1 Corinthians 9:6 Commentary and Bible Study

It may sound as though Barnabas is added as an afterthought, but it is because Barnabas was not an apostle, and so is put in a separate category – ‘I only’, speaking of the apostles, ‘and Barnabas’. The church at Corinth may never have met Barnabas, though they would have known the name. His name was very famous in the churches of Christ, because Barnabas had been Paul’s companion on his first missionary journey, but not the second missionary journey or the third. The church at Corinth was founded during the second missionary journey, but they knew the name of Barnabas. Evidently he was famous for the same thing – that he insisted on working for his living wherever he went. Paul as a tent maker. We do not know what Barnabas did, but they both followed the same pattern. When they went to a city they found work, and they laboured with their hands. Of course, he and Barnabas, like the other apostles and all the preachers, had the right to be supported by the churches. The fact that they did not choose to exercise this right did nothing to take away that right, but was something done for the advantage of the gospel in those pioneering circumstances among the Gentiles.