New Living Translation
1 Corinthians 9:4
4Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals?
1 Corinthians 9:4 in other versions
Context of 1 Corinthians 9:4
2Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle. 3This is my answer to those who question my authority. Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? 5Don’t we have the right to bring a believing wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter does? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves?
Read all of 1 Corinthians 91 Corinthians 9:4 word by word
μὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν φαγεῖν καὶ πεῖν;Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 9:4
- 1 Corinthians 9:7What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk?
- Matthew 10:10Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes and sandals or even a walking stick. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve to be fed.
- Luke 10:7Don’t move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide. Don’t hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay.
- Galatians 6:6Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:6As for human praise, we have never sought it from you or anyone else.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:8We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you.
- 1 Timothy 5:17Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 9:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Have we not power to eat and to drink? - Have we not authority, or right, , to expect sustenance, while we are labouring for your salvation? Meat and drink, the necessaries, not the superfluities, of life, were what those primitive messengers of Christ required; it was just that they who labored in the Gospel should live by the Gospel; they did not wish to make a fortune, or accumulate wealth; a living was all they desired. It was probably in reference to…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Have we not power - ( ̓́ exousian) Have we not the “right.” The word “power” here is evidently used in the sense of “right” (compare John 1:12, “margin”); and the apostle means to say that though they had not exercised this “right by demanding” a maintenance, yet it was not because they were conscious that they had no such right, but because they chose to forego it for wise and important purposes. To eat and to drink - To be maintained at the expense of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4As an apostle, Paul had the right to expect food and housing from those he served (compare 9:14; Luke 10:7–8). However, to avoid any criticism, he chose not to use this right (see 9:6, 12, 14–15, 18; 2 Corinthians 11:7–9; 12:13–14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. Have we not power--Greek, "right," or lawful power, equivalent to "liberty" claimed by the Corinthians (1Co 8:9). The "we" includes with himself his colleagues in the apostleship. The Greek interrogative expresses, "You surely won't say (will you?) that we have not the power or right," &c. eat and drink--without laboring with our hands (1Co 9:11, 13, 14). Paul's not exercising this right was made a plea by his opponents for insinuating that he was…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 9:4
In the dictionaries
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
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