Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, May 10th, 2025
the Third Week after Easter
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

Simplified Cowboy Version

1 Corinthians 9:3

This is my answer to my critics and those who judge me.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Minister, Christian;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Collection;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bag;   1 Corinthians;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Examine;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
My defense to those who examine me is this:
King James Version (1611)
Mine answere to them that doe examine me, is this:
King James Version
Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,
English Standard Version
This is my defense to those who would examine me.
New American Standard Bible
My defense to those who examine me is this:
New Century Version
This is the answer I give people who want to judge me:
Amplified Bible
This is my defense to those who would put me on trial and interrogate me [concerning my authority as an apostle]:
Legacy Standard Bible
My defense to those who examine me is this:
Berean Standard Bible
This is my defense to those who scrutinize me:
Contemporary English Version
When people question me, I tell them
Complete Jewish Bible
That is my defense when people put me under examination.
Darby Translation
My defence to those who examine me is this:
Easy-to-Read Version
Some people want to judge me. So this is the answer I give them:
Geneva Bible (1587)
My defence to them that examine mee, is this,
George Lamsa Translation
So my answer to those who criticize me is this,
Good News Translation
When people criticize me, this is how I defend myself:
Lexham English Bible
My defense to those who examine me is this:
Literal Translation
My defense to those examining me is this:
American Standard Version
My defence to them that examine me is this.
Bible in Basic English
My answer to those who are judging me is this.
Hebrew Names Version
My defense to those who examine me is this.
International Standard Version
This is my defense to those who would examine me:
Etheridge Translation
3 My apology to them who judge me [fn] is this:
Murdock Translation
3 And [fn] apology to my judgers, is this:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Myne aunswere to them that aske me, is this,
English Revised Version
My defence to them that examine me is this.
World English Bible
My defense to those who examine me is this.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
My answer to them who examine me is this.
Weymouth's New Testament
That is how I vindicate myself to those who criticize me.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
My defense to hem that axen me, that is.
Update Bible Version
My defense to those that examine me is this.
Webster's Bible Translation
My answer to them that examine me is this,
New English Translation
This is my defense to those who examine me.
New King James Version
My defense to those who examine me is this:
New Living Translation
This is my answer to those who question my authority.
New Life Bible
When people ask questions about me, I say this:
New Revised Standard
This is my defense to those who would examine me.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
My defence, unto them who are examining me, is this:
Douay-Rheims Bible
My defence with them that do examine me is this.
Revised Standard Version
This is my defense to those who would examine me.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Myne answer to them that axe me is this.
Young's Literal Translation
My defence to those who examine me in this;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Myne answere vnto them that axe me, is this:
Mace New Testament (1729)
my answer to those who call me to account, is this:
THE MESSAGE
I'm not shy in standing up to my critics. We who are on missionary assignments for God have a right to decent accommodations, and we have a right to support for us and our families. You don't seem to have raised questions with the other apostles and our Master's brothers and Peter in these matters. So, why me? Is it just Barnabas and I who have to go it alone and pay our own way? Are soldiers self-employed? Are gardeners forbidden to eat vegetables from their own gardens? Don't milkmaids get to drink their fill from the pail?
New American Standard Bible (1995)
My defense to those who examine me is this:

Contextual Overview

3This is my answer to my critics and those who judge me. 4A ramrod has the right to eat and drink, doesn't he? 5He can bring a believing wife on his travels, can't he? The other ramrods (Pete and the Lord's brothers) do this. 6Are Barnabas and I the only ones who have to daywork for our meals? 7A soldier in the army doesn't have to have a side job to pay for his meals. A farmer eats his own vegetables. A dairyman drinks the milk from his own cows. 8I'm not saying these things because it fits my agenda. God's code says the same thing. 9The code of Moses says, "When an ox is treading grain, don't keep it from eating as it works." Are oxen worth more to God than we are? 10Wasn't this an illustration about us? Yes, it was. The cowboys all get a share of the meat regardless if they do the calving, the gathering, or the roping and doctoring. 11Since we are the ones who gathered you and brought you onto God's outfit, shouldn't we be entitled to sustenance? 12If y'all support cowboys who come in and preach, shouldn't we get at least the same support, maybe even more? But we've never used this right. We'd rather be dog-tired from working all day rather than be a burr in the good news about Jesus.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

answer: Acts 22:1, Acts 25:16, Philippians 1:7, Philippians 1:17, 2 Timothy 4:16,*Gr.

them: 1 Corinthians 14:37, 2 Corinthians 10:7, 2 Corinthians 10:8, 2 Corinthians 12:16-19, 2 Corinthians 13:3, 2 Corinthians 13:5, 2 Corinthians 13:10

Reciprocal: 1 Corinthians 9:1 - I not an

Cross-References

Romans 14:3
You worry about you and let others make their own decisions. Quit condemning others because they don't act like you do, this goes both ways. God accepts all kinds based on their heart.
Romans 14:14
I'm a hundred percent positive the Lord doesn't care what you eat. But if one person thinks it's wrong to eat something, then it is wrong for them to eat it.
Romans 14:17
God's outfit is not about what you eat or drink, but living the honorable life of a cowboy who rides for the brand. You live this way by following the Holy Spirit.
Romans 14:20
Don't tear the crew apart over beans or bacon. They are both fine as long as it doesn't cause another man to fall from the saddle.
1 Corinthians 10:23
Y'all keep saying, "I'm allowed to do whatever I want." But I'm telling you that just because you can doesn't mean you should. Some things don't help people, and that's our main mission.
1 Corinthians 10:31
I don't care if you're eating or drinking, do it for the glory of God.
Colossians 2:16
Don't let anyone judge you for not following their religious rules or ceremonies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 instrument of their conversion.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Mine answer - Greek Ἡ ἐμὴ ἀπολογία Hē emē apologia. My “apology;” my defense. The same word occurs in Acts 22:1; Acts 25:16; 2 Corinthians 7:11; Philippians 1:7, Philippians 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:16; 1 Peter 3:15; see the note at Acts 22:1. Here it means his answer, or defense against those who sat in judgment on his claims to be an apostle.

To them that do examine me. - To those who “inquire” of me; or who “censure” and condemn me as not having any claims to the apostolic office. The word used here ἀνακρίνω anakrinō is properly a forensic term, and is usually applied to judges in courts; to those who sit in judgment, and investigate and decide in litigated cases brought before them; Luke 23:14; Acts 4:9; Acts 12:19; Acts 24:8. The apostle here may possibly allude to the arrogance and pride of those who presumed to sit as judges on his qualification for the apostolic office. It is not meant that this answer had been given by Paul before this, but that this was the defense which he had to offer.

Is this - This which follows; the statements which are made in the following verses. In these statements (1 Corinthians 9:4-6, etc.) he seems to have designed to take up their objections to his apostolic claims one by one, and to show that they were of no force.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 9:3. Mine answer to them — Ἡ εμη απολογια τοις εμε ανακρινουσιν· This is my defence 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 defence therefore was this, that they were converted to God by his means. This verse belongs to the two preceding verses.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile