1 Corinthians 9:1-6
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
The Rights of an Apostle
9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 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.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me.[a] 4 Do we not have the right to our food and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife,[b][c] as the other apostles and the brethren[d] of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 9.3 Paul set great store by the fact that he has earned his living and waived his right to support by the faithful. He used this as an authentication of his apostolate.
- 1 Corinthians 9:5 Greek woman, sister
- 9.5 wife: Greek, a “woman,” a “sister.” This could mean either a woman who is a Christian or a wife who is a Christian. There were pious women who ministered to the apostles (Lk 8.3). As many of the apostles must have been married, they may have been ministered to by their wives, though it is possible they had left their wives in answer to the Lord’s command to leave all (Lk 18.28-29).
- 9.5 brethren: See note on Mt 12.46.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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