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tles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? 7 Who 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?

gospel should live by the gospel; they did not wish to make a fortune, or accumulate wealth; a living was all they desired. It was probably in reference to the same moderate and reasonable desire that the provision made for the clergy in this country was called a living; and their work for which they got this living was called the cure of souls. Whether we derive the word cure from cura, care, as signifying that the care of all the souls in a particular parish or place devolves on the minister, who is to instruct them in the things of salvation, and lead them to heaven; or whether we consider the term as implying that the souls in that district are in a state of spiritual disease, and the minister is a spiritual physician, to whom the cure of these souls is intrusted; still we must consider that such a labourer is worthy of his hire; and he that preaches the gospel should live by the gospel.

Verse 5. Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife] The word εovolav is to be understood here, as above in ver. 4, as implying authority or right; and authority, not merely derived from their office, but from Him who gave them that office; from the constitution of nature; and from universal propriety or the fitness of things.

When the apostle speaks of leading about a sister, a wife, he means first, that he and all other apostles, and consequently all ministers of the gospel, had a right to marry. For it appears that our Lord's brethren James and Jude were married; and we have infallible evidence that Peter was a married man, not only from this verse, but from Matt. viii. 14, where his mother-in-law is mentioned as being cured by our Lord of a fever.

And secondly, we find that their wives were persons of the same faith; for less can never be implied in the word sister. This is a decisive proof against the papistical celibacy of the clergy and as to their attempts to evade the force of this text by saying that the apostles had holy women who attended them, and ninistered to them in their peregrinations, there is no proof of it; nor could they have suffered either young women or other men's wives to have accompanied them in this way without giving the most palpable occasion of scandal. And Clemens Alexandrinus has particularly remarked that the apostles

man? or saith not the law the same also?

9 For it is written in the law

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of Moses, "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. God take care for oxen?

10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and

f Deut. xx. 6. Prov. xxvii. 18. Ch. iii. 6, 7, 8.- John xxi. 15.-h Deut. xxv. 4. 1 Tim. v. 18.-12 Tim. ii. 6.

carried their wives about with them, "not as wives, but as sisters, that they might minister to those who were mistresses of families; that so the doctrine of the Lord might without reprehension or evil suspicion enter into the apartments of the women." And in giving his finished picture of his Gnostic, or perfect Christian, he says : εσθίει, και πινει, και γαμει ELKOVAC EXEL TOUS ATоσTOλOUS, He eats, and drinks, and marries having the apostles for his example. Vid. Clem. Alex. Strom., lib. vii., c. 12.

On the propriety and excellence of marriage, and its superiority to celibacy, see the notes on chap. vii. Verse 6. Or I only and Barnabas] Have we alone of all the apostles no right to be supported by our converts? It appears from this, 1. That the apostles did not generally support themselves by their own labour. 2. That Paul and Barnabas did thus support themselves. Some of the others probably had not a business at which they could conveniently work; but Paul and Barnabas had a trade at which they could conveniently labour wherever they came.

Verse 7. Who goeth a warfare—at his own charges?] These questions, which are all supposed from the necessity and propriety of the cases to be answered in the affirmative, tend more forcibly to point out that the common sense of man joins with the providence of God in showing the propriety of every man living by the fruits of his labour. The first question applies particularly to the case of the apostle, rig orpatevetai idiois ofwvos Does a soldier provide his own victuals? Οψωνιον is used to express the military pay or wages, by the Greek writers; for the Roman soldiers were paid not only in money but in victuals; and hence corn was usually distributed among them. See on Luke iii. 14.

Verse 8. Say I these things as a man?] Is this only human reasoning? or does not God say in effect the same things? See note on Rom. vi. 19.

Verse 9. Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox] See this largely explained in the note on Deut. xxv. 4.

Doth God take care for oxen?] This question is to be understood thus: Is it likely that God should be solicitous for the comfort of oxen, and be regardless of the welfare of man? In this divine precept

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the kindness and providential care of God are very forcibly pointed out. He takes care of oxen; he wils them all that happiness of which their nature is susceptible; and can we suppose that he is unwilling that the human soul shall have that happiness which is suited to its spiritual and eternal nature? He could not reprobate an ox, because the Lord careth for ren; and surely he cannot reprobate a man. It may be said the man has sinned but the or cannot. I answer: The decree of reprobation is supposed to be from all eternity; and certainly a man can no more sin before he exists, than an ox can when he

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Verse 10. And he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.] Instead of ò aλowv TNS EXTidos autou petexely, en' eXtidi, many of the best MSS. and Versions read the passage thus: o aλowv ETT EXπIC TOU PETEX And he who thresheth, in hope of partaking. The words Tng λnicog, which are omitted by the above, are,” says Bp. Pearce, "superfluous, not wrong; for men do not live in hope to partake of their hope, but to partake of what was the object and end of their hope. When these words are left out, the former and latter sentence will be both of a piece, and more resembling each other: for μETEXEI may be understood after the first ' mid, as well as after the last." Griesbach has left the words in

question out of the text. Verse 11. If we have sown unto you spiritual things] If we have been the means of bringing you into a state of salvation by the divine doctrines which we have preached unto you, is it too much for us to expect a temporal support when we give ourselves up entirely to this work? Every man who preaches the gospel has a right to his own support and that of his family while thus employed.

