Text -- 1 Corinthians 9:1-9 (NET)

The Rights of an Apostle

9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 9:2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the confirming sign of my apostleship in the Lord. 9:3 This is my defense to those who examine me. 9:4 Do we not have the right to financial support? 9:5 Do we not have the right to the company of a believing wife, like the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 9:6 Or do only Barnabas and I lack the right not to work? 9:7 Who ever serves in the army at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not consume its milk? 9:8 Am I saying these things only on the basis of common sense, or does the law not say this as well? 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” God is not concerned here about oxen, is he?

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Co 9:2

¹ tn Grk “the seal.”

NET Notes: 1Co 9:4

¹ tn Grk “the right to eat and drink.” In the context this is a figurative reference to financial support.

NET Notes: 1Co 9:8

¹ tn Or “only according to human authority”; Grk “saying these things according to men.”

NET Notes: 1Co 9:9

¹ sn A quotation from Deut 25:4.