@1Co 9:1-27. HE CONFIRMS HIS TEACHING AS TO NOT PUTTING A STUMBLING-BLOCK IN A BROTHER'S WAY (@1Co 8:13) BY HIS OWN EXAMPLE IN NOT USING HIS UNDOUBTED RIGHTS AS AN APOSTLE, SO AS TO WIN MEN TO CHRIST.
1. Am I not an apostle? am I not free?--The oldest manuscripts read
the order thus, "Am I not free? am I not an apostle?" He alludes to
@1Co 8:9, "this liberty of yours": If you claim it, I appeal to
yourselves as the witnesses, have not I also it? "Am I not free?" If you
be so, much more I. For "am I not an apostle?" so that I can claim not
only Christian, but also apostolic, liberty.
have I not seen Jesus--corporeally, not in a mere vision: compare
@1Co 15:8, where the fact of the resurrection, which he wishes to
prove, could only be established by an actual bodily appearance, such as
was vouchsafed to Peter and the other apostles. In @Ac 9:7,17 the
contrast between "the men with him seeing no man," and "Jesus that
appeared unto thee in the way," shows that Jesus actually appeared to
him in going to Damascus. His vision of Christ in the temple
(@Ac 22:17) was "in a trance." To be a witness of Christ's resurrection
was a leading function of an apostle (@Ac 1:22). The best manuscripts
omit "Christ."
ye my work in the Lord--Your conversion is His workmanship
(@Eph 2:10) through my instrumentality: the "seal of mine apostleship"
(@1Co 9:2).
2. yet doubtless--yet at least I am such to you.
seal of mine apostleship--Your conversion by my preaching, accompanied
with miracles ("the signs of an apostle," @Ro 15:18,19 2Co 12:12), and
your gifts conferred by me (@1Co 1:7), vouch for the reality of my
apostleship, just as a seal set to a document attests its genuineness
(@Joh 3:33 Ro 4:11).
3. to them that . . . examine me--that is, who call in question mine
apostleship.
is this--namely, that you are the seal of mine apostleship.
4. Have we not power--Greek, "right," or lawful power, equivalent
to "liberty" claimed by the Corinthians (@1Co 8:9). The "we" includes
with himself his colleagues in the apostleship. The Greek interrogative
expresses, "You surely won't say (will you?) that we have not the
power or right," &c.
eat and drink--without laboring with our hands (@1Co 9:11,13,14).
Paul's not exercising this right was made a plea by his opponents for
insinuating that he was himself conscious he was no true apostle
(@2Co 12:13-16).
5. lead about a sister, a wife--that is, "a sister as a wife";
"a sister" by faith, which makes all believers brethren and sisters in
the one family of God: "a wife" by marriage covenant. Paul implies he
did not exercise his undoubted right to marry and "lead about" a
believer, for the sake of Christian expediency, as well to save the
Church the expense of maintaining her in his wide circuits, as also that
he might give himself more undistractedly to building up the Church of
Christ (@1Co 7:26,32,35). Contrast the Corinthians' want of
self-sacrifice in the exercise of their "liberty" at the cost of
destroying, instead of edifying, the Church (@1Co 8:9, Margin; @1Co 8:10-13).
as other apostles--implying that some of them had availed themselves
of the power which they all had, of marrying. We know from @Mt 8:14,
that Cephas (Peter) was a married man. A confutation of Peter's
self-styled followers, the Romanists, who exclude the clergy from
marriage. CLEMENT OF
ALEXANDRIA
[Miscellanies, 7.63] records a
tradition that he encouraged his wife when being led to death by saying,
"Remember, my dear one, the Lord." Compare EUSEBIUS
[Eccleiastical History, 3.30].
brethren of the Lord--held in especial esteem on account of their
relationship to Jesus (@Ac 1:14 Ga 1:9). James, Joses, Simon, and
Judas. Probably cousins of Jesus: as cousins were termed by the Jews
"brethren." ALFORD
makes them literally brothers of Jesus by Joseph and Mary.
Cephas--probably singled out as being a name carrying weight with
one partisan section at Corinth. "If your favorite leader does so,
surely so may I" (@1Co 1:12 3:22).
6. Barnabas--long the associate of Paul, and, like him, in the habit of self-denyingly forbearing to claim the maintenance which is a minister's right. So Paul supported himself by tent-making (@Ac 18:3 20:34 1Th 2:9 2Th 3:8).
7. The minister is spiritually a soldier (@2Ti 2:3), a vine-dresser
(@1Co 3:6-8 So 1:6), and a shepherd (@1Pe 5:2,4).
of the fruit--The oldest manuscripts omit "of."
8. as a man--I speak thus not merely according to human judgment, but with the sanction of the divine law also.
