1 Corinthians 9:3

Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Mine	ἐμός emós	G1699	my
answer	ἀπολογία apologia	G627	a plea ("apology") · noun — nominative singular feminine
them	ἡ hē	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — nominative singular feminine
examine	ἀνακρίνουσίν anakrinousin	G350	properly · verb — present active participle, dative plural masculine
me	ἐμέ emé	G1691	me
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
this	αὕτη· hautē	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular feminine

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 22:1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
Acts 25:16 To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to…
1 Corinthians 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of th…
2 Corinthians 10:7-8 Do ye look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ’s, let him of himself think this again, tha…
2 Corinthians 12:16-19 But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
2 Corinthians 13:3 Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except…
2 Corinthians 13:10 Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 9:3-14

Having asserted his apostolical authority, he proceeds to claim the rights belonging to his office, especially that of being maintained by it. I. These he states, Co1 9:3-6. "My answer to those that do examine me (that is, enquire into my authority, or the reasons of my conduct, if I am an apostle) is this: Have we not power to eat and drink (Co1 9:4), or a right to maintenance? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas; and, not only to be maintained ourselves, but have them maintained also?" Though Paul was at that time single, he had a right to take a wife when he pleased, and to lead her about with him, and expec…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 9:3

to them that . . . examine me--that is, who call in question mine apostleship. is this--namely, that you are the seal of mine apostleship.

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 9:3

Mine answer to them - Ἡ εμη απολογια τοις εμε ανακρινουσιν· This is my defense against those who examine me. The words are forensic; and the apostle considers himself as brought before a legal tribunal, and questioned so as to be obliged to answer as upon oath. His defense therefore was this, that they were converted to God by his means. This verse belongs to the two preceding verses.

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 9:3

Mine answer to them that do examine me is this. These words are referred by some to the following, as if the apostle's answer lay in putting the questions he does in the next verses; but they rather seem to belong to the preceding, and the meaning to be this, that when any persons called in question his apostleship, and examined him upon that head, what he thought fit to say in answer to them, and in defence of himself, was by referring them to the famous church at Corinth, who were as particular persons, and as a church, his work in the Lord, and everyone of them as so many seals of his apostleship; he being the first preacher of the Gospel to them, the founder of them as a church, and the…

The Church Fathers

Paul says that if anyone wants to examine his works, let him look at the Corinthians, for they are a sufficient witness to his labors.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 219

Here Paul begins to develop the argument which he set out above, namely: "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything" (6:12).
— Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES

"My defence to them that examine me is this." What is, "My defence to them that examine me is this?" "To those who seek to know whereby I am proved to be an Apostle, or who accuse me as receiving money, or inquire the cause of my not receiving, or would fain shew that I am not an Apostle: to all such, my instruction given to you and these things which I am about to say, may stand for a full explanation and defence."
— John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 21

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 9:3

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 9:3-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 9:3

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 9:3

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 9:3

The Church Fathers

1 Corinthians 9:3

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 9:3-14

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 9:3

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 9:3

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 9:3

The Church Fathers

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 9:1-12

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 9:3