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Chapter 9[a]

Paul’s Rights as an Apostle. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 9:1–27 This chapter is an emotionally charged expansion of Paul’s appeal to his own example in 1 Cor 8:13; its purpose is to reinforce the exhortation of 1 Cor 8:9. The two opening questions introduce the themes of Paul’s freedom and his apostleship (1 Cor 9:1), themes that the chapter will develop in reverse order, 1 Cor 9:1–18 treating the question of his apostleship and the rights that flow from it, and 1 Cor 9:19–27 exploring dialectically the nature of Paul’s freedom. The language is highly rhetorical, abounding in questions, wordplays, paradoxes, images, and appeals to authority and experience. The argument is unified by repetitions; its articulations are highlighted by inclusions and transitional verses.

Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me.(A)

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16 to reveal his Son to me,(A) so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood,[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1:16 Flesh and blood: human authorities (cf. Mt 16:17; 1 Cor 15:50). Paul’s apostleship comes from God (Gal 1:1).