CHAPTER 9
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 (Jn 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 Je 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 (Jn
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; Rev 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; Rev 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,”
Je 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.
Excerpt from:
A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
by Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown
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