1 Korintus 9:9

9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” ¹  God is not concerned here about oxen, is he?

1 Korintus 9:20-21

9:20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to gain the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) ²  to gain those under the law. 9:21 To those free from the law I became like one free from the law (though I am not free from God’s law but under the law of Christ) to gain those free from the law.

1 Korintus 10:1-2

Learning from Israel’s Failures

10:1 For I do not want you to be unaware, ³  brothers and sisters, ⁴  that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 10:2 and all were baptized ⁵  into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

[9:9]  ¹ sn A quotation from Deut 25:4.

[9:20]  ² tc The Byzantine text, as well as a few other witnesses (D² [L] Ψ 1881 Ï) lack this parenthetical material, while geographically widespread, early, and diverse witnesses have the words (so א A B C D* F G P 33 104 365 1175 1505 1739 al latt). The phrase may have dropped out accidentally through homoioteleuton (note that both the preceding phrase and the parenthesis end in ὑπὸ νόμον [Jupo nomon, “under the law”]), or intentionally by overscrupulous scribes who felt that the statement “I myself am not under the law” could have led to license.

[10:1]  ³ tn Grk “ignorant.”

[10:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[10:2]  ⁵ tc ‡ A number of witnesses, some of them important, have the passive ἐβαπτίσθησαν (ebaptisqhsan, “were baptized”) instead of the middle ἐβαπτίσαντο (ebaptisanto, “baptized [themselves]”) in v. 2 (so א A C D F G Ψ 33 al latt). However, the middle is not without its representation (Ì^46c B 1739 1881 Ï Or; the original hand of Ì⁴⁶ read the imperfect middle ἐβαπτίζοντο [ebaptizonto]). The passive looks like a motivated reading in that it is clearer and conforms to typical Pauline usage (his thirteen instances of the verb are all either active or passive). B. M. Metzger, in representing a minority opinion of the UBS Committee, suggests that the middle would have been appropriate for Jewish baptism in which the convert baptizes himself (TCGNT 493). But this assumes that the middle is a direct middle, a rare occurrence in the NT (and never elsewhere with this verb). Further, it is not really baptism that is in view in v. 2, but passing through the Red Sea (thus, a metaphorical use). Although the present editors agree with the minority’s resultant reading, it is better to take the middle as causative/permissive and the scribes as changing it to a passive for clarity’s sake. Translational differences are minimal, though some exegetical implications are involved (see ExSyn 427).