1 Corinthians 7:21 BSB

1 Corinthians 7:21

Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Wast thou called being a bondservant? care not for it: nay, even if thou canst become free, use it rather.

KJV

Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

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Commentary

3 voices

Origen of Alexandria

HOMILIES 13 (253)

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".?

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

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.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

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.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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).

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
δοῦλος	doulos	Slave [being]	G1401 →
ἐκλήθης;	eklēthēs	were you called?	G2564 →
μή	mē	not	G3361 →
σοι	soi	you	G4771 →
μελέτω·	meletō	should it concern;	G3199 →
ἀλλ᾽	all᾽	but	G235 →
εἰ	ei	if	G1487 →
καὶ	kai	even	G2532 →
δύνασαι	dunasai	you are able	G1410 →
ἐλεύθερος	eleutheros	free	G1658 →
γενέσθαι,	genesthai	to become,	G1096 →
μᾶλλον	mallon	rather	G3123 →
χρῆσαι.	chrēsai	do take advantage.	G5530 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Colossians 3:11
Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
leads to
- Galatians 3:28–29
  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
- 1 Corinthians 12:13
  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
- Romans 10:12
  For there is no difference between Jew and Greek: The same Lord is Lord of all, and gives richly to all who call on Him,
- Ephesians 3:6
  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Ephesians 1:23
  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
Through
1 Corinthians 12:13
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink.
leads to
- Ephesians 4:5
  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
- Colossians 3:11
  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, or free, but Christ is all and is in all.
- Galatians 3:28
  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

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About 1 Corinthians

The Crucifixion — 'Christ crucified' (1 Cor 2:2) — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

1 Corinthians: the study guide →Read chapter 7 →The featured study →

Continue: 1 Corinthians 7 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Corinthians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Corinthians