If

Verse 12. If others be partakers of this power] those who in any matter serve you have a right to a récompence for that service, surely we who have served you in the most essential matters have a right to our support while thus employed in your service.

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15 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me: yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel.

17 For if I do this thing willingly, ' I have

x. 7. -g Gal. vi. 6. 1 Tim. v. 17. h Ver. 12. Acts xviii. 3. xx. 34. Ch. iv. 12. 1 Thess. ii. 9. 2 Thess. iii. 8. i2 Cor. xi. 10.- Rom. i. 14.- Ch. iii. 8, 14.

We have not used this power] Though we had this right we have not availed ourselves of it, but have worked with our hands to bear our own charges, lest any of you should think that we preached the gospel merely to procure a temporal support, and so be prejudiced against us, and thus prevent our success in the salvation of your souls.

Verse 13. They which minister about holy things] All the officers about the temple, whether priests, Levites, Nethinim, &c., had a right to their support while employed in its service. The priests partook of the sacrifices; the others had their maintenance from tithes, firstfruits, and offerings made to the temple; for it was not lawful for them to live on the sacrifices. Hence the apostle makes the distinction between those who minister about holy things and those who wait at the altar.

Verse 14. Even so hath the Lord ordained] This is evidently a reference to our Lord's ordination, Matt. x. 10: The workman is worthy of his meat. And Luke x. 7: For the labourer is worthy of his hire. And in both places it is the preacher of the gospel of whom he is speaking. It was a maxim among the Jews, "that the inhabitants of a town where a wise man had made his abode should support him, because he had forsaken the world and its pleasures to study those things by which he might please God and be useful to men.' See an ordinance to this effect in the tract Shabbath, fol. 114.

Verse 15. Neither have I written, &c.] Though I might plead the authority of God in the law, of Christ in the gospel, the common consent of our own doctors, and the usages of civil society, yet I have not availed myself of my privileges; nor do I now write with the intention to lay in my claims.

Verse 16. For though I preach the gospel] I have cause of glorying that I preach the gospel free of all charges to you; but I cannot glory in being a preacher of the gospel, because I am not such either by my own skill or power: I have received both the office, and the grace by which I execute the office,

from God. I have not only his authority to preach, but that authority obliges me to preach; and if I did not, I should endanger my salvation: yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel. As every genuine preacher receives his commission from God alone, it is God alone who can take it away. Woe to that man who runs when God has not sent him; and woe to him who refuses to run, or who ceases to run, when God has sent him.

Verse 17. For if I do this thing willingly] If I be a cordial co-operator with God, I have a reward, an incorruptible crown, ver 25. Or, if I freely preach this gospel without being burthensome to any, I have a special reward; but if I do not, I have simply an office to fulfil, into which God has put me, and may fulfil it conscientiously, and claim my privileges at the same time; but then I lose that special reward which I have in view by preaching the gospel without charge to any.

This and the 18th verse have been variously translated: Sir Norton Knatchbull and, after him, Mr. Wakefield translate the two passages thus: For, if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if I am intrusted with an office without my consent, what is my reward then? to make the gospel of Christ, whilst I preach it, without charge, in not using to the utmost, my privileges in the gospel.

Others render the passage thus: But if I do it merely because I am obliged to it, I only discharge an office that is committed to me, ver. 18. For what then shall I be rewarded? It is for this, that, preaching the gospel of Christ, I preach it freely, and do not insist on a claim which the gospel itself gives me.

Verse 18. That I abuse not my power] I am inclined to think that xaraxpŋoaolai is to be understood here, not in the sense of abusing, but of using to the uttermost exacting every thing that a man can claim by law. How many proofs have we of this in preachers of different denominations, who insist so strongly and so frequently on their privileges, as they term them, that the people are tempted to believe they seek not their souls' interests, but their secular goods. Such preachers can do the people no good. But the people who are most liable to think thus of their ministers, are those who are unwilling to grant the common necessaries of life to those who

watch over them in the Lord. For there are such people even in the Christian church! If the preachers of the gospel were as parsimonious of the bread of life as some congregations and Christian societies are of the bread that perisheth, and if the preacher gave them a spiritual nourishment as base, as mean, and as scanty as the temporal support which they afford him, their souls must without doubt have nearly a famine of the bread of life.

Verse 19. For though I be free] Although I am under no obligation to any man, yet I act as if every individual had a particular property in me, and as if I were the slave of the public.

Verse 20. Unto the Jews I became as a Jew] In Acts xvi. 3, we find that for the sake of the unconverted Jews he circumcised Timothy. See the note there.

