1 Corinthianschapter 7
40 verses · Paul · AD 54 or 55 · Paul's letters
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband.
Introduction
Paul, Paul's letters, 1 Corinthians Overview.
Here Paul begins answering a letter the Corinthians had sent him, and the questions are theirs. Some had come to think that married believers should abstain, that a believer should leave an unbelieving spouse, or that no one should marry at all. He answers point by point, separating what the Lord commanded from his own counsel. Listen for the words that mark each new question. Listen also for the one principle that runs under all his answers. Read it as pastoral counsel for people in many different situations, given in a hard season.
Context
- Who
- Believers in mixed marriages, engaged couples, widows, and slaves, all asking what their new faith required of their situation.
- What
- Paul's answers on marriage and sexual relations within it, mixed marriages, remaining in one's calling, virgins and widows.
- Where
- Written from Ephesus in reply to a letter the church at Corinth had sent him.
- When
- About AD 53 to 55, in what Paul calls the present crisis, a hardship he does not describe.
- Why
- To guard against sexual immorality and false self-denial, and to help each believer serve the Lord faithfully in the state he is in.
Historical context
This chapter begins Paul's replies to a letter they sent him, the repeated "now concerning" marks each new question. He is answering their agenda, not setting his own, which is why the topics jump.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
Marriage in that world was arranged, economic, and about family alliance and property; a dowry moved with the bride, and divorce could be initiated by either party under Roman law with little formality. A believing spouse married to an unbeliever faced a genuine crisis if the marriage was suddenly seen as unclean.
Paul's ruling that the believer sanctifies the marriage rather than the unbeliever defiling it reverses the expected direction of contamination, and it protects the children's standing in the household.
Slavery gets the same treatment. He tells slaves not to be troubled by their status, though if they can gain freedom to take it. Roman manumission was common enough that this was a real possibility, and the point is that neither condition changes anything before God.
The "present distress" he mentions is not explained. Some connect it to a food shortage or civic hardship in Achaia at the time; the text simply does not say, and honest readers should not overclaim.
Significance
The first hearers were given something rare in their culture: mutual obligation in marriage stated symmetrically, the husband's body belonging to the wife as hers to him.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
They were also told that singleness was not a defect. In a society where an unmarried adult was suspect and childless women had no security, Paul commends undivided devotion as a genuine good, while refusing to make it a rule for anyone.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Marriage, Mutual Rights, and the Gift of Singleness
1 Corinthians 7:1-2
Now for the matters you wrote about: The maxim It is good to abstain from sexual relations is probably a slogan of an ascetic party at Corinth. Verse 2 qualifies it: because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
1 Corinthians 7:1
“Heb 13:4, in opposition to ascetic and Romish notions of superior sanctity in celibacy, declares, "Marriage is HONORABLE IN ALL." Another reason why in some cases celibacy may be a matter of Christian expediency is stated in 1Co 7:34, 35, "that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." But these are exceptional cases, and in exceptional times, such as those of Paul.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
1 Corinthians 7:1
“But it is good, that is, either abstracting from circumstances there are many things in which the state of celibacy has the advantage above the marriage state; or else at this juncture, by reason of the distress of the Christian church, it would be a convenience for Christians to keep themselves single, provided they have the gift of continency, and at the same time can keep themselves chaste.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
have his own wife: Paul answers the ascetic slogan of verse 1 with the reality of Corinth, where Barnes notes the church lived among open licentiousness. Matthew Henry points to the plural word for immoralities, every kind of lawless lust. Theophylact notes that the wording binds husband and wife alike.
1 Corinthians 7:2
“You have given up your wife, to whom you are bound. This is a big step you have taken. You are not abusing her, you say, but claiming that you can be chaste and live more purely. But look how your poor wife is being destroyed as a result, because she is unable to endure your purity! You should sleep with your wife, not for your sake but for hers.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3.33.23-25patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:2
“To avoid fornication - Δια τας πορνειας· verto, propter exercendam libidinem, vel ut libidinem licite exercere liceat. Probo hanc notionem ex Hebraeo, ibi זנה, zanah, est libidinem exercere, Hos 4:10: For they shall eat and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, תזנו, libidinem exercebunt, and shall not increase.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:2
“The dignity of marriage is set forth by Paul (Eph 5:25-32), in the fact that it signifies the mystical union between Christ and the Church. The duty of cohabitation on the part of the married. due benevolence--The oldest manuscripts read simply, "her due"; that is, the conjugal cohabitation due by the marriage contract (compare 1Co 7:4).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Corinthians 7:3-5
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife: Verse 4 gives each spouse authority over the other's body, against a culture that favoured the husband. Paul allows abstinence only by mutual consent and for a time, answering an ascetic impulse that made marital intimacy a spiritual liability.
1 Corinthians 7:3
“Let the husband ... - “Let them not imagine that there is any virtue in bring separate from each other, as if they were in a state of celibacy” - “Doddridge.” They are bound to each other; in every way they are to evince kindness, and to seek to promote the happiness and purity of each other. There is a great deal of delicacy used here by Paul, and his expression is removed as far as possible from the grossness of pagan writers.”
authority over her own body: The second half of the verse gives the wife the same claim the first half gives the husband. Barnes finds the equal rights of husband and wife plain here.
1 Corinthians 7:4
“The wife hath not power, etc. - Her person belongs to her husband; her husband’s person belongs to her: neither of them has any authority to refuse what the other has a matrimonial right to demand. The woman that would act so is either a knave or a fool. It would be trifling to attribute her conduct to any other cause than weakness or folly. She does not love her husband; or she loves some one else better than her husband; or she makes pretensions to a fancied sanctity unsupported by Scripture or common sense.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:4
“If this is so, a man should be able to refrain from exercising his authority [to receive his spouse's body]. And isn't a woman capable of doing likewise?”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3.33.41-46patristic
1 Corinthians 7:4
“She hath not power over her body, and yet it is her own. The oneness of body in which marriage places husband and wife explains this. The one complements the other.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
except by mutual consent: Paul allows abstinence only within three limits, agreement between both, a set time, and a purpose of prayer. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take devote as be at leisure, free from interruption. Augustine calls a few such days a light burden.
1 Corinthians 7:5
“Defraud ye not ... - Of the right mentioned above. Withdraw not from the society of each other. Except it be with consent - With a mutual understanding, that you may engage in the extraordinary duties of religion; compare Exo 19:15. And come together again ... - Even by mutual consent, the apostle would not have this separation to be perpetual, since it would expose them to many of the evils which the marriage relation was designed to avoid.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:5
“Note, Persons expose themselves to great danger by attempting to perform what is above their strength, and at the same time not bound upon them by any law of God. If they abstain from lawful enjoyments, they may be ensnared into unlawful ones. The remedies God hath provided against sinful inclinations are certainly best.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:6-7
I say this as a concession, not as a command: I wish that all men were as I am states Paul's own preference for the unmarried state. Each man has his own gift from God, charisma, so marriage and singleness are both named a gift.
1 Corinthians 7:6
But why say I these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New also are the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, "But these things I say, not the Lord." And again: "But this I speak by permission, not by commandment." And again: "Now, as concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful." But further, in another place he says: "That Satan tempt you not for your incontinence."
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book IVpatristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:6
“I speak this by permission, etc. - It was a constant custom of the more conscientious rabbins, to make a difference between the things which they enjoined on their own judgment, and those which they built on the authority of the law. Thus Rabbi Tancum: “The washing of hands before meat is in our own power; washing after meat is commanded.” In relation to this point Dr. Lightfoot produces some examples from the Jewish writers: “The man is commanded concerning begetting and multiplying, but not the woman. And when does the man come under this command?”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
each man has his own gift: Paul's wish rests on his own experience of singleness, and Wesley reads it as a wish that the unmarried keep the freedom he had tasted. Origen counts marriage between believers a spiritual gift as well. Theophylact adds that the single life, though a gift, still asks effort.
1 Corinthians 7:7
“For I would ... - I would prefer. That all men ... - That Paul was unmarried is evident from 1Co 9:5. But he does not refer to this fact here. When he wishes that all people were like himself, he evidently does not intend that he would prefer that all should be unmarried, for this would be against the divine institution, and against his own precepts elsewhere.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:7
“For I would that all men were herein even as I - I would that all believers who are now unmarried would remain "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake" St. Paul, having tasted the sweetness of this liberty, wished others to enjoy it, as well as himself.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:7
“Natural constitutions vary; and, where there may not be much difference in the constitution, different degrees of grace are vouchsafed, which may give some a greater victory over natural inclination than others. Note, The gifts of God, both in nature and grace, are variously distributed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:8-9
Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: Paul counsels the single to remain unmarried, as he is, yet it is better to marry than to burn with passion. The burning is unsatisfied desire, and marriage is the honourable answer to a real appetite.
1 Corinthians 7:8
“But when things lawful are (only) granted by way of indulgence, who hope for things unlawful? "To the unmarried" also, "and widows," he says, "It is good, by his example, to persevere" (in their present state); "but if they were too weak, to marry; because it is preferable to marry than to bum." With what fires, I pray you, is it preferable to "burn"-(the fires) of concupiscence, or (the fires) of penalty? Nay, but if fornication is pardonable, it will not be an object of concupiscence.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Modestypatristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:8
“The unmarried and widows - It is supposed that the apostle speaks here of men who had been married, in the word αγαμοι, but were now widowers; as he does of women who had been married, in the word χηραι, but were now widows. And when he says ὡς καγω, even as I, he means that he himself was a widower; for several of the ancients rank Paul among the married apostles.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
better to marry than to burn: Readers weigh the burning differently. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see the secret flame of desire, while Clarke follows Bishop Pearce in softening it to being troubled or made uneasy.
Do Not Leave: Even the Unbelieving Spouse
1 Corinthians 7:10-11
To the married I give this command: In verses 10 and 11 Paul cites the teaching of Jesus against divorce recorded in the Gospels. He sets the Lord's words apart from the guidance he adds for cases Jesus did not address.
1 Corinthians 7:10
“In both cases alike the things written are inspired by the Spirit of God "but not all for all time, nor all on the primary truths of the faith" [ALFORD]. Let not the wife depart--literally, "be separated from." Probably the separation on either side, whether owing to the husband or to the wife, is forbidden.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
be reconciled to her husband: Paul allows for a separation that has already happened and closes off remarriage, leaving two paths, singleness or reconciliation. Barnes thinks of wives who had left believing the marriage ended.
1 Corinthians 7:11
“But and if she depart - If she have withdrawn by a rash and foolish act; if she has attempted to dissolve the marriage vow, she is to remain unmarried, or be reconciled. She is not at liberty to marry another. This may refer, I suppose, to instances where wives, ignorant of the rule of Christ, and supposing that they had a right to separate themselves from their husbands, had rashly left them, and had supposed that the marriage contract was dissolved.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:11
“But his meaning is that the Lord himself, with his own mouth, had forbidden such separations, Matt. v. 32; xix. Note, Man and wife cannot separate at pleasure, nor dissolve, when they will, their matrimonial bonds and relation. They must not separate for any other cause than what Christ allows.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:11
But and if she depart--or "be separated." If the sin of separation has been committed, that of a new marriage is not to be added (Mt 5:32). be reconciled--by appeasing her husband's displeasure, and recovering his good will. let not . . . husband put away . . . wife--In Mt 5:32 the only exception allowed is, "saving for the cause of fornication."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Corinthians 7:12-14
To the rest I say this: Paul rules on a case the Lord's teaching did not cover, the marriage of a believer to an unbeliever willing to stay. The unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, against a Corinthian fear that a mixed marriage defiled.
1 Corinthians 7:12
“But to the rest speak I, not the Lord - As if he had said: For what I have already spoken I have the testimony of the Lord by Moses, and of my own Lord and Master, Christ; but for the directions which I am now about to give there is no written testimony, and I deliver them now for the first time. These words do not intimate that the apostle was not now under the influences of the Divine Spirit; but, that there was nothing in the sacred writings which bore directly on this point.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:12
“To the rest - Who are married to unbelievers. Speak I - By Revelation from God, though our Lord hath not left any commandment concerning it. Let him not put her away - The Jews, indeed, were obliged of old to put away their idolatrous wives, Ezra x, 3; but their case was quite different.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:12
“The Christian calling did not dissolve the marriage covenant, but bind it the faster, by bringing it back to the original institution, limiting it to two persons, and binding them together for life. The believer is not by faith in Christ loosed from matrimonial bonds to an unbeliever, but is at once bound and made apt to be a better relative.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
he is willing to live with her: Clarke and Severian take the case as a marriage made before the wife believed. The consent of the unbeliever decides the case.
1 Corinthians 7:13
“Let her not leave him - A change of phraseology from the last verse, to suit the circumstances. The wife did not have power to “put away” the husband, and expel him from his own home; but she might think it her duty to be separated from him. The apostle counsels her not to do this; and this advice should still be followed.”
sanctified through his believing wife: Theophylact holds that the believer's purity outweighs the other's uncleanness within the one marriage. Wesley takes it more practically, many such husbands having been won and their children raised as Christians. Tertullian sees the children marked out for holiness.
1 Corinthians 7:14
“For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife,.... That is, "by the believing wife"; as the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions read, and so it is read in some copies; and likewise in the next clause the same is read, by the believing husband; this is a reason given by the apostle why they should live together.”
3 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:14
“The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife - Or rather, is to be reputed as sanctified on account of his wife; she being a Christian woman, and he, though a heathen, being by marriage one flesh with her: her sanctity, as far as it refers to outward things, may be considered as imputed to him so as to render their connection not unlawful. The case is the same when the wife is a heathen and the husband a Christian.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:14
“Thus Christians are called commonly saints; such they are by profession, separated to be a peculiar people of God, and as such distinguished from the world; and therefore the children born to Christians, though married to unbelievers, are not to be reckoned as part of the world, but of the church, a holy, not a common and unclean seed.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:14
“Children were included in the covenant, as God made it not only with Abraham, but with his "seed after" him (Ge 17:7). So the faith of one Christian parent gives to the children a near relationship to the Church, just as if both parents were Christians (compare Ro 11:16). Timothy, the bearer of this Epistle, is an instance in point (Ac 16:1).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Corinthians 7:15-16
But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go: Where the unbeliever chooses to leave, the believing brother or sister is not bound, for God has called you to live in peace. Later theology names this the Pauline privilege, set beside the exception Jesus himself allowed.
1 Corinthians 7:15
“Accordingly he subjoins withal a reason, that "we are called in peace unto the Lord God; "and that "the unbeliever may, through the use of matrimony, be gained by the believer." The very closing sentence of the period confirms (the supposition) that this is thus to be understood.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife Book IIpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:15
“But if the unbelieving depart - If they choose to leave you. Let him depart - You cannot prevent it, and you are to submit to it patiently, and bear it as a Christian. A brother or a sister is not under bondage ... - Many have supposed that this means that they would be at liberty to marry again when the unbelieving wife or husband had gone away; as Calvin, Grotius, Rosenmuller, etc. But this is contrary to the strain of the argument of the apostle.”
1 Corinthians 7:15
“In such a case the deserted person must be free to marry again, and it is granted on all hands. And some think that such a malicious desertion is as much a dissolution of the marriage-covenant as death itself. For how is it possible that the two shall be one flesh when the one is maliciously bent to part from or put away the other?”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
whether you will save your husband?: Chrysostom, Barnes and Clarke hear hope in the question, a reason to stay with a peaceable spouse who might yet be won. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown tie it to verse 15, where the believer lets a departing partner go in peace.
1 Corinthians 7:16
“For what knowest thou, O wife - You that are Christians, and who have heathen partners, do not give them up because they are such, for you may become the means of saving them unto eternal life. Bear your cross, and look up to God, and he may give your unbelieving husband or wife to your prayers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:16
“If these things may happen to those women also who, having attained the faith while in (the state of) Gentile matrimony, continue in that state, still they are excused, as having been "apprehended by God" in these very circumstances; and they are bidden to persevere in their married state, and are sanctified, and have hope of "making a gain" held out to them.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife Book IIpatristic
1 Corinthians 7:16
“Or else (1Co 7:15), if thy unbelieving consort wishes to depart, let him go, so that thou mayest live "in peace": for thou canst not be sure of converting him, so as to make it obligatory on thee at all costs to stay with him against his will [MENOCHIUS and ALFORD]. save--be the instrument of salvation to (Jas 5:20).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Stay Where God Called You: Circumcised, Slave, or Free
1 Corinthians 7:17-18
Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him: The rule of the whole chapter is that each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him. Conversion requires no change of earthly station, and Paul applies the rule first to circumcision.
