[Rurudyne]

1 corinthians 9:5

“Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?”

[Dr. Sivana]

1 corinthians 9:5

“Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?”

That's one translation. Mine renders the line as "Have we not the power to lead about a woman, a sister, as well as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" (Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision)

St. Paul who wrote this, of course, did not marry. In other passages he speaks of the virtue of remaining unmarried that you may better serve God.

[Grey182]

“Have we not power to carry about a WOMAN, A SISTER, as well as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?” 1 Corinthians 9:5 D-R Bible

“[5] “A woman, a sister”: Some erroneous translators have corrupted this text by rendering it, a sister, a wife: whereas, it is certain, St. Paul had no wife (chap. 7 ver. 7, 8) and that he only speaks of such devout women, as, according to the custom of the Jewish nation, waited upon the preachers of the gospel, and supplied them with necessaries.” - D-R Bible Commentary

Assuming for a moment Paul was speaking about a wife...

“...Nevertheless, we have not used this power: but we bear all things, lest we should give any hindrance to the gospel of Christ.” 1 Corrinthians 9:12

[Mrs. Don-o]

I had to look this up, because I didn't know what word Paul had used in Greek , which was translated as "wife" in the verse you cited.

So I found it. it was gynaika, woman, whether single, married or widowed. Examples:

Matthew 5:28
ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ
who looks at a woman with lust

Luke 4:26
Σιδωνίας πρὸς γυναῖκα χήραν
[in the land] of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

Luke 7:44 N-AFS GRK: πρὸς τὴν γυναῖκα τῷ Σίμωνι
toward the woman, He said

Luke 7:44
ταύτην τὴν γυναῖκα εἰσῆλθόν σου
Seest thou this woman? I entered into

Revelation 2:20
ἀφεῖς τὴν γυναῖκα Ἰεζάβελ ἡ
you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel,

Revelation 12:13
ἐδίωξεν τὴν γυναῖκα ἥτις ἔτεκεν
he persecuted the woman, who

In the passage you cited, from Corinthians, it seems Paul is talking about a sister woman, which is to say, a fellow-believer:

1 Corinthians 9:5
ἐξουσίαν ἀδελφὴν - γυναῖκα περιάγειν &#u033;ς
a sister, a woman, as well as

The word used here before gynaika (woman) is ἀδελφὴν adelphēn (sister). It occurs 5 times in the NT, and in every case is translated "sister".

THough possibly a widower,, we know from Paul's own words that he was, at that time, not in the state wedlock, since he says "To the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am." (1 Cor. 7:8)

So Jerome (4th century translator and scholar) explains that Paul in 1 Cor. 9 is speaking of pious Jewish women who accompanied and ministered to their teachers, supplying daily practicalities, as the Gospels show women supplying Jesus and Apostles.

Luke 8:3
Joanna the wife of Herod’s household manager Chuza, Susanna, and many others. These women were ministering to them out of their own means.

Matthew 27:55
And many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to minister to Him.

If you look at the context, Paul is not talking about suitability for marriage, He is talking about not wanting to burden the Corinthians with providing for a female assistant for him, or an entourage of assistants, since he himself clearly affirmed that he was single.