Chapter Nine

Paul is a true Apostle and his rights as an Apostle (1–14). The Apostle voluntarily renounced the right to receive remuneration for his preaching activity by virtue of the principle of self-denial he had adopted (15–22). What dangers would have awaited the Apostle Paul had he refused to travel the path of voluntary renunciation (23–27).

1 Cor 9:1-14.

The Apostle Paul had no few opponents in Corinth (cf. 2 Cor 12:11-18) who sought to diminish his authority as an Apostle. Even the fact that he did not wish to accept remuneration for his preaching labors was held against him by his opponents, who saw in this a proof that he himself did not consider himself equal to the other Apostles of Christ. In view of such attacks on him, the Apostle first proves that he is a true apostle, and particularly for the Corinthians, that he has all the rights of an apostle and should receive support from the Corinthian community, as any laborer — as for instance a priest serving the altar receives income from the altar — although in fact the Apostle did not make use of this right, so as not to put any obstacle in the way of his preaching about Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:1. Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? In the last verses of chapter VIII the Apostle said that for the benefit of his brothers he was prepared for self-denial. Now he develops this thought, but first considers it necessary to indicate that he has something to renounce, that what he voluntarily gives up does truly belong to him. — ‘Am I not an apostle?’ It seems more correct to place this question, in accordance with many ancient manuscripts, in second place, and the question ‘Am I not free?’ in first place. In this way the transition from chapter VIII to chapter IX will be considerably more logical. In the preceding chapter he addressed people who were strong in faith and who prided themselves on their Christian freedom. In the present chapter he places himself in comparison with these people and asks them whether they do not acknowledge that he is fully in possession of such freedom? Then he points to the fact that he is truly an Apostle of Christ. Since at the appointment of an Apostle in place of Judas the requirement had been stated that the new Apostle should be from among the constant companions of Christ (Acts 1:22), Paul says that he also ‘saw’ Jesus Christ — of course during the journey to Damascus. This vision, as is known, was his ordination to the apostolic dignity by Christ Himself. The Apostle at this point calls Christ ‘our Lord’ in order to designate Him as the Head of the Church, who alone has the right to call anyone to apostolic ministry (cf. Gal 1:1 and Acts 1:26). This is the first proof of the genuineness of his apostleship. But since his opponents might call this vision a play of the imagination, the Apostle Paul considers it necessary to give a second proof of his apostleship: he points to the founding by him of the Church in Corinth, which is his ‘work.’ Wherein lies the force of this proof? The Apostle, as he says in chapter II (vv. 1–2), came to Corinth weak and defenseless. Could he have hoped that his work here would succeed? No. Yet his work proved solid. — The Church in Corinth was founded and began to flourish. Who then helped him in this case, if not Christ — the Lord who called him?! (my work — in the Lord).

1 Corinthians 9:2. If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 9:3. This is my defense to those who would examine me. Developing the last thought, the Apostle declares that the Corinthian Church can directly be called the ‘seal’ that the Lord Himself has placed upon his apostolic ministry. — ‘Those who would examine me’ — more correctly: those who are conducting an inquiry into the legitimacy of my apostleship.

1 Corinthians 9:4. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 1 Corinthians 9:5. Do we not have the right to take along a believing woman as a wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 1 Corinthians 9:6. Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? The Apostle has the right to receive support from the Corinthian Church. — ‘We,’ that is, I, Barnabas, and perhaps Timothy and Silas who participated in the founding of the Corinthian Church as co-workers of the Apostle Paul. — ‘To eat and drink’ — at the expense of the Corinthian Christian community, of course. — ‘Take along a believing woman as a wife.’ From the Greek this is more precisely translated: ‘a sister — that is, a sister in the faith — as a wife.’ The Vulgate translates: ‘a wife as a sister’ — of course in order to find here a basis for clerical celibacy. A new English translation divides both expressions as: ‘a sister, a wife.’ The first translation is more accurate: ‘a sister — that is, a Christian woman — as a wife,’ because the Apostle further appeals to the example of other apostles who, according to the testimony of antiquity, were all married except John (Clement of Alexandria and Ambrosiaster). — ‘Brothers of the Lord’ — see Matt 13:55 and parallel passages. — The Apostle thus wishes to say that the other Apostles and he, if married, would have the right to receive support from the Christian communities they founded, not only for themselves but also for their wives. — ‘Barnabas,’ though he was not called by Christ Himself to apostolic ministry as the Apostle Paul was, nonetheless, as his co-worker (Acts 13:1 and ff.; Gal 2:1 and ff.), occupied a high position. — ‘Refrain from working’ — for earning one’s livelihood, of course.