1 Corinthians 7:17
“Or, But if there be no hope of gaining over the unbeliever, still let the general principle be maintained, "As the Lord hath allotted to each, as God hath called each, so let him walk" (so the Greek in the oldest reading); let him walk in the path allotted to him and wherein he was called.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:17
“But as God hath distributed - The various stations of life, and various relations, to every one, let him take care to discharge his duty therein. The gospel disannuls none of these.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:17
“But as God hath distributed ... - As God hath divided (ἐμέρισεν emerisen); that is, given, imparted to anyone. As God has given grace to everyone. The words εἰ μὴ ei mē denote simply but in the beginning of this verse. The apostle here introduces a new subject; or an inquiry varying somewhat from that preceding, though of the same general nature. He had discussed the question whether a husband and wife ought to be separated on account of a difference in religion.”
He should not become uncircumcised: Some Jews in the Greek world had circumcision surgically disguised, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown cite 1 Maccabees 1:15 and Josephus. The opposite pressure came from teachers who required Gentile converts to be circumcised, as at Acts 15:1.
1 Corinthians 7:18
“Is any man called being circumcised?.... That is, if any man that is a Jew, who has been circumcised in his infancy, is called by the grace of God, as there were many in those days, and many of them in the church at Corinth: let him not become uncircumcised; or "draw on" the foreskin; as some did in the times of Antiochus, for fear of him, and to curry favour with him, who, it is said, 1 Maccab.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:18
“Is any man called being circumcised? - Is any man who was formerly a Jew converted to Christianity? Let him not become circumcised - Let him not endeavor to abolish the sign of the old covenant, which he bears in his flesh. The Greek words μη επισπασθω, let him not draw over, are evidently an elliptical expression: the word την ακροβυστιαν, the fore-skin, being understood; which, indeed, is added by the Armenian and the Itala, and several of the Latin fathers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:18
“On the other hand, some, finding something important in circumcision, were circumcised after their conversion to the faith. Therefore he says that this contributes nothing to the faith.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on 1 Corinthianspatristic
1 Corinthians 7:19-20
Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing: The sign that divided Jew from Gentile carries no weight in itself, and keeping God’s commandments is what counts. That word lands as hard on Jewish pride in the sign as on Gentile contempt for it.
1 Corinthians 7:19
“Circumcision is nothing ... - It is of no consequence in itself. It is not that which God requires now. And the mere external rite can be of no consequence one way or the other. The heart is all; and that is what God demands; see the notes at Rom 2:29. But the keeping of the commandments of God - Is something, is the main thing, is everything; and this can be done whether a man is circumcised or not.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:19
“Circumcision means nothing by itself, but it was a command of God. On the other hand, uncircumcised is the way God made us, so there is no reward for that either.”
Severian of Gabala · written before 425 · Pauline Commentary from the Greek Churchpatristic
remain in the situation: Called means God's call to faith. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the situation as the state in which that call found a person, Jew or Greek, slave or free.
1 Corinthians 7:20
“Let every man abide in the same calling - As both the circumcised and uncircumcised, in Christ, have the same advantages, and to their believing the same facilities; so any situation of life is equally friendly to the salvation of the soul, if a man be faithful to the grace he has received. Therefore, in all situations a Christian should be content, for all things work together for good to him who loves God.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:21-22
Were you a slave when you were called?: The rule reaches slavery, the weightiest earthly condition in the Roman world. The slave is the Lord’s freedman and the free man is Christ’s slave, so neither condition ranks above the other in the church.
1 Corinthians 7:21
“I am a slave of that affair and care to which I am bound. For I know that it is written that whatever one is conquered by, to that he is delivered as a slave.… Who will free me from this most unseemly slavery except him who said, "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed".?”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · HOMILIES 13patristic
4 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:21
“Art thou called being a servant?.... That is, called by grace whilst in the condition of a servant, care not for it; do not be troubled at it, and uneasy with it; be not anxiously solicitous to be otherwise; bear the yoke patiently, go through thy servitude cheerfully, and serve thy master faithfully; do not look upon it as any objection to thy calling, any contradiction to thy Christian liberty, or as unworthy of, and a reproach upon thy profession of Christ: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.”
1 Corinthians 7:21
“Being a servant - (δοῦλος doulos). A slave. Slaves abounded in Greece and in every part of the pagan world. Athens, e. g., had, in her best days, 20,000 freemen, and 400,000 slaves. See the condition of the pagan world on this subject illustrated at length, and in a very learned manner, by B. B. Edwards, in the Bib. Repository for October, 1835, pp. 411-436. It was a very important subject to inquire what ought to be done in such instances.”
1 Corinthians 7:21
“Note, Our comfort and happiness depend on what we are to Christ, not what we are in the world. The goodness of our outward condition does not discharge us from the duties of Christianity, nor the badness of it debar us from Christian privileges. He who is a slave may yet be a Christian freeman; he who is a freeman may yet be Christ's servant.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:21
“This advice (if this translation be right) is not absolute, as the spirit of the Gospel is against slavery. What is advised here is, contentment under one's existing condition (1Co 7:24), though an undesirable one, since in our union with Christ all outward disparities of condition are compensated (1Co 7:22).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
is the Lord’s freedman: Wesley notes that the word for freedman implies a man once a slave and now free. Chrysostom draws the conclusion that slave and free stand equal in all that concerns Christ. Each is freed, and each is owned.
1 Corinthians 7:22
“For he that is called - The man who, being a slave, is converted to the Christian faith, is the Lord’s freeman; his condition as a slave does not vitiate any of the privileges to which he is entitled as a Christian: on the other hand, all free men, who receive the grace of Christ, must consider themselves the slaves of the Lord, i.e. his real property, to be employed and disposed of according to his godly wisdom, who, notwithstanding their state of subjection, will find the service of their Master to be perfect freedom.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:22
“Is the Lord's freeman - Is free in this respect. The Greek word implies one that was a slave, but now is free. Is the bondman of Christ - Not free in this respect; not at liberty to do his own will.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:23-24
You were bought at a price: The unit closes with the chapter's refrain, each one remaining in the situation he was in when God called him. Repeated across circumcision, slavery and marriage, it makes contentment with one's calling a mark of grace.
1 Corinthians 7:23
“The price of man is the blood of Christ. "You have been bought," it is said, "with a price; do not become the slaves of men." The powers of the evil one are trying to render this price useless to us. They try to lead us back into slavery even after we are free.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · HOMILY 21patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:23
“Ye are bought with a price - Though you are slaves to people, yet you have been purchased for God by the blood of His Son; see the note at 1Co 6:20. You are, therefore, in his sight of inestimable worth, and are bound to be His. Be not ye the servants of men - That is, “Do not regard yourselves as the slaves of men.”
1 Corinthians 7:23
“THE same words are found in each place, though a different inference is drawn from them. "You are bought with a price." This morning's text was, "Without money and without price," [#1161] and to the best of my ability I tried to show how freely the blessings of the Gospel are bestowed upon the sons of men. But though they cost us nothing, they cost the Savior dearly. They are without price to us, but what a price He paid!”
when God called him: The rule of verse 20 returns with an added phrase in the Greek, with God, which Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take as its limit. A state that hinders fellowship with God may lawfully be left. Clarke hears a call to live for God in any station.
1 Corinthians 7:24
“This clause, "with God," limits the similar precept in 1Co 7:20. A man may cease to "abide in the calling wherein he was called," and yet not violate the precept here. If a man's calling be not favorable to his "abiding with God" (retaining holy fellowship with Him), he may use lawful means to change from it (compare Note, see on 1Co 7:21).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:24
“Let every man - abide with God - Let him live to God in whatsoever station he is placed by Providence. If he be a slave, God will be with him even in his slavery, if he be faithful to the grace which he has received. It is very likely that some of the slaves at Corinth, who had been converted to Christianity, had been led to think that their Christian privileges absolved them from the necessity of continuing slaves; or, at least, brought them on a level with their Christian masters.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Virgins, a Short Time, and Undistracted Devotion
1 Corinthians 7:25-26
Now about virgins, I have no command from the Lord: Paul has no command from the Lord about virgins, so he gives a judgment as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. The present crisis, persecution, poverty or unsettled times, made the single state wise for that hour.
1 Corinthians 7:25
“Not concerning virgins - This commences the “third” subject on which the opinion of Paul seems to have been asked by the church at Corinth - whether it was proper that those who had unmarried daughters, or wards, should give them in marriage.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:25
“And this, also, was not their private opinion, but a divine rule of faith and practice. As one whom God hath made faithful in my apostolic office; who therefore faithfully deliver what I receive from him. This is good for the present distress - While any church is under persecution.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 Corinthians 7:25
“In the third case (1Co 7:12), the Old Testament commandment of God to put away strange wives (Ezr 10:3), Paul by the Spirit revokes. mercy of the Lord-- (1Ti 1:13). He attributes his apostleship and the gifts accompanying it (including inspiration) to God's grace alone. faithful--in dispensing to you the inspired directions received by me from the Lord.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Because of the present crisis: The crisis is left unnamed, and readers differ over its reach. Barnes takes it as a season of persecution and holds that the advice was never meant as a permanent rule for the church. Ambrosiaster reads virginity as better both for pleasing God and for facing the end times.
1 Corinthians 7:26
Now, if in all cases he says it is best for a man thus to be; "Thou art joined to a wife seek not loosing" (that you may give no occasion to adultery); "thou art loosed from a wife, seek not a wife," that you may reserve an opportunity for yourself: "but withal, if thou shalt have married a wife, and if a virgin shall have married, she sinneth not; pressure, however, of the flesh such shall have,"-even here he is granting a permission by way of "sparing them."
Tertullian · written before 220 · On Modestypatristic
1 Corinthians 7:27-28
Are you committed to a wife?: Paul removes any shadow of sin from marrying: if you do marry, you have not sinned. He names the cost instead, those who marry will face troubles in this life, and wants to spare them this.
1 Corinthians 7:27
“Art thou bound unto a wife? - Art thou already married? Marriage is often thus represented as a “tie,” a “bond,” etc.; see the note at Rom 7:2. Seek not to be loosed - Seek not a “dissolution” (λύσιν lusin) of the connection, either by divorce or by a separation from each other; see the notes on 1Co 7:10-17. Art thou loosed from a wife? - Art thou unmarried? It should have been rendered “free from” a wife; or art thou single?”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:27
“For the apostle, although preferring the grace of continence, yet permits the contraction of marriage and the enjoyment of it, and advises the continuance therein rather than the dissolution there of. Christ plainly forbids divorce, Moses unquestionably permits it.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Against Marcion Book Vpatristic
1 Corinthians 7:27
“Illustrating the meaning of "so to be," 1Co 7:26. Neither the married (those "bound to a wife") nor the unmarried (those "loosed from a wife") are to "seek" a change of state (compare 1Co 7:20, 24).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
will face troubles in this life: Paul twice clears marriage of sin before he names its cost. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the troubles as outward hardship in the flesh under the present distress, distinct from the soul's trouble that sin brings. Theophylact hears a father's wish to spare his children cares and sorrow.
