1 Corinthians 9:20 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Corinthians 9:20
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
Judæan · noun — dative plural masculine, a people name
became
ἐγενόμηνegenomēn
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 1st person singular
as
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
Jew
ἸουδαῖοςIoudaios
G2453
Judæan · noun — nominative singular masculine, a people name
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
gain
κερδήσω·kerdēsō
G2770
to gain (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 1st person singular
Jews
ἸουδαίουςIoudaious
G2453
Judæan · noun — accusative plural masculine, a people name
are
τοῖςtois
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — dative plural masculine
under
ὑπὸhupo
G5259
under · preposition
law
νόμονnomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
as
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
under
ὑπὸhupo
G5259
under · preposition
law
νόμον,nomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
that
ἵναina
G2443
compare G3588 (ὁ)) · conjunction
gain
κερδήσω·kerdēsō
G2770
to gain (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active subjunctive, 1st person singular
are
τοῖςtois
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — dative plural masculine
under
ὑπὸhupo
G5259
under · preposition
law
νόμον,nomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 16:3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all t…
Galatians 5:18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Acts 21:20-26 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe;…
Acts 17:2-3 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Acts 18:18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Pris…
Romans 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the worl…
Romans 6:14-15 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 11:14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 9:19-23
The apostle takes occasion from what he had before discoursed to mention some other instances of his self-denial and parting with his liberty for the benefit of others.
I. He asserts his liberty (Co1 9:19): Though I be free from all men. He was free-born, a citizen of Rome. He was in bondage to none, nor depended upon any for his subsistence; yet he made himself a servant to all, that he might gain the more. He behaved as a servant; he laboured for their good as a servant; he was careful to please, as a servant to his master; he acted in many cases as if he had no privileges; and this that he might gain the more, or make the more converts to Christianity. He made himself a servant, that they…
I became as a Jew--in things not defined by the law, but by Jewish usage. Not Judaizing in essentials, but in matters where there was no compromise of principle (compare Act 16:3; Act 21:20-26); an undesigned coincidence between the history and the Epistle, and so a sure proof of genuineness.
to them that are under the law, as under the law--in things defined by the law; such as ceremonies not then repugnant to Christianity. Perhaps the reason for distinguishing this class from the former is that Paul himself belonged nationally to "the Jews," but did not in creed belong to the class of "them that are under the law." This view is confirmed by the reading inserted here by the oldest manuscr…
Unto the Jews I became as a Jew - In Act 16:3, we find that for the sake of the unconverted Jews he circumcised Timothy. See the note on Act 16:3.
To them that are under the law - To those who considered themselves still under obligation to observe its rites and ceremonies, though they had in the main embraced the Gospel, he became as if under the same obligations; and therefore purified himself in the temple, as we find related, Act 21:26 (note).
After the first clause, to them that are under the law as under the law, the following words, μη ων αυτος ὑπο νομον, not being myself under the law, are added by ABCDEFG, several others; the later Syriac, Sahidic, Armenian, Vulgate, and all the It…
The Church Fathers
Did Paul merely pretend to be all things to all men, in the way that flatterers do? No. He was a man of God and a doctor of the spirit who could diagnose every pain, and with great diligence he tended them and sympathized with them all. We all have something or other in common with everyone. This empathy is what Paul embodied in dealing with each particular person.
But, inasmuch as our very perverse cavillers obtrude the rebuke in question for the set purpose of bringing the earlier doctrine into suspicion, I will put in a defence, as it were, for Peter, to the effect that even Paul said that he was "made all things to all men-to the Jews a Jew," to those who were not Jews as one who was not a Jew-"that he might gain all." Therefore it was according to times and persons and causes that they used to censure certain practices, which they would not hesitate themselves to pursue, in like conformity to times and persons and causes.
Their truth may be inferred from their agreement with the apostle's own profession, how "to the Jews he became as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews, and to them that were under the law, as under the law,"-and so here with respect to those who come in secretly,-"and lastly, how he became all things to all men, that he might gain all." Now, inasmuch as the circumstances require such an interpretation as this, no one will refuse to admit that Paul preached that God and that Christ whose law he was excluding all the while, however much he allowed it, owing to the times, but which he would have had summarily to abolish if he had published a new god.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Diplomacy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Evil · .In supporting himself — .In supporting himself
Expediency · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Selfishness · Ministers should be devoid of — Ministers should be devoid of
Tact · In preaching — In preaching
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And unto the Jews I became as a Jew,.... That is, in religion; or with respect to some religious observances peculiar to the Jews, for he himself was really a Jew by nature; who became as one unto them in this sense, when he for their sakes circumcised Timothy at Derbe, or Lystra, purified himself at Jerusalem, shaved his head at Cenchrea, observed their sabbath, and abstained from some sorts of food forbidden in the law; and his end in so doing was, not to confirm them in such usages, but that he might hereby have the greater influence over them, and by little and little bring them off of these things, or, as he says,
that I might gain the Jews; bring them over to Christ, and off of a depe…
1 Corinthians 9:13-22
13. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple; and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
13. Nescitis, quod qui sacris operantur, ex sacrario [487] edunt? et qui altari ministrant (ad verbum: adstant) altaris sunt participes?
14. Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
14. Sic et Dominns ordinavit, ut qui Evangelium annuntiant, vivant ex Evangelio.
15. But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.
15.…
Paul places himself in the position of a slave in the household. He shows how far he was willing to go in adjusting his lifestyle and behavior to that of the people to whom he was preaching in order to win them to Christ.
