Chapter IX.
That not the Apostle only, but those two who were with
him laboured with their own hands.
And
he testifies that it was
not he alone who so lived among them, lest haply this method might not
seem important or general if he depended only on his example. But he
declares that all those who were appointed with him for the ministry of
the gospel, i.e., Silvanus and Timothy, who wrote this with him, worked
in the same fashion. For by saying, “lest we should be burdensome
to any of you, he covers them with great shame. For if he who preached
the gospel and commended it by signs and mighty works, did not dare to
eat bread for nought, lest he should be burdensome to any, how can
those men help thinking that they are burdensome who take it every day
in idleness and at their leisure?