<p>9:5 <i>Have we no right to lead a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?- </i>Singleness was not respected in first century society. A religious leader ought to be married- As with the matter of asking for material support, whatever Paul did in the marital area was likewise going to be criticized. He has explained in chapter 7 that marriage is permissible, but he invites single converts to try following his own example of singleness in order to do the Lord's work. But religious leaders were expected to be married. We can quite imagine the likely gossip this created- that perhaps Paul was gay, or a womanizer with multiple casual relationships. If indeed as a Sanhedrin member, Paul had once been married, we can imagine how that fact would be distorted. He indeed had the &quot;right&quot; to be married to a believer, and to lead her with him around his missionary circuits. As, he says, Peter and the other apostles did. We note he mentions Peter separately, a reflection of the huge respect he had for him. Indeed in the commentary on Acts I have suggested Paul was almost obsessed with Peter and pretended to him. The respect of the intellectual Jerusalem rabbi for illiterate fisherman Peter is quite the lesson in respect within the body of Christ. We note too that the Lord's brothers, who were once so against Him, became leading missionaries in the early church. Paul had a &quot;right&quot; or &quot;power&quot; (<i>exousia</i>) to be married; but he did not use that power / right, just as he has been explaining in previous chapters that we are not to use power or knowledge just because we have it, but should seek above all the building up of others to God's glory. And that is the principle we are to take away from this.</p><p>&ldquo;To lead a wife&rdquo; is literally, to lead around. See on Acts 9:43. It is perhaps significant, given the theme of &lsquo;following&rsquo; in the records of Peter, that he became well known for &lsquo;leading about&rsquo; his wife, as if she followed him everywhere. Peter translated the principles of following Christ into domestic life. There was a time when he may well have &lsquo;forsaken&rsquo; his wife in order to follow Christ (Mt. 19:27-29). But further down that path of following he came to see that as he was to follow his Lord to the end, so he was to be as the self-crucifying Christ to her, and lead her in her following of him that she might follow Christ.</p>