1 Corinthians 9:18

τίς οὖν μού ἐστιν ὁ μισθός; For μισθός see last verse. Either (1) as in our version, the preaching the Gospel without charge, and the consciousness of having served God faithfully thus obtained; or (2) as some would interpret, suspending the construction until the end of 1 Corinthians 9:19, the satisfaction of having made more converts than any one else. But this involves (1) a harsh construction, and (2) a motive which appears foreign to the Christian character. For though St Paul in ch. 1 Corinthians 15:10 says, ‘I laboured more abundantly than they all,’ it is in no spirit of vain-glorious boasting. The translation ‘reward’ somewhat obscures the meaning. Christ had said, ‘The labourer is worthy of his hire,’ or wages. St Paul refers to this in 1 Corinthians 9:17. In this verse he asks what his wages are, and replies that they are the preaching the Gospel without charge.

ἵνα. There is good ground for regarding this as equivalent to the simple infinitive and translating to make the Gospel without charge. See Winer Gr. Gram. § 44 and note on ch. 1 Corinthians 4:1.

ἀδάπανον. This was St Paul’s usual ground of boasting. We find it in his earliest Epistle (1 Thessalonians 2:9; cf. 2 Thessalonians 3:8). It formed part of his appeal to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:33-34), and in the fervid defence of himself which we find in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians it occupies a prominent place. See 2 Corinthians 11:7-12.

καταχρήσασθαι. See 1 Corinthians 7:31, note. Here it must mean to use to the full. Cf. Plat. Phaed. 110 c οἷς δὴ οἱ γραφεῖς καταχρῶνται.