1 Corinthians 7:28
“But, and if thou marry - As there is no law against this, even in the present distress, thou hast not sinned, because there is no law against this; and it is only on account of prudential reasons that I give this advice. And if a virgin marry - Both the man and the woman have equal privileges in this case; either of them may marry without sin.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:28
“For even if you do not "sin" in re-marrying, still he says "pressure of the flesh ensues." Wherefore, so far as we can, let us love the opportunity of continence; as soon as it offers itself, let us resolve to accept it, that what we have not had strength (to follow) in matrimony we may follow in widowhood.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife Book Ipatristic
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
the time is short: , so every attachment, weeping, joy, buying and the things of this world, is held loosely because none is final. This world in its present form is passing away, the Greek schema meaning the world's outward shape and arrangement.
1 Corinthians 7:29
“But this I say - Whether you are married or not, or in whatever condition of life you may be, I would remind you that life hastens to a close, and that its grand business is to be prepared to die. It matters little in what condition or rank of life we are, if we are ready to depart to another and a better world. The time is short - The time is “contracted,” “drawn into a narrow space” (συνεσταλμένος sunestalmenos).”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:29
THE text does not say that time is short. That would have been a true statement, but compared with eternity, time, at the very longest, is but as a pin's point. But note what the text does say—" The time is short." It is the time of our life, the space of our opportunity, the little while we shall be upon the present stage of action that is short. It is narrow and contracted, as the original implies. "Behold," said the Psalmist, "You have made my days as a handbreadth and my age is as nothing before You."
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2861: “'The Time Is Short'” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
as if they had nothing: Barnes explains the weeping as grief moderated by the hope of the life to come. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the verb for possessing means holding fast, and a believer's lasting goods lie elsewhere, as at Hebrews 10:34. Hermas warns that much business breeds many sins.
1 Corinthians 7:30
“They that weep, etc. - There will shortly be such a complete system of distress and confusion that private sorrows and private joys will be absorbed in the weightier and more oppressive public evils: yet, let every man still continue in his calling, let him buy, and sell, and traffic, as usual; though in a short time, either by the coming persecution or the levelling hand of death, he that had earthly property will be brought into the same circumstances with him who had none.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:30
“Christ specifies as the condemning sin of the men of Sodom not merely their open profligacy, but that "they bought, they sold," &c., as men whose all was in this world (Lu 17:28). "Possessed" in the Greek implies a holding fast of a possession; this the Christian will not do, for his "enduring substance" is elsewhere (Heb 10:34).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
its present form is passing away: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear the language of the stage, a scene shifting before the audience. Ambrosiaster notes that the form of the world passes, a point Bonaventure develops into a world purged by fire. Wesley stresses the present tense.
1 Corinthians 7:31
“For since there are real men, so must there also be a real establishment (plantationem), that they vanish not away among non-existent things, but progress among those which have an actual existence. For neither is the substance nor the essence of the creation annihilated (for faithful and true is He who has established it), but "the fashion of the world passeth away;" that is, those things among which transgression has occurred, since man has grown old in them.”
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book Vpatristic
3 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:31
“And they that use this world - That make a necessary and proper use of it to furnish raiment, food, clothing, medicine, protection, etc. It is right so to use the world, for it was made for these purposes. The word using here refers to the lawful use of it (χρώμενοι chrōmenoi). As not abusing it - καταχρώμενοι katachrōmenoi. The preposition κατα kata, in composition here has the sense of “too much, too freely,” and is taken not merely in an intensive sense, but to denote evil, the abuse of the world.”
1 Corinthians 7:31
“The world may be used, but must not be abused. It is abused when it is not used to those purposes for which it is given, to honour God and do good to men--when, instead of being oil to the wheels of our obedience, it is made fuel to lust--when, instead of being a servant, it is made our master, our idol, and has that room in our affections which should be reserved for God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:31
“The image is drawn from a shifting scene in a play represented on the stage (1Jo 2:17). Paul inculcates not so much the outward denial of earthly things, as the inward spirit whereby the married and the rich, as well as the unmarried and the poor, would be ready to sacrifice all for Christ's sake.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 Corinthians 7:32-33
I want you to be free from concern: Paul's point is the division of attention: the married man's concern for pleasing his wife is the ordinary care a spouse owes the other. The worth of marriage is left untouched.
1 Corinthians 7:32
“This is the general rule, which every one's discretion must apply to his own particular case; and by it should he endeavour to determine, whether it be for marriage or against. That condition of life should be chosen by the Christian in which it is most likely he will have the best helps, and the fewest hindrances, in the service of God and the affairs of his own salvation.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
how he can please his wife: Wesley counts this care a Christian duty, the provision a husband owes his wife and household. Basil reads a sharper contrast, hinting that such concern competes with undivided attention to God. Bonaventure distinguishes care under God from care that forgets Him.