9. ox . . . treadeth . . . corn--(@De 25:4). In the East to the
present day they do not after reaping carry the sheaves home to barns as
we do, but take them to an area under the open air to be threshed by the
oxen treading them with their feet, or else drawing a threshing
instrument over them (compare @Mic 4:13).
Doth God . . . care for oxen?--rather, "Is it for the oxen that God
careth?" Is the animal the ultimate object for whose sake this law was
given? No. God does care for the lower animal (@Ps 36:6 Mt 10:29),
but it is with the ultimate aim of the welfare of man, the head of
animal creation. In the humane consideration shown for the lower animal,
we are to learn that still more ought it to be exercised in the case of
man, the ultimate object of the law; and that the human (spiritual as
well as temporal) laborer is worthy of his hire.
10. altogether--Join this with "saith." "Does he (the divine lawgiver)
by all means say it for our sakes?" It would be untrue, that God saith
it altogether (in the sense of solely) for our sakes. But it is
true, that He by all means saith it for our sakes as the ultimate
object in the lower world. GROTIUS, however, translates, "mainly" or
"especially," instead of altogether.
that--"meaning that" [ALFORD]; literally, "because."
should plough--ought to plough in hope. The obligation rests with
the people not to let their minister labor without remuneration.
he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope--The oldest
manuscript versions and Fathers read, "He that thresheth (should or
ought to thresh) in the hope of partaking"
(namely, of the fruit of his threshing). "He that plougheth," spiritually,
is the first planter of a church in a place (compare @1Co 3:6,9);
"he that thresheth," the minister who tends a church already planted.
11. we . . . we--emphatical in the Greek. WE, the same persons who have sown to you the infinitely more precious treasures of the Spirit, may at least claim in return what is the only thing you have to give, namely, the goods that nourish the flesh ("your carnal things").
12. others--whether true apostles (@1Co 9:5) or false ones
(@2Co 11:20).
we rather--considering our greater labors for you (@2Co 11:23).
suffer all things--without complaining of it. We desire to conceal
(literally, "hold as a water-tight vessel") any distress we suffer from
straitened circumstances. The same Greek is in @1Co 13:7.
lest we . . . hinder . . . gospel--not to cause a hindrance to its
progress by giving a handle for the imputation of self-seeking, if we
received support from our flock. The less of incumbrance and expense
caused to the Church, and the more of work done, the better for the
cause of the Gospel (@2Ti 2:4).
13. minister about holy things--the Jewish priests and Levites. The
Greek especially applies to the former, the priests
offering sacrifices.
partakers with the altar--a part of the victims going to the service
of the altar, and the rest being shared by the priests
(@Le 7:6 Nu 18:6, &c. @De 18:1, &c.).
14. Even so--The only inference to be drawn from this passage is, not
that the Christian ministry is of a sacrificial character as the Jewish
priesthood, but simply, that as the latter was supported by the
contributions of the people, so should the former. The stipends of the
clergy were at first from voluntary offerings at the Lord's Supper. At
the love-feast preceding it every believer, according to his ability,
offered a gift; and when the expense of the table had been defrayed, the
bishop laid aside a portion for himself, the presbyters, and deacons;
and with the rest relieved widows, orphans, confessors, and the poor
generally [TERTULLIAN, Apology, 39]. The stipend was in proportion
to the dignity and merits of the several bishops, presbyters, and
deacons [CYPRIAN, c. 4, ep. 6].
preach . . . gospel--plainly marked as the duty of the Christian
minister, in contrast to the ministering about sacrifices (Greek)
and waiting at the altar of the Jewish priesthood and Levites
(@1Co 9:13). If the Lord's Supper were a sacrifice
(as the Mass is supposed to be), this fourteenth verse would certainly
have been worded so, to answer to @1Co 9:13. Note the same
Lord Christ "ordains" the ordinances in the Old and in the New
Testaments (@Mt 10:10 Lu 10:7).
15. Paul's special gift of continency, which enabled him to abstain
from marriage, and his ability to maintain himself without interrupting
seriously his ministry, made that expedient to him which is ordinarily
inexpedient; namely, that the ministry should not be supported by the
people. What to him was a duty, would be the opposite to one, for
instance, to whom God had committed a family, without other means of
support.
I have used none of these things--none of these "powers" or rights
which I might have used (@1Co 9:4-6,12).
neither--rather, "Yet I have not written."
so done unto me--literally, "in my case": as is done in the case of
a soldier, a planter, a shepherd, a ploughman, and a sacrificing priest
(@1Co 9:7,10,13).
make my glorying void--deprive me of my privilege of preaching the
Gospel without remuneration (@2Co 11:7-10). Rather than hinder the
progress of the Gospel by giving any pretext for a charge of interested
motives (@2Co 12:17,18), Paul would "die" of hunger. Compare
Abraham's similar disinterestedness (@Ge 14:22,23).
