1 Corinthians 15:9

Contextual Overview

¹Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ¹Now boys, y'all don't go forgettin' what I've told y'all about the good news. I know y'all have tied hard and fast to this message and it changed your lives. ¹ Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, ¹Now I make known to you, brothers, the gospel which I proclaimed as good news to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, ¹ Now I am going to make clear to you, my brothers, what the good news was which I gave to you, and which you took, and on which your faith is based, ¹ But I make known to you, brethren, the glad tidings which I announced to you, which also ye received, in which also ye stand, ¹ Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it. ¹ Now I declare to you, brothers, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also ye received, and wherein ye stand:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the least: 2 Corinthians 11:5, 2 Corinthians 12:11, Ephesians 3:7, Ephesians 3:8

because: Acts 8:3, Acts 9:1-19, Acts 22:4, Acts 22:5, Acts 26:9-11, Galatians 1:13, Galatians 1:23, Philippians 3:6, 1 Timothy 1:13, 1 Timothy 1:14

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 9:7 - Remember Judges 6:15 - the least 1 Chronicles 29:14 - who am I Job 42:6 - I Matthew 11:11 - he that Matthew 15:27 - Truth Luke 7:43 - I Luke 15:19 - no Luke 17:10 - General Luke 18:11 - God Acts 8:19 - General Acts 20:19 - with all Acts 20:28 - the church Acts 26:10 - I also 1 Corinthians 1:1 - an 1 Corinthians 9:1 - I not an 1 Corinthians 11:22 - or Philippians 2:3 - but 1 Timothy 1:15 - of whom 2 Peter 1:1 - an apostle

Cross-References

Genesis 22:13
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis 22:13
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, there was a ram after it had been caught in the thicket by its horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

Genesis 22:13
And Abraham lifting vp his eyes, looked: and beholde, behynde [hym] there was a Ramme caught by the hornes in a thicket: and Abraham went & tooke the Ramme, and offered hym vp for a burnt offering in the steade of his sonne.

Genesis 22:13
Then Abraham noticed a ram whose horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the ram. He offered it, instead of his son, as a sacrifice to God.

Genesis 22:13
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.

Genesis 22:13
Abraham reiside hise iyen, and he seiy `bihynde his bak a ram cleuynge bi hornes among breris, which he took, and offride brent sacrifice for the sone.

Genesis 22:13
And Abraham lifted vp his eyes, and looked, and beholde, behinde him a Ramme caught in a thicket by his hornes: And Abraham went and tooke the Ramme, and offered him vp for a burnt offering, in the stead of his sonne.

Genesis 22:13
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For I am the least of the apostles,.... Referring not to the littleness of his stature, but to the figure before used, and as expressing not the opinion of others concerning him, but the true and real sense he had of himself, for which he himself gives the strongest reason that can be given; and by "apostles" he means not only the twelve, but all other ministers of the Gospel that were sent forth by Christ to preach it: nor need this be wondered at, when he says, that he was less than the least of all saints, Ephesians 3:8 though when his person and doctrines were traduced by false teachers, and attempts were made to disgrace his ministry, and render it useless, in vindication of himself, and without vanity, he does not stick to assert, that he was not a whit behind the very chiefest of the apostles, 2 Corinthians 11:5 and yet here adds,

that am not meet to be called an apostle; not only to be one, but to bear the name of one. No man was meet or fit for such an office of himself; none of the apostles were any more than himself; but his meaning is, that though he was chosen, and called, and qualified by the gifts and grace of God for this office, yet he was unworthy to be called by the name of an apostle of Christ, for the reason following,

because I persecuted the church of God: he not only consented to the death of Stephen, the first martyr, and held the clothes of them that stoned him; but he made havoc of the church, haling men and women to prison, and continued to breathe out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord; and had letters of commission from the high priest in his pocket, to seize any of this way at Damascus, and bring them bound to Jerusalem, when Christ met him in the way, and was seen by him: according to his own account, he shut up many of the saints in prison, gave his voice against them when they were put to death, punished them oft in every synagogue, compelled them to blaspheme, and being exceeding mad against them, persecuted them to strange cities; see Acts 7:1. This he mentions both for his own abasement and humiliation, and to magnify the grace of God, to which he ascribes all he was, had, and did, as in the next verse.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For - A reason for the appellation which he had given to himself in 1 Corinthians 15:8.

I am the least of the apostles - Not on account of any defect in his commission, or any lack of qualification to bear witness in what he saw, but on account of the great crime of his life, the fact that he had been a persecutor. Paul could never forget that; as a man who has been profane and a scoffer, when he becomes converted, can never forget the deep guilt of his former life. The effect will be to produce humility, and a deep sense of unworthiness, ever onward.

Am not meet to be called an apostle - Am not fit to be regarded as a follower of the Lord Jesus, and as appointed to defend his cause, and to bear his name among the Gentiles. Paul had a deep sense of his unworthiness; and the memory of his former life tended ever to keep him humble. Such should be, and such will be, the effect of the remembrance of a life of sin on those who become converted to the gospel, and especially if they are entrusted with the high office of the ministry, and occupy a station of importance in the church of God.

Because I persecuted the church of God - See Acts 9:0. It is evident, however, that deeply as Paul might feel his unworthiness, and his unfitness to be called an apostle, yet that this did not render him an incompetent witness of what he had seen. He was unworthy; but he had no doubt that he had seen the Lord Jesus; and amidst all the expressions of his deep sense of his unfitness for his office, he never once intimates the slightest doubt that he had seen the Saviour. He felt himself fully qualified to testify to that; and with unwavering firmness he did testify to it to the end of life. A man may be deeply sensible that he is unworthy of an elevated station or office, and yet not the less qualified to be a witness. Humility does not disqualify a man to give testimony, but rather furnishes an additional qualification. There is no man to whom we listen more attentively, or whose words we more readily believe, than the modest and humble man, the man who has had abundant opportunities to observe that of which he testifies, and yet who is deeply humble. Such a man was the apostle Paul; and he evidently felt that, much as he felt his unworthiness, and ready as he was to confess it, yet his testimony on the subject of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus ought to have, and would have, great weight in the church at Corinth; compare the note on Acts 9:19.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 15:9. I am the least of the apostles — This was literally true in reference to his being chosen last, and chosen not in the number of the twelve, but as an extra apostle. How much pains do some men take to make the apostle contradict himself, by attempting to show that he was the very greatest of the apostles, though he calls himself the least! Taken as a man and a minister of Christ, he was greater than any of the twelve; taken as an apostle he was less than any of the twelve, because not originally in that body.

Am not meet to be called an apostle — None of the twelve had ever persecuted Christ, nor withstood his doctrine: Saul of Tarsus had been, before his conversion, a grievous persecutor; and therefore he says, ουκειμιικανος, I am not proper to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God, i.e. of Christ, which none of the apostles ever did.