What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 9:13? Do you not know “Do you not know” (1 Corinthians 9:13) is Paul’s familiar way of jogging the Corinthians’ memory (see 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:2–3, 9). The question is rhetorical, signaling that what follows is already established in Scripture. Paul expects believers to recall how God provided for His servants in the Old Covenant. Romans 7:1 shows the same pattern—appealing to what readers should already accept from the Law. Those who work in the temple • The phrase points to the priests and Levites whose full-time vocation was temple service (Numbers 18:7; 2 Chron 31:4). • Their tasks ranged from guarding holy things to leading worship and offering sacrifices. • Because they were bound to this work, they did not farm land or engage in ordinary trades (Deuteronomy 18:1). God Himself became their portion. Eat of its food • Under Moses, portions of grain offerings, showbread, and other sacred foods were set aside for the priests (Leviticus 6:16-18; 24:8-9). • This arrangement illustrates a divine principle: those devoting themselves to spiritual care are sustained by the very ministry they perform. • The worshiper’s gift met two goals at once—honoring God and supporting God’s servants. Those who serve at the altar • “Serve” sharpens the focus to the act of sacrifice. Priests who stood at the bronze altar handled blood, fat, and flesh on Israel’s behalf (Numbers 18:5; Hebrews 7:13). • Their service prefigured Christ, the ultimate High Priest, yet the practical need for daily provision remained. Partake of its offerings • Specific cuts of meat, the breast and right thigh, along with other portions, were reserved for the priesthood (Leviticus 7:31-34; Deuteronomy 18:3; 1 Samuel 2:28). • Paul cites this precedent to prove that material support for ministry workers is not a human idea but God’s established pattern. He will conclude, “In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14). • Just as Israel’s priests lived from the altar, pastors, missionaries, and teachers may rightly depend on the generosity of God’s people (Luke 10:7; Galatians 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:17-18). summary 1 Corinthians 9:13 reminds the church that God has always arranged for His servants’ livelihood through the very ministries He assigns them. Temple workers ate the temple’s food, altar ministers shared in the altar’s offerings, and today gospel workers may live from gospel work. The principle is not merely pragmatic; it is woven into Scripture from Moses to Paul, affirming both the sacredness of ministry and the responsibility of God’s people to sustain those who labor in it. |
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