At this point in Paul’s argument, we probably means not only Paul and Barnabas, as in verse 6, but the apostles or evangelists generally. In any case, Paul is excluding his readers.

This rhetorical question may be restructured as follows: “We have sown spiritual seed among you, therefore it is not too much to expect that we should harvest material benefits from you.” The spiritual good, literally “spiritual things,” is essentially the Christian message. The phrase sown spiritual good among you may also be rendered as “sown good things in your hearts,” “sown spiritual things in your hearts,” or even “sown things from God’s Spirit in your hearts.”

The phrase is it too much may be translated as “is it unfair to” or “is it an unfair thing to.”

The material benefits, literally “the fleshly things,” are material support for evangelists and their families, as verses 4-7 make clear. Verse 11 slightly changes the agricultural image of verse 10. In some languages and cultures it may be preferable to use nonfigurative expressions, where reap, “harvest,” or similar metaphors would not be naturally used in this way. One may say “If we have placed spiritual things in your hearts, is it too much to expect you to give us material benefits in return?” or “If we have placed things from God’s Spirit in your hearts, is it unfair for us to expect that you give us material benefits in return?”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .