1 Corinthians 9:27

1 Corinthians 9:27 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
• English Standard Version (ESV)But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
• New Living Translation (NLT)I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Context of 1 Corinthians 9:27

25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:27 word by word

ἀλλ᾽ ὑπωπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μή πως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butἀλλάalla · butG235
• I keep underὑπωπιάζωhupōpiazō · to wear outG5299
• myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• bodyὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• bodyσῶμαsōma · bodyG4983
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• bringδουλαγωγέωdoulagōgeō · to enslaveG1396
• lest that by any meansμήπωςmēpōs mē pōs · so thatG3381
• when I have preachedκηρύσσωkērussō · to preachG2784
• to othersἄλλοςallos · anotherG243
• I myselfαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• should beγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• a castawayἀδόκιμοςadokimos · failingG96

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 9:27

• 1 Corinthians 9:25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
• 1 Corinthians 4:11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
• 1 Corinthians 6:12“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
• 1 Corinthians 8:13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
• Romans 8:13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
• 2 Corinthians 6:4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;
• 2 Corinthians 11:27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.
• Colossians 3:5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
• 2 Timothy 2:22Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
• 1 Peter 2:11Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
• Romans 6:18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
• 1 Corinthians 13:1If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
• Psalms 50:16But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?
• Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
• Luke 12:45But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.
• Luke 13:26“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 9:27

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27But I keep under my body, etc. - This is an allusion, not only to boxers, but also to wrestlers in the same games, as we learn from the word ̔, which signifies to hit in the eyes; and , which signifies to trip, and give the antagonist a fall, and then keep him down when he was down, and having obliged him to acknowledge himself conquered, make him a slave. The apostle considers his body as an enemy with which he must contend; he must mortify it by…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27But I keep under my body - ( ̔́ hupōpiazō). This word occurs in the New Testament only here and in Luke 18:5, “Lest by her continual coming she weary‘ me.” The word is derived probably from ̔́ hupōpionthe part of the face “under the eye” (Passow), and means properly, to strike under the eye, either with the fist or the cestus, so as to render the part livid, or as we say, “black and blue”; or as is commonly termed, “to give anyone a black eye.” The…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24-27Verses 24-27 The apostle compares himself to the racers and combatants in the Isthmian games, well known by the Corinthians. But in the Christian race all may run so as to obtain. There is the greatest encouragement, therefore, to persevere with all our strength, in this course. Those who ran in these games were kept to a spare diet. They used themselves to hardships. They practised the exercises. And those who pursue the interests of their souls, must…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27I myself will not be disqualified: Those disqualified from a sporting event cannot win the prize. To avoid losing the eternal prize, Paul disciplined himself strictly, like an athlete, to stay close to Christ and avoid sin (see 9:25; Hebrews 12:1).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2727. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 9:27

• Affections
• Apostasy
• Appetite
• Captivity
• Continence
• Lasciviousness
• Lust
• Minister, Christian
• Self-Denial
• Stoicism
• Temperance
• War
• Watchfulness
• Wicked (People)
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Castaway
• Crown
• Forbear
• Mastery
• Plow
• Reprobate
• Wait
• Body
• Buffet
• Burden

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings