2 Corinthians 11:8

I robbed other churches, taking wages of them that I might minister unto you.

During Paul's eighteen months ministry at Corinth when the Corinthians had been converted, he had received no money from them. He had decided that, in Corinth, the gospel would in some manner be compromised by his asking and receiving support of his many converts.

It was in Corinth that Paul had labored as a tent maker, working with Aquila, in order to be free to preach without charge. It was from Corinth that he had written the letters to the Thessalonians, among whom also he had preached without imposing any financial burden upon them (1 Thessalonians 2:9). "It was Paul's custom when preaching in a place to accept no gifts from the local people, despite the fact that it imposed a severe hardship upon himself."[31]

I robbed other churches ... This is a reference to the churches of Macedonia (mentioned a moment later); and thus, "It is once again that the `earnestness of others' (2 Corinthians 8:8) is set before the Corinthians; and in this we may discern another internal strand uniting these last four chapters to those which precede them."[32]

[31] Philip E. Hughes, op. cit., p. 385.

[32] Ibid., p. 386.