1 Corinthians 7:33
“But the married careth for the things of the world - And it in his duty so to do, so far as becomes a Christian. How he may please his wife - And provide all things needful for her and his family.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:33
“Paul allows marriage and considers it worthy of blessing, but he contrasts it with his own preoccupation with the concerns of God and hints that the two things are incompatible.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Long Rules 5patristic
1 Corinthians 7:34-35
and his interests are divided: The aim of Paul's counsel is undivided devotion to the Lord, the Greek aperispastos. Marriage and singleness are each weighed by how they serve it, and the argument is stated for women in their own right.
1 Corinthians 7:34
"The unmarried woman and the virgin think of the things of the Lord, that they may be holy in body and spirit." She has then her wall against the tempests of this world, and so fortified by the defence of divine protection she is disturbed by none of the blasts of this world.
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Epistle 63, 38patristic
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:34
“The unmarried woman - If she know and use her privilege. Careth only for the things of the Lord - All her time, care, and thoughts center in this, how she may be holy both in body and spirit. This is the standing advantage of a single life, in all ages and nations.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
undivided devotion to the Lord: The phrase rendered restrict pictures a noose thrown over an animal in the hunt, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain. Wesley says the word behind devotion means sitting close beside someone, ready to hear. Chrysostom warns that virginity is measured by that devotion.
1 Corinthians 7:35
“Not that I may cast a snare upon you - Who are not able to receive this saying. But for your profit - Who are able. That ye may resolutely and perseveringly wait upon the Lord - The word translated wait signifies sitting close by a person, in a good posture to hear.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:35
“For your own profit - That you may avail yourselves of all your advantages and privileges, and pursue such a course as shall tend most to advance your personal piety and salvation. Not that I may cast a snare upon you - The word rendered “snare” (βρόχον brochon) means a cord, a rope, a bond; and the sense is, that Paul would not BinD them by any rule which God had not made; or that he would not restrain them from that which is lawful, and which the welfare of society usually requires.”
1 Corinthians 7:35
“Note, It is the wisdom of a Christian so to order his outward affairs, and choose such a condition in life, as to be without distracting cares, that he may attend upon the Lord with a mind at leisure and disengaged. This is the general maxim by which the apostle would have Christians govern themselves. In the application of it Christian prudence must direct.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:36-38
However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed: Two readings stand: a father giving his daughter in marriage, or a man deciding whether to marry his betrothed. Either way he is not sinning, and the close says he who marries does well and he who does not does even better.
1 Corinthians 7:36
“Uncomely towards his virgin - Different meanings have been assigned to this verse; I shall mention three of the principal. 1. “In those early times, both among the Hebrews and Christians, the daughters were wholly in the power of the father, so that he might give or not give them in marriage as he chose; and might bind them to perpetual celibacy if he thought proper; and to this case the apostle alludes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
firmly established in his heart: The verse sets out four conditions, a settled heart, freedom from pressure, control of the will, and a firm decision. Theophylact admires the steadiness Paul describes.
does even better: Both choices are called good, and Clement explains the ranking as doing better than what is good. Barnes ties the better course to the present circumstances of verse 26.
1 Corinthians 7:38
“So then he that giveth her in marriage doth well,.... Does that which is in its own nature good; that which is agreeable to the will of God, is of his institution and appointment, and therefore must be good, and answer many good ends and purposes. Such an one that marries his daughter, he seeing a necessity for it, and a propriety in it, does a very good thing; secures her chastity, and his own credit; prevents fornication, and other evils that might follow; consults the good of mankind, and the honour of religion.”
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:38
“Doeth well - Does right; violates no law in it, and is not to be blamed for it. Doeth better - Does that which is on the whole to be preferred, if it can be done. He more certainly, in the present circumstances, consults her happiness by withholding her from the marriage connection than he could by allowing her to enter it.”
1 Corinthians 7:38
“The one is bound by the chains of marriage, the other is free from chains; the one is under the Law, the other under Grace. Marriage is good, for thereby the means of continuing the human race has been devised, but virginity is better, for thereby the heritage of the heavenly kingdom is regained, and the mode of attaining to heavenly rewards discovered.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · Letters 41-50, Letter 42, 3patristic
1 Corinthians 7:39-40
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives: A widow is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord. Paul still judges she is happier if she remains as she is. The chapter ends as it proceeded, a preference stated and freedom kept.
1 Corinthians 7:39
“The wife is bound ... - ; see the notes at Rom 7:2. Only in the Lord - That is, only to one who is a Christian; with a proper sense of her obligations to Christ, and so as to promote his glory. The apostle supposed that could not be done if she were allowed to marry a pagan, or one of a different religion. The same sentiment he advances in 2Co 6:14, and it was his intention, undoubtedly, to affirm that it was proper for a widow to marry no one who was not a Christian.”
1 more voice on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:39
“But in as far as marrying "in the Lord" is permissible, as being within our power, so far more culpable is it not to observe that which you can observe. Add to this the fact that the apostle, with regard to widows and the unmarried, advises them to remain permanently in that state, when he says, "But I desire all to persevere in (imitation of) my example: " but touching marrying "in the Lord," he no longer advises, but plainly bids.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · To His Wife Book IIpatristic
she is happier if she remains: Clarke limits the happier state to the present distress, and Severian calls remarriage blessed and widowhood for the sake of piety more blessed. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown hear a gentle irony toward Corinthians proud of their own opinions. Wesley denies that Paul doubted his possession of the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 7:40
And again I asked him, saying, "Sir, since you have been so patient in listening to me, will you show me this also?" "Speak," said he. And I said, "If a wife or husband die, and the widower or widow marry, does he or she commit sin?" "There is no sin in marrying again," said he; "but if they remain unmarried, they gain greater honour and glory with the Lord; but if they marry, they do not sin. Guard, therefore, your chastity and purity, and you will live to God."