16. though I preach . . . I have nothing to glory of--that is, If I preach the Gospel, and do so not gratuitously, I have no matter for "glorying." For the "necessity" that is laid on me to preach (compare @Jer 20:9, and the case of Jonah) does away with ground for "glorying." The sole ground for the latter that I have, is my preaching without charge (@1Co 9:18):since there is no necessity laid on me as to the latter, it is my voluntary act for the Gospel's sake.
17. Translate, "If I be doing this (that is, preaching) of my own accord (which I am not, for the 'necessity' is laid on me which binds a servant to obey his master), I have a reward; but if (as is the case) involuntarily (@Ac 9:15 22:15 26:16); not of my own natural will, but by the constraining grace of God; (@Ro 9:16 1Ti 1:13-16), I have had a dispensation (of the Gospel) entrusted to me" (and so can claim no "reward," seeing that I only "have done that which was my duty to do," @Lu 17:10, but incur the "woe," @1Co 9:16, if I fail in it).
18. What is my reward?--The answer is in @1Co 9:19; namely, that
by making the Gospel without charge, where I might have rightfully
claimed maintenance, I might "win the more."
of Christ--The oldest manuscripts and versions omit these words.
abuse--rather "that I use not to the full my power." This is
his matter for "glorying"; the "reward" ultimately aimed at is
the gaining of the more (@1Co 9:19). The former, as involving the
latter, is verbally made the answer to the question, "What is my
reward?" But really the "reward" is that which is the ultimate aim of
his preaching without charge, namely, that he may gain the more; it was
for this end, not to have matter of glorying, that he did so.
19. free from all men--that is, from the power of all men.
gain the more--that is, as many of them ("all men")
as possible. "Gain" is an appropriate expression in relation to a
"reward" (@1Th 2:19,20); he therefore repeats it frequently
(@1Co 9:20-22).
20. I became as a Jew--in things not defined by the law, but by
Jewish usage. Not Judaizing in essentials, but in matters where there
was no compromise of principle (compare @Ac 16:3 21:20-26); an
undesigned coincidence between the history and the Epistle, and so a
sure proof of genuineness.
to them that are under the law, as under the law--in things defined by
the law; such as ceremonies not then repugnant to Christianity. Perhaps
the reason for distinguishing this class from the former is that Paul
himself belonged nationally to "the Jews," but did not in creed
belong to the class of "them that are under the law." This view is
confirmed by the reading inserted here by the oldest manuscripts,
versions, and Fathers, "not being (that is, parenthetically, 'not that I
am') myself under the law."
21. To them . . . without law--that is, without revealed law: the
heathen (compare @Ro 2:12 with @1Co 9:15).
as without law--not urging on them the ceremonies and "works of the
law," but "the hearing of faith" (@Ga 3:2). Also discoursing in their
own manner, as at Athens, with arguments from their own poets
(@Ac 17:28).
being not without law to God--"While thus conforming to others in
matters indifferent, taking care not to be without law in relation
to God, but responsible to law (literally, "IN LAW")
in relation to
Christ." This is the Christian's true position in relation to the world,
to himself, and to God. Everything develops itself according to its
proper law. So the Christian, though no longer subject to the literal
law as constraining him from without, is subject to an inward principle
or law, the spirit of faith in Christ acting from within as the germ of
a new life. He does not in the Greek (as in English Version)
say "under the law (as he does in @1Co 9:20) to Christ"; but
uses the milder term, "in . . . law," responsible to law. Christ was
responsible to the law for us, so that we are no longer responsible to
it (@Ga 3:13,24), but to Him, as the members to the Head
(@1Co 7:22 Ro 8:1-4 1Pe 2:16). Christians serve Christ in newness of
spirit, no longer in oldness of the letter (that is, the old external
law as such), @Ro 7:4-6. To Christ, as man's Head, the Father has
properly delegated His authority (@Joh 5:22,27); whence here he
substitutes "Christ" for "God" in the second clause, "not without law
to God, but under the law to Christ." The law of Christ is the
law of love (@Ga 6:2; compare @Ga 5:13).
22. gain the weak--that is, establish, instead of being a
stumbling-block to inexperienced Christians (@1Co 8:7) @Ro 14:1,
"Weak in the faith." ALFORD
thinks the "weak" are not Christians at all,
for these have been already "won"; but those outside the Church, who are
yet "without strength" to believe (@Ro 5:6). But when "weak"
Christians are by the condescending love of stronger brethren kept
from falling from faith, they are well said to be "gained" or won.
by all means . . . some--The gain of even "some" is worth the
expenditure of "all means." He conformed himself to the feelings of each
in the several classes, that out of them all he might gain some.
23. partaker thereof--Greek, "fellow partaker": of the Gospel blessings promised at Christ's coming: "with" (not as English Version, "you": but) them, namely, with those thus "gained" by me to the Gospel.