1 Corinthians 9:7. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk from the flock? The Apostle confirms the same thought about his right to support by appealing to the universally observed custom by which a soldier receives support, a vinedresser takes income from the vineyard, and a shepherd uses the milk from his flock. The Apostle probably chose these examples because the people of God were often depicted by the prophets under the images of an army, a vineyard, and a flock.

1 Corinthians 9:8. Do I say these things on merely human authority? Does not the law say the same? 1 Corinthians 9:9. For it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.’ Is it for oxen that God is concerned? This appeal to universally observed custom is here reinforced by an appeal to divine law, or the law of Moses. — ‘An ox when it treads out the grain.’ Wheat in the East was threshed in such a way that oxen or horses were driven over the spread-out sheaves, and with their hooves knocked the grain out of the ears; or an animal was harnessed to a small cart in which a worker stood and drove the ox. — ‘Is it for oxen that God is concerned?’ In giving the said law, God was not really concerned about animals, to whom He could always send food from Himself. He wished by this to awaken in the Jews good feelings toward their laborers. If — the Jews should have said to themselves — the Lord shows such care even for oxen and teaches us to be kind to them, how much more does He bind us to be kind to reasoning, free beings who labor for us?!

1 Corinthians 9:10. Or does he say it entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of receiving a share. ‘Or, entirely for our sake?’ It is better to translate: ‘or — if it is impossible to suppose that God spoke for the sake of oxen — did He not say this for our sake in the full sense of the word (πάντως)?’ — ‘For our sake,’ that is, in order to establish proper relations between you, human beings. Some commentators refer this expression only to preachers of the Gospel, but the Apostle clearly contrasts not apostles, but human beings in general, to oxen. — ‘For the one who threshes’ — this second half of the verse is read differently in different codices. According to the Alexandrian manuscripts, as well as the Vatican and Sinai codices, this passage should be translated as it appears in the Russian translation. But it is difficult to agree with this reading, because in it both tasks — plowing and threshing — are equated with each other, whereas in Holy Scripture the former is presented as very difficult while the latter is easy and constitutes part of the harvesting work, serving as a kind of festival for the laboring plowman (cf. Ps 125:5). It is therefore better to accept here the reading of other, Greco-Latin, ancient manuscripts as better corresponding to the Apostle’s thought, that is, to translate: ‘the one who plows should plow in hope (which sustains the plowman in his difficult work) that at threshing he will not be left unrewarded’ (as would happen if his mouth were bound with a bag, like an ox’s). With respect to the thresher the expression ‘in hope’ is in fact entirely unsuitable, because threshing is a sure undertaking — unlike sowing, which may not yield fruit.

1 Corinthians 9:11. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? The Apostle now applies the example from the life of the farmer to himself and his co-workers. But in doing so he makes it clear to the Corinthians that they cannot even sufficiently reward him for his activity, because his work is spiritual, while the support they should have given him is a material matter. Consequently, there cannot be any particular presumption in the Apostle’s expressing his rights to the support that should have come to him from the Corinthian Church: this is so small compared with what the Apostle Paul gave to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:12. If others share this rightful claim over you, do we not even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure everything so as not to put any obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. ‘Others’ — these are either local, Corinthian preachers, or Judaizing persons who came from Jerusalem. — ‘Rightful claim over you’ — more precisely: authority over you or the right to receive support from you. — ‘Nevertheless, we have not made use of it.’ The Apostle speaks of this in detail below (v. 15). Here the Apostle says this, unable to restrain his indignation when mentioning his opponents who leveled various charges against him. After this he resumes the thought begun above. — ‘We endure everything’ — cf. 2 Cor 11:24-27. — ‘To put any obstacle in the way of the gospel.’ Of course, if the Apostle had begun, following the example of philosophers and itinerant rhetoricians, to charge for his sermons, many might first have equated him with rhetoricians and philosophers and looked upon the very Gospel as a philosophical system, and second might have accused the Apostle of spreading the Gospel out of personal interest, in order to draw more income from his pupils.

1 Corinthians 9:13. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? The passage evidently refers to the Hebrew, Levitical priesthood, because the Apostle could not have used the word ‘temple’ with reference to a pagan temple, which he calls ‘idol’s temple’ (1 Cor 8:10). — ‘Those employed in the temple service’ — more precisely: ‘those who take care of worship.’ This refers to all Levites, including priests. — ‘Those who serve at the altar’ — these are the priests. — The Levites received tithes from the people and a portion of the sacrificial offerings, while the priests received a portion of the Levitical tithes and portions of the sacrifices.

1 Corinthians 9:14. In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. Here the Apostle adduces an already irrefutable proof — namely, the commandment of the Lord Himself. He has in mind, of course, what is transmitted by the evangelist Matthew (Matt 10:10; cf. Luke 10:7). — It is clear that the Apostle regards preaching as a special kind of ministry established by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Whereas other believers engage in the work of their profession, preachers must leave their work (‘leave their nets’ as the Apostles also had to do) in order to devote themselves exclusively to care for human souls. Therefore the Church they serve is obligated to care for their support. This applies also to the Christian clergy and establishes for them the right to receive support from their flock. 1 Cor 9:15-22. However indisputable the rights of the Apostle Paul to receive support from the Christian communities, he voluntarily renounced this right. His motive for this renunciation was the consideration that his preaching ministry was for him personally not a merit but an obligation before Christ. The Apostle extended his self-denial even further than the refusal of remuneration. In all his activity as a preacher he sacrificed his freedom wherever the benefit of his neighbor, the salvation of people, required it.

1 Corinthians 9:15. But I have made no use of any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest it should be done for me. I would rather die than have anyone nullify my boast. The Apostle speaks of his renunciation of his rights to remuneration in order to give a lesson to those among the Corinthian Christians who were unwilling, in the name of their freedom, to renounce the eating of food sacrificed to idols. — ‘I have made no use.’ The Apostle begins speaking of himself in the singular here, because what he speaks of is significant only for him personally. — ‘That it should be done for me,’ that is, that they might give me support, as they do to other teachers. — ‘My boast,’ that is, what I rightfully take pride in (namely my refusal of support).

1 Corinthians 9:16. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! Why would the Apostle rather die than lose the glory of being a teacher of the faith without charge? Because in the very teaching or preaching he cannot take pride — the performance of this ministry is for him a matter of necessity, of duty. While the twelve Apostles followed Christ by their free decision, the Apostle was compelled to take upon himself the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles; otherwise condemnation awaited him (Acts 9:5).

1 Corinthians 9:17. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. If the Apostle had entered upon the field of preaching about Christ by his own desire, this could have been credited to his praise. Yet he undertook this work not of his own will: like a trusted servant (cf. Luke 12:42), he must carry out the master’s commission, expecting no reward.

1 Corinthians 9:18. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may proclaim the gospel of Christ free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. The Apostle, however, does not wish to carry out the task entrusted to him as a slave. He wishes to do it as a free person, as a friend of the One who entrusted this work to him. For this purpose he resolved to preach without charge. — ‘What then is my reward?’ That is: ‘in what way have I resolved to obtain a reward from the Lord? (The Apostle does not wish to work without a reward.) By preaching free of charge, I am thereby doing what was not assigned to me as an obligation. By this I place myself on par with the twelve Apostles who voluntarily attached themselves to the Lord.’

