1 Corinthians 9:2-3

If not at Corinth amongst those who cried “I am of Cephas,” elsewhere Paul's apostleship was denied by the Judaistic party, against whom he had afterwards to write 2 Corinthians 10. ff. In this trial he counts on the Cor [1278] standing by him: “If to others I am no apostle, at any rate (ἀλλά γε, at certe, Bz [1279]) I am to you ”. He does not say “of others,” as though distinguishing two fields of jurisdiction in the sense of Galatians 2:8, rather “ in the eyes of others”; cf. the dat [1280] of 1 Corinthians 8:6 For ἀλλά γε, cf. Plato, Gorg., 470 D., εἰ δὲ μὴ (δρῶ), ἀλλʼ ἀκούω γε. γε throws its emphasis on ὑμῖν; so P. continues: “The seal of my apostleship you are, in the Lord”; cf. Romans 4:11; 2 Corinthians 1:22. This seal came from the hand of the Lord, affixed by the Master to His servant's work (cf. 2 Corinthians 3:1 ff.). Despite its, imperfections, the Cor [1281] Church was a shining evidence of Paul's commission; it was probably the largest Church as yet raised in his independent ministry. For ἐν Κυρίῳ, see note on 1 Corinthians 4:15, and 1 Corinthians 7:22. “ This ” referring to 1 Corinthians 9:1-2 “is my answer to those that put me on my defence”: I point them to you! ἀπολογία (see parls.) is a self-exculpation. For ἀνακρίνω, cf. notes on 1Co 2:14 f., 1 Corinthians 4:4. It is Paul's ἀποστολή, not the ἐξουσία of 1 Corinthians 9:4 ff., that is called in question; hence the vein of self-defence pervading the Epp. of this period. Granted the apostleship (and this the readers cannot deny), the right followed as a matter of course: this needed no “apology”.

[1278] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[1279] Beza's Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

[1280] dative case.

[1281] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.