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1 Corinthians 9

Chapter 9 in 30 seconds

Paul had every right to be paid for preaching, but he worked for free so nothing would block the gospel. He became all things to all people to win some. Life is a race, so run to win. Athletes train hard for a wreath that dies in a week. We run for a crown that lasts forever.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyThe Synagogue of the Hebrews · after verse 20 Field Notes · ArchaeologyThe Isthmian Games · after verse 24

The Rights of an Apostle// Deuteronomy 18:1–8

¹Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord? ²Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: ⁴Have we no right to food and to drink? ⁵Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? ⁶Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?

⁷Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?

⁸Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.

1CO 9:9[QUOTES]Direct ← DT 25:4

¹¹If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? ¹²If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

¹³Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. ¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.

¹⁶Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. ¹⁸What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

Paul the Servant to All

¹⁹Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. ²¹To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. ²²To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.

1CO 9:20[FIELD NOTES]A stone from a synagogue in Corinth was found. See The Synagogue of the Hebrews Field Notes page.
1CO 9:22[NOTABLE]Paul changed his style, not his message. With Jews he lived like a Jew, and with Gentiles like a Gentile, so he could reach people right where they were.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Synagogue of the Hebrews

1 Corinthians 9:20 · Acts 18:4 to 8

The synagogue stone in the museum at Ancient Corinth. Photo Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: A broken marble stone, probably from over a doorway, carved with the Greek words SYNAGOGUE OF THE HEBREWS. Only the middle letters survive, and the rest are filled in by experts.
HOW OLD IT IS: The date is debated. When it was found, some scholars thought it came from Paul's time. Most now date the letters later, somewhere between AD 100 and 400. It may mark a later building on the same spot, or a different synagogue.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: American School archaeologists found it in 1898 near the bottom of the Lechaion Road, the main street that led into the forum of Corinth.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: Paul preached in the synagogue in Corinth every Sabbath, Acts 18:4. When he was pushed out, he moved next door to the house of Titius Justus. Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed, Acts 18:8, and Paul baptized him, 1 Corinthians 1:14. A later leader, Sosthenes, was beaten at Gallio's court, Acts 18:17, and may be the Sosthenes of 1:1.
WHERE IT IS TODAY: In the Archaeological Museum at Ancient Corinth, Greece.
WHAT IT CONFIRMS: There was a Jewish community in Corinth with its own synagogue, just as Acts says. It reminds us that Paul's church started with Jews and God fearing Gentiles before it reached the whole city. To the Jews I became like a Jew, Paul said, 9:20.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: Because the stone is probably later, it may not be from the synagogue where Paul preached.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM

²³I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Run Your Race to Win

²⁴Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. ²⁵Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. ²⁶Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. ²⁷No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1CO 9:24[FIELD NOTES]See The Isthmian Games Field Notes page.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Isthmian Games

1 Corinthians 9:24 to 27

The starting line of the old stadium at Isthmia. The wooden posts show where the starting gate stood. Photo Zde, CC BY SA 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: The ruins of Isthmia, the sanctuary of the sea god Poseidon about 10 miles from Corinth. Every two years it hosted the Isthmian Games, one of the four big Greek games along with the Olympics. Athletes came from all over to run, wrestle, box and race chariots.
HOW OLD IT IS: The games started about 580 BC. The starting line in the photo comes from an older stadium of the 300s BC. When Rome wrecked Corinth in 146 BC the games moved to nearby Sicyon, and they came back to Isthmia around the time of Paul.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: Oscar Broneer of the University of Chicago began digging Isthmia in 1952. He found the temple of Poseidon, two stadiums and a clever starting gate. Ropes held the runners back, and a judge in a pit dropped them all at once.
THE CROWN: Olympic winners got olive leaves. Isthmian winners got a wreath of pine, or in some years dried celery. In a week it was dead. That is Paul's point. Athletes train hard for a crown that is perishable, but we run for a crown that is imperishable, 9:25.
PAUL WAS IN TOWN: Many scholars think the games were held while Paul lived in Corinth, maybe in AD 51. Paul worked as a tentmaker, Acts 18:3, and the crowds needed tents. He may have watched the runners himself.
WHERE IT IS TODAY: At the village of Kyras Vrysi near the Corinth Canal. A small museum on the site shows finds from the sanctuary.
WHAT IT CONFIRMS: Paul's readers knew exactly what he meant by a race, strict training and a crown that fades. The games were their hometown sport.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

1 Corinthians 9

The Rights of an Apostle// Deuteronomy 18:1–8

Paul the Servant to All

Run Your Race to Win

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