as a basic qualification for the title, which is why Paul raises it first: he was not one of the original twelve, and his standing could be questioned.

2Even if I am not an apostle to others, I certainly am to you. You are the proof that the Lord made me one.

2If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

NoteA seal was a stamped impression in wax or clay used to authenticate a document or mark ownership. Calling the Corinthians the seal of his apostleship means they are the mark that certifies the claim: they exist as a church because he did the work.

3Here is my defense to the people who put me under examination:

3Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

NoteThe King James "answer" translates a word used for a formal defense speech, the kind a man makes when charged. "Examine" is the word for a judicial hearing, the cross questioning of a witness before a verdict. Paul is picturing himself on trial before his own converts.

4Do we not have the right to be given food and drink?

4Have we not power to eat and to drink?

NoteWhere the King James says "power" in this chapter (verses 4, 5, 6, 12 and 18) the underlying word means a right or entitlement, not strength or force. The question is whether Paul and his coworkers are entitled to be fed and housed at the churches' expense.

5Do we not have the right to take along a wife who is a believer, the way the other apostles do, and the Lord's brothers, and Cephas?

5Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

Note"A sister, a wife" means a wife who is herself a believer; "sister" was the ordinary word Christians used of one another. To "lead about" is to take along on travels, supported by the churches, which is the point at issue. Cephas is the Aramaic name of the apostle Peter; it means rock, the same thing the Greek name Peter means. Who exactly "the brethren of the Lord" were has been argued for centuries: full brothers, sons of Joseph by an earlier marriage, or other close kinsmen.

6Or are Barnabas and I the only ones who have no right to stop working for a living?

6Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

NoteBarnabas was Paul's partner on his first missionary journey. "Forbear working" means to stop working for a living. Paul supported himself with a trade, manual labor that a traveling teacher was not normally expected to do.

7Who ever serves as a soldier and pays his own expenses? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Who takes care of a flock and does not drink any of its milk?

7Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

8Am I only saying this the way people usually reason? Does the Law of Moses not say the same thing?

8Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

9It is written in the Law of Moses, "Do not put a muzzle on an ox while it is walking on the grain to separate it." Is God really only concerned about oxen here?

9For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

NoteThe quotation is from Deuteronomy 25:4. In the King James, "corn" means grain of any kind, wheat or barley, not maize. Grain was threshed by driving oxen back and forth over the cut stalks spread on a hard floor, so their hooves knocked the kernels loose; a muzzle would keep the animal from snatching mouthfuls as it worked.

10Is he not saying this for our sake? Yes, it was written for us. The one who plows should plow expecting a share, and the one who threshes should work expecting to share in the crop.

10Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

11If we planted spiritual things among you, is it too much to ask that we harvest material things from you?

11If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

Note"Carnal" in the King James means material or bodily, as opposed to spiritual. It carries no sexual sense here. The material things in view are food, money and lodging.

12If other people have this right to be supported by you, do we not have it even more? But we have never used this right. We put up with anything rather than get in the way of the good news about Christ.

12If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

NoteTraveling teachers and philosophers in a Greek city normally charged fees or lived off a wealthy patron, which put them under obligation to their backers and left them open to the charge of selling their message. Refusing all support was unusual enough that it needed explaining, which is what the rest of the chapter does.

13Do you not know that the people who work in the temple get their food from the temple? Those who serve at the altar receive a share of what is offered there.

13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

NoteUnder the Law of Moses, priests and Levites lived on a fixed share of the animals, grain and produce brought to the altar; that share was their income. The same arrangement was standard in Greek and Roman temples, so both Jewish and Gentile readers in Corinth would recognize the practice without needing it explained.

14In the same way, the Lord gave the instruction that those who preach the good news should make their living from that work.

14Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

NoteThe instruction referred to is generally understood as Jesus' words when he sent his followers out: that a worker deserves his food, or his wages.

15But I have not used any of these rights, and I am not writing this now to get that done for me. I would rather die than have anyone take away what I am proud of.

15But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

Note"Glorying" in the King James means boasting: the thing a man points to with pride. It does not mean glory in the sense of splendor, or praise given to God.

16Preaching the good news is nothing for me to be proud of, because I have to do it. It would go badly for me if I did not preach it.

16For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

Note"Woe is unto me" is not an expression of sadness. "Woe" is the formal cry of doom that prophets pronounced over a person or a city, and here Paul pronounces it on himself as what would follow if he stopped preaching.

17If I do this work by my own choice, I have a reward coming. But if it is not my own choice, I am still trusted with the job and must do it.

17For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

Note"Dispensation" in the King James is the word for a household manager's job: a steward, often a slave, put in charge of his master's property and accounts, who does the work because he was assigned it rather than because he offered. The modern sense of dispensation, an exemption or a special permission, is not in view.

18So what is my reward? It is this: that when I preach the good news, I can offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of the right that comes with preaching it.

18What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

NoteIn 1611, "abuse" could mean to use something up or use it to the full, not only to mistreat it. Paul is saying he does not draw on the right to be paid, rather than that he is careful not to misuse it.

19I am free, and no one owns me. Yet I have made myself a servant to everyone, so I can win as many people as possible.

19For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.

NoteThe word behind "servant" is the ordinary word for slave. The sentence is a deliberate paradox: a man who belongs to no one makes himself the property of everyone.

20With Jews I lived like a Jew, to win Jews. With people who live under the law of Moses I lived as one under that law, to win those under the law.

20And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

NoteLiving "as a Jew" meant keeping the customs that marked out Jewish life: food laws, sabbath, purity practices, the festivals. Many ancient manuscripts also include a parenthesis here, "though I myself am not under the law," which is why some modern translations carry a clause the King James does not.

21With people who do not have that law I lived as one without it, so I could win them. I am not free from God's law, though; I am under the law of Christ.

21To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

Note"Without law" translates a word meaning simply not having the Law of Moses, which is how Jews commonly described Gentiles. It does not mean lawless in the sense of criminal, which is why Paul immediately adds the parenthesis about being under the law of Christ.

22With those who are weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that by every possible means I might save some of them.

22To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

Note"The weak" has a specific sense in this letter: believers whose consciences were troubled about eating meat that had been offered to idols, the argument of chapters 8 and 10. It does not mean people who are physically frail or slow witted.

23I do all of this for the sake of the good news, so that I may share in what it brings.

23And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in the way that will win it.

24Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

NoteCorinth hosted the Isthmian games, one of the four great athletic festivals of the Greek world, every two years, so the readers had watched these races themselves. In Greek athletics only first place counted; there were no prizes for second or third.

25Every athlete who competes trains with strict self-control in everything. They do it to get a crown that will fall apart, but ours will last forever.

25And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Note"Striveth for the mastery" means competes in the games. Competitors were required to train under strict rules for months beforehand, including a controlled diet, which is what "temperate in all things" describes. The prize was a "crown," a wreath of leaves placed on the winner's head; at the Isthmian games it was wild celery, and later pine. "Corruptible" means perishable: the wreath withered within days.

26So I do not run without a goal. I do not fight like a boxer punching at empty air.

26I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

27Instead I treat my body hard and make it obey me. Otherwise, after preaching to others, I might myself be turned away.

27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Note"I keep under my body" translates a boxing term that literally means to strike someone under the eye, to give a black eye, so the fight image from verse 26 is still running. "Castaway" translates a word meaning failed on testing, used of metal that fails assay and of an athlete the judges rule ineligible. It does not mean shipwrecked or thrown away as rubbish.