1 Corinthians 9:19. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. The Apostle Paul’s self-denial is not limited to his refusal of support: it extends to his entire activity. In all his work he renounced his rights wherever this renunciation could bring benefit to his neighbor. He submitted to others’ customs in order to win a greater number of believers for Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:20. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law (though not myself being under the law), in order to win those under the law. 1 Corinthians 9:21. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law — not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ — so that I might win those outside the law. 1 Corinthians 9:22. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. Here the Apostle expounds the thought about his submission to others (‘I have made myself a servant to all’). — ‘To the Jews... to those under the law.’ The first expression denotes the Jewish people, while the second embraces all who observed the law, both Jews and Jewish proselytes from among the pagans. — ‘As a Jew... as one under the law.’ The Apostle refers here to the concessions he made when entering into fellowship with people accustomed to regard the law of Moses as binding on every Jew and troubled by any violation of this law. In view of this, the Apostle Paul performed circumcision on Timothy (Acts 16:3), made a vow at Cenchreae (Acts 18:18), and performed on himself the rite of Nazirite purification at the proposal of the Apostle James (Acts 21:26). — ‘To those outside the law as one outside the law.’ The Apostle places himself on the level of Christians from among the pagans, for whom observance of the law of Moses was not obligatory. Although he was a Jew by birth, he felt himself, as a Christian, freed from the fulfillment of the precepts of the law, which could not represent eternal value as a universal moral law. Yet at the same time he was ‘not outside the law of God,’ that is, in his inner life he was subject to the true law, the will of God. — ‘Under the law of Christ.’ With these words the Apostle explains that he submitted to the higher law of God through the fact that he first submitted to Christ. In Christ he also received the law governing his inner life. The Apostle thus distinguishes three stages of life: 1) life without law, when a person is guided in his activity only by natural inclinations; 2) life under the law, when the law is something external to the person and compels him to obedience; and 3) life in the law — the life of a Christian — when the human will becomes one with the divine law, being under the action of the Spirit of Christ. — ‘The weak’ — these are Christians insufficiently established in the faith, spoken of in chapter VIII. ‘To win’ them meant: not to allow them to fall away again into Judaism or paganism, which could happen if the Apostle had not limited his freedom for their sake or been ‘as the weak.’ — ‘Became all things’ — better: ‘every kind of person’ — a Jew, one under the law, and so on. Of course, the Apostle was guided in this not by any personal aims, but by love alone. But in any case this ability of the Apostle to accommodate himself to others’ views could give occasion to charge him with opportunism, and he is indeed charged with it. Is this just? There is opportunism of two kinds. Some contemporary theologians, seeing that society finds it difficult to believe in the miracles described in the Bible, try to present belief in miracles as entirely unnecessary for true piety: the essence of the Gospel — they say — is not in miracles! It is clear that such a concession to the spirit of the times cannot at all be justified, because it changes the very concept of Christianity as a religion that has attested itself by signs and wonders (Heb 2:4). It also happens that preachers of Christian morality strike from their program all the more demanding requirements of the Gospel, in order to attract to themselves people from educated society, and sometimes sacrifice a dogma of Christianity, a church discipline, which they consider binding only for the common people. Such opportunism does essential harm to true Christianity, because it encourages unbelief, moral license, and attachment to sensual pleasures. Christianity in such cases appears as a half-truth, only an imagined force, and at best only a roundabout way to the Kingdom of Heaven. But there is opportunism of a completely different kind. Some preacher of the Gospel possesses the ability to penetrate deeply into the secrets of another soul. With a loving gaze he sees all that disturbs and troubles another soul, and when he has to address to such a soul a word of exhortation, he makes concessions, softening the severity of his reproaches — yet without sacrificing in this the essential demands of the Gospel and its dogma. Such is the opportunism of the Apostle Paul. It is nothing other than a manifestation of his great humility and self-sacrifice for the benefit of his neighbor. The tolerance of this opportunism is not unlimited: it does not allow that each person may be saved in his own way (the saying of Frederick the Great), and this the Apostle Paul proved completely when he came out with a sharp rebuke against the Apostle Peter, who, by his concessions to the Judaizers in Antioch, was on the verge of utterly ruining the work that had been accomplished there through long effort by the Apostle Paul (see Gal 2:14). 1 Cor 9:23-27. Up to this point the Apostle had been speaking about how renouncing one’s right to eat food sacrificed to idols and certain other rights should be done for the sake of the benefit our renunciation brings to our neighbors. From here — up to verse 22 of chapter X — he begins to explain to the Corinthians that the same is required by their personal salvation, which will be greatly hindered for them if they make use of their rights without any regard for circumstances. In the conclusion to chapter IX now under consideration, the Apostle first of all makes it clear that he himself could easily lose his salvation if he were to step off the path of voluntary renunciation.

