1 Corinthians 9

이 장을 의도를 가지고 읽기

1 Corinthians 9 is Paul's defense of his freedom and his explanation of why he gives it up. He has every right to be supported by the churches he serves: soldiers are paid, the law forbids muzzling a threshing ox, temple priests eat from the altar, and the Lord commanded that preachers live from the gospel. Yet Paul has used none of these rights, working with his hands so that the gospel costs nothing. Preaching is not his boast but his obligation; his reward is to offer it free. He has made himself a slave to all, a Jew to Jews, weak to the weak, all things to all people to save some. The chapter ends with the runner and the boxer who discipline their bodies for an imperishable crown.

장 주석 열기

1 Corinthians 9 sounds at first like a man defending his expenses, and in a way it is. Some in Corinth had noticed that Paul refused their money, and had drawn conclusions: either he was not a real apostle, or he knew his work was not worth paying for. Paul answers with a barrage of questions. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Do soldiers pay their own way? Does a farmer not eat his own grapes? Does the law not say you may not muzzle the ox that treads the grain? Do the priests not eat from the altar? Did the Lord not say that those who preach should live from the preaching? Having established the right beyond argument, he says he has never used it and never will. He would rather die. Preaching is not something he can take credit for, since he is under orders, woe to me if I do not preach; the only thing left to boast about is giving it away for nothing. Then he explains a policy that has puzzled and inspired the church ever since. Free of everyone, he has made himself everyone's slave: a Jew among Jews, an outsider among outsiders, weak among the weak, all things to all people, to save some of them. The chapter ends at the games that Corinth hosted every other year. Everyone runs, one wins; the athletes train hard for a crown of leaves that will be brown in a week; we run for one that lasts. So Paul runs with purpose, boxes with aim, and keeps his own body in hand, so that the man who preached to others is not himself disqualified.

핵심 본문

1 Corinthians 9:1-14 1 Corinthians 9:15-18 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Deuteronomy 25:4 Philippians 3:12-14

Historical and literary context

Paul wrote from Ephesus around AD 54 or 55. Traveling teachers in the Greek world were expected to accept fees or patronage, and Paul's refusal of Corinthian money, while he accepted gifts from Philippi, had become a point of suspicion, as if he did not consider himself a real apostle or was hiding something. He supported himself as a leatherworker, a low-status trade. "Cephas" is Peter, who traveled with his wife; "the Lord's brothers" include James. The command that preachers live from the gospel echoes Jesus' saying that the worker deserves his wages. Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games every two years, so the runner, the boxer, and the perishable crown of pine or celery leaves were local images.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 6 assert Paul's apostleship and his rights to food, drink, a wife, and support. Verses 7 to 14 argue the right from common life, from the law of Moses on the ox, from the temple, and from the Lord's command. Verses 15 to 18 explain why he waives it: the gospel free of charge is his boast and reward, since preaching itself is compulsion. Verses 19 to 23 describe his adaptability, all things to all people, for the sake of the gospel. Verses 24 to 27 draw the athletic conclusion: run to win, train with discipline, do not be disqualified.

Why this chapter matters

"I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some" is the founding text of Christian mission strategy and of every argument for adapting the form of the message to its hearers. "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel" has been the confession of preachers for two millennia, and verse 14 is the biblical basis for paying ministers. The runner and the imperishable crown gave Christian devotion its language of training, discipline, and finishing the race. Paul's example of waiving a right for the gospel's sake, which closes the argument about food offered to idols begun in chapter 8, is the classic case of freedom limited by love.

Interpretive tension to watch

"All things to all people" is easily read as a license for chameleon behavior, and interpreters stress the limits Paul himself states: he is under the law of Christ, and the goal is salvation, not approval. His refusal of support in Corinth while accepting it elsewhere was read by some as inconsistency, and 2 Corinthians shows the accusation stuck. Verse 27, "I myself will not be disqualified," raises the question of whether Paul thought he could lose his salvation, or only his usefulness or reward; the traditions divide. And his reading of the muzzled ox, "Is it about oxen that God is concerned?", is an early example of typological interpretation that some find strained.

이 장을 위한 질문

Paul had a right to be paid and chose not to use it. What right of yours might the gospel ask you to lay down?
"All things to all people" has limits. How do you adapt to the people you want to reach without losing what you are trying to give them?
Athletes train for a crown that withers. What would training look like for the crown that does not?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

노트에 추가

1 Am I not free? am I not an apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. 3 My defence to them that examine me is this. 4 Have we no right to eat and to drink? 5 Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? 6 Or I only and Barnabas, have we not a right to forbear working? 7 What soldier ever serveth at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? 8 Do I speak these things after the manner of men? or saith not the law also the same? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Is it for the oxen that God careth, 10 or saith he it altogether for our sake? Yea, for our sake it was written: because he that ploweth ought to plow in hope, and he that thresheth, [to thresh ]in hope of partaking. 11 If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things? 12 If others partake of [this ]right over you, do not we yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right; but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. 13 Know ye not that they which minister about sacred things eat [of ]the things of the temple, [and ]they which wait upon the altar have their portion with the altar? 14 Even so did the Lord ordain that they which proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel. 15 But I have used none of these things: and I write not these things that it may be so done in my case: for [it were ]good for me rather to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel. 17 For if I do this of mine own will, I have a reward: but if not of mine own will, I have a stewardship intrusted to me. 18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel without charge, so as not to use to the full my right in the gospel. 19 For though I was free from all [men], I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more. 20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, not being myself under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 to them that are without law, as without law, not being without law to God, but under law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak: I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. 23 And I do all things for the gospel’s sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof. 24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run, that ye may attain. 25 And every man that striveth in the games is temperate in all things. Now they [do it ]to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so fight I, as not beating the air: 27 but I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.

읽기를 실제 공부로 바꾸세요

회원가입하고 구절 즐겨찾기, 노트 작성, AI 학습 도구를 사용해 보세요.

회원가입 로그인

이 장 다음의 단계를 선택하세요 계속 읽거나, 계획을 선택하거나, AI와 함께 계속 공부하세요.

다음 장 읽기 1 Corinthians 10 in Revised Version (1895).

읽기 플랜

이 장을 반복 가능한 습관으로 만들고 싶다면 계획을 선택하세요.

이 장에 대해 AI에게 묻기

텍스트가 질문을 제기하거나 한 번의 읽기보다 더 깊이 파고들 때 AI 연구를 계속하세요.

이 장이 여는 주제들을 따라가세요 이 장이 열었을 수 있는 더 큰 질문들에 대한 관련 주제 허브.

모든 주제 둘러보기