Have we not power to eat and to drink?
Parallel translations
- WEB Have we no right 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.
Quick answer
Don't Paul and his coworkers have the right to receive food and drink—that is, material support—for their ministry? He affirms a legitimate apostolic entitlement.
Overview
Paul begins listing the rights he could claim. The first is the basic right to be supported by those he serves, freed from earning his own keep so he can labor in the gospel. This is not greed but a God-given provision for ministers. By naming the right clearly, Paul prepares to show that his refusal to use it (v. 12, 15) is a deliberate act of love, not a sign of inferiority.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Th 2:6Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.
- 2 Th 3:8–9Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
- Luke 10:7And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
- Gal 6:6Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
- Matt 10:10Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
- 1 Cor 9:7–14Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
- 1 Th 2:9For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
- 1 Tim 5:17–18Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
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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
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