CHAPTER IX. _St. Paul vindicates his apostleship, and shows that he has_ _equal rights and privileges with Peter and the brethren of our_ _Lord; and that he is not bound, while doing the work of an_ _apostle, to labour with his hands for his own support_, 1-6. _He who labours should live by the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:2. _IF I BE NOT AN APOSTLE UNTO OTHERS_] If there be other Churches which have been founded by other apostles; yet it is not so with you. _THE SEAL OF MINE APOSTLESHIP ARE YE_] Your conversion to Christianity is God's _seal_ to my apostleship. Had not God sent me, I could not... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:3. _MINE ANSWER TO THEM_] Ἡ εμη απολογια τοις εμε ανακρινουσιν· This is my _defence_ against those who examine me. The words are _forensic_; and the apostle considers himself as brought before a legal tribunal, and questioned so as to be obliged to answer as upon oath. His def... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:4. _HAVE WE NOT POWER TO EAT AND TO DRINK?_] Have we not _authority_, or _right_, εξουσιαν, to expect sustenance, while we are labouring for your salvation? Meat and drink, the _necessaries_, not the superfluities, of life, were what those primitive messengers of Christ requir... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:5. _HAVE WE NOT POWER TO LEAD ABOUT A SISTER, A WIFE_] The word εξουσιαν is to be understood here, as above in 1 Corinthians 9:4, as implying authority or right; and authority, not merely derived from their office, but from Him who gave them that office; from the constitution o... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:6. _OR I ONLY AND BARNABAS_] Have we alone of all the apostles no right to be supported by our converts? It appears from this, 1. That the apostles did not generally support themselves by their own labour. 2. That Paul and Barnabas did thus support themselves. Some of the ot... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:7. _WHO GOETH A WARFARE - AT HIS OWN CHARGES?_] These questions, which are all supposed from the necessity and propriety of the cases to be answered in the _affirmative_, tend more forcibly to point out that the common sense of man joins with the providence of God in showing th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:8. _SAY I THESE THINGS AS A MAN?_] Is this only human reasoning? or does not God say in effect the same things? Romans 6:19, Romans 6:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:9. _THOU SHALT NOT MUZZLE THE MOUTH OF THE OX_] See this largely explained in _Clarke's note on "_Deuteronomy 25:4_"_. _DOTH GOD TAKE CARE FOR OXEN?_] This question is to be understood thus: Is it likely that God should be solicitous for the comfort of _oxen_, and be regardle... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:10. _AND HE THAT THRESHETH IN HOPE SHOULD BE PARTAKER OF_ _HIS HOPE._] Instead of ὁ αλοων της ελπιδος αυτου μετεχειν, επ' ελπιδι, many of the best MSS. and versions read the passage thus: ὁ αλοων επ' ελπιδι του μετεχειν· _And he who thresheth in hope_ _of partaking_. "The wor... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:11. _IF WE HAVE SOWN UNTO YOU SPIRITUAL THINGS_] If we have been the means of bringing you into a state of salvation by the Divine doctrines which we have preached unto you, is it too much for us to expect a temporal support then we give ourselves up entirely to this work? Ever... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:12. _IF OTHERS BE PARTAKERS OF THIS POWER_] If those who in any matter serve you have a _right_ to a recompense for that service, surely we who have served you in the most essential matters have a right to our support while thus employed in your service. _WE HAVE NOT USED THIS... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:13. _THEY WHICH MINISTER ABOUT HOLY THINGS_] All the officers about the temple, whether priests, Levites, Nethinim, c., had a right to their support while employed in its service. The priests partook of the sacrifices the others had their maintenance from tithes, first fruits,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:14. _EVEN SO HATH THE LORD ORDAINED_] This is evidently a reference to our Lord's ordination, Matthew 10:10: _The workman is worthy of his meat_. And Luke 10:7: _For the labourer is worthy of his hire_. And in both places it is the _preacher_ of the _Gospel_ of whom he is speak... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:15. _NEITHER HAVE I WRITTEN_, c.] Though I might plead the authority of God in the law, of Christ in the Gospel, the common consent of our own doctors, and the usages of civil society, yet I have not availed myself of my privileges nor do I now write with the intention to lay i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:16. _FOR THOUGH I PREACH THE GOSPEL_] I have cause of glorying that I preach the Gospel free of all charges to you; but I cannot _glory_ in being a preacher of the Gospel, because I am not such either by my own skill or power. I have received both the _office_, and the grace by... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _FOR IF I DO THIS THING WILLINGLY_] If I be a cordial co-operator with God, _I have a reward_, an incorruptible crown, 1 Corinthians 9:25. Or, if I freely preach this Gospel without being burthensome to any, I have a special reward; but if I do not, I have simply an office to fulfil, into... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 18. _THAT I ABUSE NOT MY POWER_] I am inclined to think that καταχρησασθαι is to be understood here, not in the sense of _abusing_, but of _using to the uttermost_ - exacting every thing that a man can claim by law. How many proofs have we of this in preachers of different denominations, who... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 19. _FOR THOUGH I BE FREE_] Although I am under no obligation to any man, yet I act as if every individual had a particular property in me, and as if I were the _slave_ of the public.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 20. _UNTO THE JEWS I BECAME AS A JEW_] In Acts 16:3, we find that for the sake of the unconverted Jews he circumcised Timothy. See the note there. _TO THEM THAT ARE UNDER THE LAW_] To those who considered themselves still under obligation to observe its rites and ceremonies, though they had i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 21. _TO THEM THAT ARE WITHOUT LAW_] The _Gentiles_, who had no written law, though they had the _law written in their hearts_; Romans 2:15, Romans 2:15. _BEING NOT WITHOUT LAW TO GOD_] Instead of θεω, TO _God_, and χριστω, TO _Christ_, the most important MSS. and versions have θεου, OF _God_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 22. _TO THE WEAK BECAME I AS WEAK_] Those who were conscientiously _scrupulous_, even in respect to lawful things. _I AM MADE ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN_] I assumed every shape and form consistent with innocency and perfect integrity; giving up my own will, my own way, my own ease, my own pleasure... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 23. _AND THIS I DO FOR THE GOSPEL'S SAKE_] Instead of τουτο, _this_, παντα, _all things_, (I do all things for the Gospel's sake,) is the reading of ABCDEFG, several others, the _Coptic, AEthiopic, Vulgate, Itala, Armenian_, and _Sahidic_; the two latter reading ταυτα παντα, _all these things_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 24. _THEY WHICH RUN IN A RACE RUN ALL_] It is sufficiently evident that the apostle alludes to the athletic exercises in the games which were celebrated every fifth year on the isthmus, or narrow neck of land, which joins the Peloponnesus, or Morea, to the main land; and were thence termed the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 25. _IS TEMPERATE IN ALL THINGS_] All those who contended in these exercises went through a long state and series of painful preparations. To this exact discipline _Epictetus_ refers, cap. 35: Θελεις Ολυμπια νικησαι; Δει σ' ευτακτειν, αναγκοτροφειν, απεχεσθαι, πεμματων, γυμναζεσθαι προς αναγκ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _I THEREFORE SO RUN, NOT AS UNCERTAINLY_] In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only _one_ could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, _all_ ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 1 Corinthians 9:27. _BUT I KEEP UNDER MY BODY_, c.] This is an allusion, not only to _boxers_, but also to _wrestlers_ in the same games, as we learn from the word υπωπιαζω, which signifies to _hit in the eyes_ and δουλαγωγω, which signifies to trip, and give the antagonist a fall, and then _k... [ Continue Reading ]