1 Corinthians 9:23. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. The Apostle makes so many concessions from his rights for the sake of the Gospel in order that he himself might become a participant in that salvation about which he preaches to others. The thought of the future reward promised to all who love God never leaves him: he wishes to receive the victor’s crown from the hands of the Righteous Judge.

1 Corinthians 9:24. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. To bring this thought — which constantly pursues him — of the future reward closer to the understanding of his readers, the Apostle compares his position with that of persons who participated in the so-called Isthmian Games. These games took place in Corinth every two years and, like the ancient Greek games (Olympic, Nemean), consisted of five exercises: jumping, discus-throwing, footracing, boxing, and wrestling. All of Greece followed these games with keen interest, and the victor was greeted with universal enthusiasm. During his two-year stay in Corinth, the Apostle Paul could have attended these games. He recalls only the footrace and boxing. — ‘All the runners run, but only one receives the prize,’ that is, there are many eager to receive a prize at the racetrack, many run toward the goal, but only one — whoever is especially strong in faith — receives the prize. — ‘So run,’ that is, like this strongest runner, gathering all your strength, and only in this way will you (many, of course, and not just one) receive the heavenly reward from the Righteous Judge. The ‘running’ of the Corinthians must consist, of course, of spiritual exercises and, above all, in self-denial.

1 Corinthians 9:25. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. Already ten months before the games their participants began preparing for them and in so doing led a very temperate way of life, so as not to weaken their body by any excess. This temperance was observed not only with respect to forbidden pleasures, but also with respect to those that were permissible from a moral standpoint. So also a Christian must abstain not only from sinful joys, but also from those accompanied or potentially accompanied by a loss of time or a weakening of moral strength. And this is all the more obligatory for a Christian, in that he receives as a reward not a simple garland of leaves — a symbol of universal human praise — but an imperishable crown.

1 Corinthians 9:26. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air; 1 Corinthians 9:27. but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. ‘I run,’ that is, I press forward further and further along the path of Christian self-improvement (cf. Phil 3:13). — ‘Not aimlessly,’ that is, not without a clear aim in view, and not without clearly seeing the path leading to this aim. — ‘I do not box’ — the Apostle here has in mind boxing, in which blows are struck to the chest of the opponent in order to knock him to the ground, and are not wasted in the air. — ‘I discipline... my body.’ This is the opponent against whom the Apostle strikes his blows! He has in mind here his bodily organism (not the flesh as the seat of sin), which he subjects to all manner of deprivation so as to make it an obedient instrument in his hands. Instead of ‘discipline,’ or more precisely ‘knock down with a blow of the fist’ (υποπιάζω), some codices read ‘bruise’ or ‘make black and blue under the eyes’ (υπωπιάζω). The second reading seems more consistent with the preceding expression ‘I do not box.’ The Apostle designates by this word (υπωπιάζω) all the deprivations to which he subjected his body — working through the night to earn his livelihood, and so on (cf. 2 Cor 6:4-5; Acts 20:34). ‘Lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.’ But all these ascetic labors of the Apostle do not, in his eyes, represent anything special. This is simply a matter of necessity. Without them he himself could lose the reward to which he was urging others. — A Christian pastor striving to save others should not forget his own salvation, which requires from him personal feats of abstinence. And not only he, as a herald inviting to the contest (‘I preach’ — κηρύσσω), but all Christians should remember that the life of a Christian must be a constant struggle of a person even against his natural inclinations, as soon as a danger arises for the person of being carried away by the desires of the world. The struggle against the old man (Rom 6:6) must be waged with unceasing energy throughout the whole life of the Christian, and it must be conducted skillfully, according to all the rules of spiritual warfare, in order to achieve the desired success. * * * The Apostle, however, says not a word to indicate that the above-stated law concerning the threshing ox has no direct application to animals. He acknowledges the literal meaning of the commandment as well, but derives from it a higher commandment — about condescension and justice toward people. From υπο and πιέσω. From υπο and ώπια (from ορσάω).