24. Know ye not--The Isthmian games, in which the foot race was a
leading one, were of course well known, and a subject of patriotic pride
to the Corinthians, who lived in the immediate neighborhood. These
periodical games were to the Greeks rather a passion than a mere
amusement: hence their suitableness as an image of Christian
earnestness.
in a race--Greek, "in a race course."
all . . . one--Although we knew that one alone could be saved, still
it Would be well worth our while to run [BENGEL]. Even in the Christian
race not "all" who enter on the race win (@1Co 10:1-5).
So run, that ye may obtain--said parenthetically. These are the words
in which the instructors of the young in the exercise schools
(gymnasia) and the spectators on the race course exhorted their
pupils to stimulate them to put forth all exertions. The gymnasium
was a prominent feature in every Greek city. Every candidate had to
take an oath that he had been ten months in training, and that he would
violate none of the regulations (@2Ti 2:5; compare @1Ti 4:7,8).
He lived on a strict self-denying diet, refraining from wine and
pleasant foods, and enduring cold and heat and most laborious
discipline. The "prize" awarded by the judge or umpire was a chaplet of
green leaves; at the Isthmus, those of the indigenous pine, for which
parsley leaves were temporarily substituted (@1Co 9:25). The Greek
for "obtain" is fully obtain. It is in vain to begin, unless we
persevere to the end (@Mt 10:22 24:13 Re 2:10). The "so" expresses,
Run with such perseverance in the heavenly course, as "all" the
runners exhibit in the earthly "race" just spoken of: to the end that
ye may attain the prize.
25. striveth--in wrestling: a still more severe contest than the foot
race.
is temperate--So Paul exercised self-denial, abstaining from claiming
sustenance for the sake of the "reward," namely, to "gain the more"
(@1Co 9:18,19).
corruptible--soon withering, as being only of fir leaves taken from
the fir groves which surrounded the Isthmian race course or stadium.
incorruptible--(@1Pe 1:4 5:4 Re 2:10). "Crown" here is not that of
a king (which is expressed by a different Greek word, namely,
"diadem"), but a wreath or garland.
26. I--Paul returns to his main subject, his own self-denial, and
his motive in it.
run, not as uncertainly--not as a runner uncertain of the goal. Ye
Corinthians gain no end in your entering idol temples or eating idol
meats. But I, for my part, in all my acts, whether in my becoming
"all things to all men," or in receiving no sustenance from my converts,
have a definite end in view, namely, to "gain the more." I know what 1
aim at, and how to aim at it. He who runs with a clear aim, looks
straightforward to the goal, makes it his sole aim, casts away every
encumbrance (@Heb 12:1,2), is indifferent to what the by-standers
say, and sometimes even a fall only serves to rouse him the more
[BENGEL].
not as one that beateth the air--instead of beating the adversary.
Alluding to the sciamachia or sparring in the school in sham-fight
(compare @1Co 14:9), wherein they struck out into the air as if at
an imaginary adversary. The real adversary is Satan acting on us through
the flesh.
27. keep under--literally, "bruise the face under the eyes," so as to
render it black and blue; so, to chastise in the most sensitive
part. Compare "mortify the deeds of the body," @Ro 8:13; also
@1Pe 2:11. It is not ascetic fasts or macerations of the body which are
here recommended, but the keeping under of our natural self-seeking,
so as, like Paul, to lay ourselves out entirely for the great work.
my body--the old man and the remainders of lust in my flesh. "My body,"
so far as by the flesh it opposes the spirit [ESTIUS]
(@Ga 5:17). Men may be severe to their bodies and yet indulge their
lust. Ascetic "neglect of the body" may be all the while a more subtile
"satisfying of the flesh" (@Col 2:23). Unless the soul keep the body
under, the body will get above the soul. The body may be made a good
servant, but is a bad master.
bring it into subjection--or bondage, as a slave or servant
led away captive; so the Greek.
preached--literally, "heralded." He keeps up the image from the races.
The heralds summoned the candidates for the foot race into the race
course [PLATO, Laws, 8.833],
and placed the crowns on the brows of
the conquerors, announcing their names [BENGEL]. They probably
proclaimed also the laws of the combat; answering to the preaching of the apostles
[ALFORD]. The The Christian herald is also a
combatant, in which respect he is distinguished from the herald at
the games.
a castaway--failing shamefully of the prize myself, after I have
called others to the contest. Rejected by God, the Judge of the
Christian race, notwithstanding my having, by my preaching, led others
to be accepted. Compare the equivalent term, "reprobate,"
@Jer 6:30 2Co 13:6. Paul implies, if such earnest, self-denying
watchfulness over himself be needed still, with all his labors for
others, to make his own calling sure, much more is the same needed by
the Corinthians, instead of their going, as they do, to the extreme
limit of Christian liberty.