To them that are under the law] To those who considered themselves still under obligation to observe its rites and ceremonies, though they had in the main embraced the gospel, he became as if under the same obligations; and therefore purified himself in the temple, as we find related, Acts xxi. 26, where also see the notes.

After the first clause, To them that are under the law as under the law, the following words, un v аνтоÇ Ùπо νоμov, not being myself under the law, are added by ABCDEFG, several others; the later Syriac, Sahidic, Armenian, Vulgate, and all the Itala; Cyril, Chrysostom, Damascenus, and others; and on this evidence Griesbach has received them into the text.

Verse 21. To them that are without law] The Gentiles, who had no written law, though they had the law written in their hearts; see on Rom. ii. 15.

Being not without law to God] Instead of Oɛ, TO God, and Xplory, To Christ, the most important MSS. and Versions have Osov, OF God, and Xpiorov, OF Christ; being not without the law of God, but under the law of Christ.

Them that are without law.] Dr. Lightfoot thinks the Sadducees may be meant, and that in certain cases, as far as the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion were concerned, he might conform himself to them, not observing such rites and ceremonies, as it is well known that they disregarded them; for the Doctor cannot see how the apostle could conform himself

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in any thing to them that were without law, i. e. the heathen. But, 1. It is not likely that the apostle could conform himself to the Sadducees; for what success could he expect among a people who denied the resurrection, and consequently a future world, a day of judgment, and all rewards and punishments? 2. He might among the heathen appear as if he were not a Jew, and discourse with them on the great principles of that eternal law, the outlines of which had been written in their hearts, in order to show them the necessity of embracing that gospel, which was the power of God unto salvation to every one that believed.

Verse 22. To the weak became I as weak] Those who were conscientiously scrupulous, even in respect to lawful things.

I am made all things to all men] I assumed every shape and form consistent with innocency and perfect integrity; giving up my own will, my own way, my own ease, my own pleasure, and my own profit, that I might save the souls of all. Let those who plead for the system of accommodation on the example of St. Paul, attend to the end he had in view, and the manner in which he pursued that end. It was not to get money, influence, or honour, but to save soULS! It was not to get ease, but to increase his labours. It was not to save his life, but rather that it should be a sacrifice for the good of immortal souls !

A parallel saying to this of St. Paul has been quoted from Achilles Tatius, lib. v., cap. xix., where Clitophon says, on having received a letter from Leucppe: Τούτοις εντυχων παντα εγενομην όμου, ανεφλεγόμην, ωχρίων, εθαυμαζον, ηπιστούν, εχαιρον, ηχθο“When I read the contents, I became all things I was inflamed, I grew pale, I was struck with wonder, I doubted, I rejoiced, became sad." The same form of speech is frequent among Greek writers. I think this casts some light on the apostle's meaning.

at once;

That I might by all means save some.] On this clause there are some very important readings found in the MSS. and Versions. Instead of Tavтws Tivaç wow, that I might by all means save some; aνTag δώσω, that I might save all, is the reading of DEFG, Syriac, Vulgate, Ethiopic, all the Itala, and several of

Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

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26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air : 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away.

the Fathers. This reading Bishop Pearce prefers, because it is more agreeable to St. Paul's meaning here, and exactly agrees with what he says, chap. x. 33, and makes his design more extensive and noble. Wakefield also prefers this reading.

Verse 23. And this I do for the gospel's sake] Instead of Touro, this, wavra, all things (I do all things for the gospel's sake), is the reading of ABCDEFG, several others, the Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala, Armenian, and Sahidic; the two latter reading Tavra παντα, all these things.

Several of the Fathers have the same reading, and there is much reason to believe it to be genuine.

That I might be partaker thereof with you.] That I might attain to the reward of eternal life which it sets before me; and this is in all probability the meaning of to evayyeλiov, which we translate the gospel, and which should be rendered here prize or reward; this is a frequent meaning of the original word, as may be seen in my preface to St. Matthew: I do all this for the sake of the prize, that I may partake of it with you.

Verse 24. They which run in a race run all] It is sufficiently evident that the apostle alludes to the athletic exercises in the games which were celebrated every fifth year on the isthmus, or narrow neck of land, which joins the Peloponnesus, or Morea, to the main land; and were thence termed the Isthmian games. The exercises were running, wrestling, boxing, throwing the discus or quoit, &c.; to the three first of these the apostle especially alludes.

But one receiveth the prize?] The apostle places the Christian race in contrast to the Isthmian games; in them, only one received the prize, though all ran ; in this, if all run, all will receive the prize; therefore he says, So run that ye may obtain. Be as much in earnest to get to heaven as others are to gain their prize; and, although only one of them can win, all of you may obtain.

Verse 25. Is temperate in all things] All those who contended in these exercises went through a long state and series of painful preparations. To this exact discipline Epictetus refers, cap. 35: Oελetç Ολυμπια νικησαι; Δει σ' ευτάκτειν, αναγκοτροφειν, απεxeo0ai nepμatwv, yvμvaliodai прoç avaɣeny ev ópg