1 Corinthians 9:3-5 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Mine answer My apology; to them that examine and censure me As to this part of my conduct, is this which follows. Have we not power I and my fellow-labourers; to eat and to drink At the expense of those among whom we labour? Does our declining the use of a privilege prove that we have it not? Have we not power to lead about with us In our apostolical travels; a sister, a wife That is, a wife who is a sister in Christ, a believer in him, and truly pious; and to demand sustenance for her also? as well as other apostles Who therefore, it is plain, did this: and Peter? Hence we learn, 1st, That Peter continued to live with his wife after he became an apostle; 2d, That he had no rights, as an apostle, which were not common to Paul. “In the eastern countries, when people of condition travelled, they either lodged with their acquaintance, or carried servants with them, who provided such things as were necessary for their accommodation in the public lodging-houses. In the Gentile countries, where the apostles preached, they had no acquaintance or friends with whom they could lodge, and therefore some of them, particularly the brethren of the Lord, and Peter, found it necessary to carry about with them wives to make provision for them, at the expense of those to whom they preached. This right, Paul told the Corinthians, belonged as much to him and to Barnabas as to the other apostles. But to render the gospel free of charge, he neither had used this right, 1 Corinthians 9:12, nor ever would use it, 1 Corinthians 9:15. Wherever he came he maintained himself by his own labour.” Macknight.