“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?”
King James Version (KJV)
9:5 Have we not power to lead about with us a sister, a wife - And to demand sustenance for her also? As well as the other apostles - Who therefore, it is plain, did this. And Peter - Hence we learn, That St. Peter continued to live with his wife after he became an apostle: That he had no rights as an apostle which were not common to St. Paul.
9:6 To forbear working - With our hands.
9:8 Do I speak as a man - Barely on the authority of human reason? Does not God also say, in effect, the same thing? The ox that treadeth out the corn - This was the custom in Judea, and many eastern nations. In several of them it is retained still. And at this day, horses tread out the corn in some parts of Germany.
9:9 Doth God - In this direction. Take care for oxen - Only? Hath he not a farther meaning? And so undoubtedly he hath in all the other Mosaic laws of this kind.
1Co 9:7 Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? Soldiers were paid while on a campaign; but he and Barnabas were Christian soldiers. Who planeth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? The husbandman ate of the vineyard; but they worked in the vineyard of the Lord. Who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? The feeder of the flock drank of its milk, but they were feeders of the flock of God.