1 Corinthians 9
Am I not free, not an apostle — you are the seal of my apostleship. Authority to eat and drink, to take a wife about, not to work — soldier, vineyard, flock, threshing ox, temple and altar all live so. The Lord too directed that those who announce the gospel live from it. But I have not used that authority — bringing good news is a necessity laid on me, and my wage is to set the gospel free of charge. Free, I enslaved myself to all — a Jew to Jews, weak to the weak. The race in the racecourse — for an imperishable crown I bruise my body and lead it as a slave.
Why this rendering
1Cor.9.1 Observation
Syntactic observation
Οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος; οὐκ εἰμὶ ἀπόστολος; οὐχὶ Ἰησοῦν τὸν κύριον ἡμῶν ἑόρακα; οὐ τὸ ἔργον μου ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν κυρίῳ; — am I not free? am I not an apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are you not my work in the Lord? Four questions opening with οὐ/οὐχί expect the answer yes. The base text marks ⸂ἐλεύθερος; οὐκ εἰμὶ ἀπόστολος⸃ as a variant — the majority text has the order ‘apostle — free’; the base text puts ‘free’ first. That order is the thread of the chapter: the ‘authority’ (ἐξουσία) of 8:9 passes into ‘free’ in 9:1, ‘authority’ comes six times in 9:4·5·6·12·18, and 9:19 has ‘being free … I enslaved myself’ (ἐλεύθερος … ἐδούλωσα) — the echo of 7:22, ‘the free man called is a slave of Christ’. ἐξουσία follows the 8:9 rule for a person’s authority; English keeps ‘authority’ rather than ‘right’. ἀπολογία (defence) and ἀνακρίνω (examine — the verb of 4:3) in v.3 are a courtroom pair. σφραγίς (seal) in v.2 is the word of the seal of circumcision in Rom 4:11.
Rendering options · 2
Basis One word, one rendering; chapter 9 continues from ‘this authority of yours’ in 8:9.
Basis The familiar ‘right to eat and drink’.
Rejected The text’s word is the ἐξουσία of Matt 28:18 and Acts 9:14; ‘right’ reads like a different word.
Lost in translation
ἐλεύθερος (vv.1, 19) ↔ ἐδούλωσα (v.19) — the ‘free / slave’ pair of 7:22 returns in the same words.
Why this rendering
1Cor.9.9 Observation
Syntactic observation
Οὐ κημώσεις βοῦν ἀλοῶντα. μὴ τῶν βοῶν μέλει τῷ θεῷ, ἢ δι’ ἡμᾶς πάντως λέγει; … οἱ τὰ ἱερὰ ἐργαζόμενοι τὰ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐσθίουσιν, οἱ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ παρεδρεύοντες τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ συμμερίζονται — you shall not put a muzzle on a threshing ox. Are the oxen a care to God? Or does it surely say it for our sake? … those who work at the holy things eat the things from the temple, and those who sit beside the altar share with the altar. The quotation is Deut 25:4, but the verb is κημόω (put a muzzle on — only here in the New Testament); the base text marks ⸀, and other manuscripts, like the same quotation in 1 Tim 5:18, use φιμόω (muzzle — the verb of Mark 1:25 and 4:39). This edition keeps the two verbs apart as ‘put a muzzle on / muzzle’. Verse 13 has one lemma ἱερός in two shapes — τὰ ἱερά (the holy things) and τοῦ ἱεροῦ (the temple) — which English must split into ‘holy things / temple’ (a recorded loss). παρεδρεύω (sit beside the altar — only here) shares its root with εὐπάρεδρον in 7:35 (sitting well beside the Lord); ‘sit beside’ keeps the link. συμμερίζομαι (share with) is likewise a New Testament hapax. ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι comes twice in v.10 — ‘in hope’.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The base text chooses this verb only here; that 1 Tim 5:18 quotes the same verse with φιμόω becomes visible in the split rendering.
Basis Reusing the fixed rendering of φιμόω.
Rejected The two verbs merge and the base text’s ⸀ no longer shows what it divides.
Lost in translation
One lemma ἱερός — τὰ ἱερά (holy things) and τοῦ ἱεροῦ (temple) in v.13 are two words in English.
