1 Corinthians 9:15

οὐ κέχρημαι οὐδενί אABCDEFG. οὐδενὶ ἐχρησάμην rec.

οὐδεὶς κενώσει. κενώσει is read by אABCDEFG, οὐδείς by אBD Vetus Lat. A reads οὐθεὶς μή. FG read τις. The rec. ἵνα τις is supported by C and probably E. The text is supported by the authority of Tertullian, and the Old Latin version has quam gloriam meam nemo exinaniet (Tert. inaniet). On the whole it seems probable that ἵνα τις was the original text, and that οὐδείς was introduced from the practice of paraphrasing the passage as Tertullian does. For quis is found in Vulg. and in some MSS. of the Vetus Lat.

15. κέχρημαι. This is stronger than the ἐχρησάμεθα of 1 Corinthians 9:12, and implies more of a settled habit or purpose. The rec. ἐχρησάμην is no doubt introduced from 1 Corinthians 9:12. The first person here introduces St Paul’s own personal practice, as distinct from that of Barnabas and other missionaries to the Gentiles.

οὐδενὶ τούτων. Having disposed of the objections against his claims to Apostleship, he proceeds to the instance he had been intending to give of his voluntary abandonment of his rights as a Christian for the sake of others. Thus he vindicates his own consistency, shewing that the doctrine he laid down in ch. 1 Corinthians 6:12, and which he again asserts in 1 Corinthians 9:19 of this chapter, is a yoke which he not only imposes upon others, but willingly bears himself.

οὐδεὶς κενώσει. The only possible interpretation of these words is that St Paul eagerly breaks off in the midst of a sentence to express himself as forcibly as possible ‘It were well for me to die than that my boast—no man shall make (that) void,’ or ‘It were well for me to die than—no one shall make my boast void.’ But there seems good ground for supposing (see Critical Note) that οὐδείς has crept very early into the text from some paraphrase. For καύχημα see ch. 1 Corinthians 5:6.