μὴ οὐκ. ‘Is it really true that we have not’? μή containing the question, οὐκ the denial of the right.

ἐξουσίαν φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν. The right to eat and to drink, i. e. at the expense of the Church, cf. Luke 10:7. This privilege, said St Paul’s opponents, was confined to the original twelve Apostles of the Lord.

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Old Testament