Have we no right to eat and to drink?
Parallel translations
- KJV Have we not power to eat and to drink?
- BSB Have we no right to food and to drink?
- NKJV Do we have no right to eat and drink?
- NASB Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
- NLT Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Th 2:6nor seeking glory from men (neither from you nor from others), when we might have claimed authority as apostles of Christ.
- 2 Th 3:8–9neither did we eat bread from anyone’s hand without paying for it, but in labor and travail worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you;
- Luke 10:7Remain in that same house, eating and drinking the things they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Don’t go from house to house.
- Gal 6:6But let him who is taught in the word share all good things with him who teaches.
- Matt 10:10Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor shoes, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food.
- 1 Cor 9:7–14What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink from the flock’s milk?
- 1 Th 2:9For you remember, brothers, our labor and travail; for working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached to you the Good News of God.
- 1 Tim 5:17–18Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 9:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.