παρεδρεύω (v.13) ↔ εὐπάρεδρον in 7:35 — ‘sit beside’ keeps the shared root.
Why this rendering
1Cor.9.15 Observation
Syntactic observation
καλὸν γάρ μοι μᾶλλον ἀποθανεῖν ἤ— τὸ καύχημά μου οὐδεὶς κενώσει … ἀνάγκη γάρ μοι ἐπίκειται … εἰ γὰρ ἑκὼν τοῦτο πράσσω, μισθὸν ἔχω· εἰ δὲ ἄκων, οἰκονομίαν πεπίστευμαι — for it is good for me rather to die than — no one shall make my boast empty … for necessity lies upon me … if I practise this willingly, I have a wage; but if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with a management. Verse 15 breaks off — after ἤ (than) the second term of the comparison never comes and the base text prints a dash. The majority text continues with a purpose clause, completing the sentence as ‘than that anyone should make empty’; the base text reads ⸂οὐδεὶς κενώσει⸃ and leaves the break. This edition carries the break with the dash and does not mend the sentence. κενόω (make empty) is the verb of Rom 4:14 (faith ‘made empty’) and 1 Cor 1:17 (the cross ‘made empty’), active only here. ἑκών (willingly — the word of Rom 8:20, ‘not willingly’) and ἄκων (unwillingly — a New Testament hapax) are set against each other in one verse. οἰκονομία (management) is the word of the household manager in Luke 16:2-4, and πεπίστευμαι (I have been entrusted) is the passive of Rom 3:2. ἀνάγκη in v.16 is the ‘necessity’ of 7:37, and ἐπίκειμαι is the verb of the weather ‘lying upon’ them in Acts 27:20. καταχράομαι in v.18 (use up) is the verb of 7:31, ‘as not using up the world’.
Rendering options · 2
Basis The base text prints the dash; mending it would manufacture the majority reading in translation.
Basis The majority text reading.
Rejected It adopts a variant the base text rejects.
Lost in translation
The break in v.15 — the empty place after ἤ is carried by the dash.
ἑκών ↔ ἄκων — two words one letter apart; ‘willingly / unwillingly’ keeps the pair by a prefix.
Why this rendering
1Cor.9.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἷς δὲ λαμβάνει τὸ βραβεῖον … πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος πάντα ἐγκρατεύεται … οὕτως πυκτεύω ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων· ἀλλὰ ὑπωπιάζω μου τὸ σῶμα καὶ δουλαγωγῶ, μή πως ἄλλοις κηρύξας αὐτὸς ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι — those who run in a racecourse all run, but one receives the prize … everyone who strives exercises self-control in all things … I box thus, as not beating the air; rather I bruise my body and lead it as a slave, so that after proclaiming to others I myself may not become unapproved. The words of the games meet the words of the Gospels — καταλαμβάνω (seize; John 1:5 ‘the darkness did not seize it’), ἀγωνίζομαι (strive; Luke 13:24 ‘strive to enter through the narrow door’), ἐγκρατεύομαι (exercise self-control; 7:9), στέφανος (crown — the crown of thorns of Matt 27:29), δέρω (beat — the verb of Luke 22:63, Jesus beaten), ὑπωπιάζω (bruise; Luke 18:5, the widow who would ‘blacken my eye’), ἀδόκιμος (unapproved; Rom 1:28). Four hapaxes — βραβεῖον occurs also in Phil 3:14; πυκτεύω (box), ἀδήλως (aimlessly) and δουλαγωγέω (lead as a slave) occur only here. ἐδούλωσα in v.19 (enslaved) and δουλαγωγῶ in v.27 (lead as a slave) are joined by ‘slave’. φθαρτός/ἄφθαρτος (perishable/imperishable) is the pair of Rom 1:23.
Rendering options · 2
Basis One word, one rendering; ‘strive to enter’ and ‘everyone who strives’ are visibly one verb.
Basis The familiar athletic rendering.
Rejected It cuts the link to Luke 13:24; the racecourse and the prize in v.24 already paint the games.
Lost in translation
ἐδούλωσα (v.19) ↔ δουλαγωγῶ (v.27) — ‘slave’ joins the two.
ὑπωπιάζω — Luke 18:5 ‘blacken my eye’ and ‘bruise’ here are one verb; the shared piece is lost.