Shepherd of Hermas · written before 160 · Shepherd of Hermas, Commandment 4patristic
2 more voices on this verse
1 Corinthians 7:40
“At this juncture, at least, if not ordinarily, it will be much more for the peace and quiet of such, and give them less hindrance in the service of God, to continue unmarried. And this, he tells them, was by inspiration of the Spirit.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 Corinthians 7:40
“Whoever, therefore, would conclude from hence, that St. Paul was not certain he had the Spirit of Christ, neither understands the true import of the words, nor considers how expressly he lays claim to the Spirit, both in this epistle, chap. ii, 16, xiv, 37, and the other.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: The first answer to the church's own letter, on whether marriage was proper in the circumstances of the church, as Clarke classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Now about | Verse 1 opens with the words Now for the matters you wrote about, and verse 25 turns to a new question with Now about virgins. The same marker opens 8:1, so the phrase shows where each of the church's questions begins. Albert Barnes reads the opening as Paul's reply to their inquiries, the first on whether marriage was lawful and expedient.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on 1 Corinthians 7:1. | 1 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Corinthians 7:25 |
| The husband and the wife, clause for clause | Verses 2, 3 and 4 give each duty twice, once for the husband and once for the wife, and verses 12 to 16 do the same for the unbelieving spouse and the hope of saving the other. Albert Barnes holds that the equal rights of husband and wife are maintained everywhere in the Scriptures.Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments, 1832 to 1869, on 1 Corinthians 7:4. | 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Corinthians 7:3, 1 Corinthians 7:4, 1 Corinthians 7:12, 1 Corinthians 7:13, 1 Corinthians 7:16 |
| The Lord's command and Paul's judgment | Paul marks the source of each ruling. Verse 10 gives a command that Paul marks as the Lord's, verse 12 gives a ruling he marks as his own, and verses 6, 25 and 40 call what he says a concession or a judgment. John Chrysostom explains that the rule of verse 10 was a law Christ had given in express words.John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 19, 407, on 1 Corinthians 7:10 to 11. | 1 Corinthians 7:6, 1 Corinthians 7:10, 1 Corinthians 7:12, 1 Corinthians 7:25, 1 Corinthians 7:40 |
| Remain as you were called | The rule is stated at verse 17 and repeated at verses 20 and 24, and each statement closes a set of cases, first circumcision and then slavery. Origen of Alexandria holds that the state in which a person is called is a matter of indifference in itself, since purity and sin are both possible in it.Origen of Alexandria, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3.37.35-43, 253, on 1 Corinthians 7:20. | 1 Corinthians 7:17, 1 Corinthians 7:20, 1 Corinthians 7:24 |
Where the chapter stands
12 more paragraphs on the patterns
The reports end at 6:20, and 7:1 turns to the letter the church had sent. Chapter 6 told believers to flee sexual immorality, and chapter 7 answers the opposite error, the view that married believers should abstain. Theodoret of Cyrus reads the question as whether lawfully married Christians should keep their relations after baptism. The chapter hands the next question of the letter, food sacrificed to idols, to 8:1.
Who speaks
The church's letter is heard in verse 1. The site's published exposition of verses 1 and 2 reads the sentence on abstaining as likely a maxim the ascetic party had written to Paul. John Chrysostom and John Wesley read it as Paul's own statement of the better course.
The units
Thomas Aquinas divides the chapter into three parts, the married, the virgins from verse 25 and the widows from verse 39. Inside the first part, verses 17 to 24 apply one rule to circumcision and to slavery. Verses 29 to 31 repeat the words as if five times. The price paid at 6:20 returns at verse 23, so the matter of belonging to the Lord crosses the chapter seam.
The Old Testament and the Lord's word
The Berean text of the chapter quotes no Old Testament passage. The command of verse 10 rests on the Lord's teaching, which Theodoret of Cyrus and John Wesley tie to Matthew 5:32.
The debated readings
Remarriage after separation. Justin Martyr counts those twice married by human law as sinners, and Clement of Alexandria counts the marriage of those separated while the other lives as fornication. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown hold that a new marriage must not be added to a separation. The Shepherd of Hermas finds no sin in marrying again after a spouse's death.
The deserted believer of verse 15. Augustine of Hippo holds that a Christian may leave without blame a spouse who refuses to live with him because he is a Christian. John Wesley reads the believer as at full liberty. Ambrosiaster holds that a marriage made without devotion to God does not bind.
The virgins of verses 36 to 38. John Gill reads a father deciding whether to give his daughter in marriage, and Albert Barnes records that most commentators read the verses of the father. The Berean text reads the verses of a man and his betrothed. Methodius of Olympus reads verse 37 of a man who resolves to keep his own flesh in virgin purity.
The slave of verse 21. Theodoret of Cyrus reads the verse as forbidding a slave to run away on the excuse of religion, and Oecumenius reads verse 22 as making slave and master equal before Christ.
Keep studying
Studies11
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, 1832, on 1 Corinthians 7:1; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 19, 407, on 1 Corinthians 7:1 to 2 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians, 1274, on 1 Corinthians 7:1.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Ambrose of Milan, Letters 41-50, Letter 42, 3; Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Augustine of Hippo, LENT 209.3; Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES 5; Bonaventure; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Clement of Alexandria; Desert Fathers, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 19; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Methodius of Olympus, Methodius Discourse III. Thaleia; Origen of Alexandria; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Shepherd of Hermas, Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 4; Tertullian, ON THE SOUL 39.4; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.