1 Corinthians 9:5 BSB

1 Corinthians 9:5

Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

KJV

Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?

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Commentary

4 voices

Tertullian

On Exhortation to Chastity (220)

Thus it comes to pass that "all things are lawful, but not all are expedient," so long as (it remains true that) whoever has a "permission" granted is (thereby) tried, and is (consequently) judged during the process of trial in (the case of the particular) "permission." Apostles, withal, had a "licence" to marry, and lead wives about (with them ).

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife,.... The phrase "a sister, a wife", is an Hebraism, and answers to אחתיכלה, "my sister, spouse", Son 4:9. The Jews called their wives, sisters, not on account of religion, which also is not the meaning here; but because of the common relation that men and women, all mankind, stand in to one another, antecedent to any nearer relation, as that of man and wife.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

For that a wife is here to be understood by the sister-woman ~ adelphen gynaika, is plain from this, that it would have been utterly unfit for the apostles to have carried about women with them unless they were wives. The word implies that they had power over them, and could require their attendance on them, which none could have over any but wives or servants.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Have we not power? - Have we not a right? The objection here seems to have been, that Paul and Barnabas were unmarried, or at least that they traveled without wives. The objectors urged that others had wives, and that they took them with them, and expected provision to be made for them as well as for themselves. They therefore showed that they felt that they had a claim to support for their families, and that they were conscious that they were sent of God. But Paul and Barnabas had no families.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

19 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
μὴ	mē	certainly	G3361 →
οὐκ	ouk	surely	G3756 →
ἔχομεν	echomen	we have	G2192 →
ἐξουσίαν	exousian	authority	G1849 →
ἀδελφὴν	adelphēn	a sister	G79 →
γυναῖκα	gunaika	a wife	G1135 →
περιάγειν	periagein	to take about	G4013 →
ὡς	hōs	as	G5613 →
καὶ	kai	also	G2532 →
οἱ	hoi	the	G3588 →
λοιποὶ	loipoi	other	G3062 →
ἀπόστολοι	apostoloi	apostles	G652 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
οἱ	hoi	the	G3588 →
ἀδελφοὶ	adelphoi	brothers	G80 →
τοῦ	tou	of the	G3588 →
κυρίου	kuriou	Lord	G2962 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
Κηφᾶς;	Kēphas	Cephas?	G2786 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Hebrews 13:4
Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
leads to
- Genesis 2:24
  For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Proverbs 5:15–23
  Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2–16
  But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- Galatians 5:19
  The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Genesis 1:27–28
  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Through
Acts 1:14
With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
leads to
- Acts 6:4
  and will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
- Ephesians 6:18
  Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
Through
1 Corinthians 7:39
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
leads to
- Romans 7:2–3
  For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

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About 1 Corinthians

The Crucifixion — 'Christ crucified' (1 Cor 2:2) — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

1 Corinthians: the study guide →Read chapter 9 →The featured study →

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01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Corinthians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Corinthians