1 Corinthians 9: 3-5 – to claim the expenses

My defense to those examining me is this: Have we no right at all to eat and drink? Have we no right at all to be leading about a sister as a wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?

Paul is an apostle, i.e. directly delegated by Christ himself (: 1). If the Corinthians would deny that fact, they would also deny the truth of their own faith (: 2).

The ‘right to eat and drink’ doesn’t refer to the previous theme of eating sacrificial meat (chapter 8). And also the “right to be leading about a sister as a wife” doesn’t refer to the previous theme of marriage (chapter 7). The right to eat and drink and the right to be leading about a sister as a wife, has to do with claiming the expenses at the ecclesia. The other apostles, for example Cephas, travelled with their wives and ate and drunk, and they claimed their expenses at the ecclesias. And that’s totally fair. Also Paul and his fellow workers had that right. But… Paul had a very specific reason to waive this right.

Delen: