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1 Corinthians 7:4

in 1 Corinthians 7

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife.

KJV

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

This verse in 1 Corinthians 7

Commentary

13 notes on this verse

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 3.33.41-46 · Written before 253.

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?

This site's exposition

The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife

on 1 Corinthians 7:3-5

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.

This site's exposition

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.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

John Chrysostom

Homily on 1 Corinthians 19 · Written before 407.

proposed

Now what is the meaning of "the due honor? The wife hath not power over her own body;" but is both the slave and the mistress of the husband. And if you decline the service which is due, you have offended God. But if thou wish to withdraw thyself, it must be with the husband's permission, though it be but a for short time. For this is why he calls the matter a debt, to shew that no one is master of himself but that they are servants to each other. When therefore thou seest an harlot tempting thee, say, "My body is not mine, but my wife's." The same also let the woman say to those who would undermine her chastity, "My body is not mine, but my husband's." Now if neither husband nor wife hath power even over their own body, much less have they over their property. Hear ye, all that have husbands and all that have wives: that if you must not count your body your own, much less your money. Elsewhere I grant He gives to the husband abundant precedence, both in the New Testament, and the Old saying, "Thy turning shall be towards thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Paul doth so too by making a distinction thus, and writing, "Husbands, love your wives; and let the wife see that she reverence her husband." But in this place we hear no more of greater and less, but it is one and the same right. Now why is this? Because his speech was about chastity. "In all other things," says he, "let the husband have the prerogative; but not so where the question is about chastity." "The husband hath no power over his own body, neither the wife." There is great equality of honor, and no prerogative.

The Medieval Church3 voices

A commentator

Bonaventure

Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3 · Written in the 13th century.

proposed

That conjugal chastity is to be approved according to the evangelical law is shown by authority, as follows. 1 Corinthians 7: Let the husband render to the wife the debt owed, and the wife to the husband. The husband does not have power over his …

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on 1 Corinthians · Written before 1107.

proposed

Now he proves that love for one another is indeed a necessary obligation. For spouses, he says, do not have authority over their own bodies, but the wife is both a slave and a mistress of her husband: a slave, since she does not have …

A commentator

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on 1 Corinthians · Written before 1274.

proposed

Secondly, he assigns the reason for the debt saying, for the wife does not rule over her own body, namely, in regard to the act of generation as though she could by her own choice be continent or give herself to someone else; but the …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), in the married state neither person has power over his own body, but has delivered it into the power of the other, the wife hers into the power of the husband, the husband his into the power of the wife. Note, Polygamy, or the marriage of more persons than one, as well as adultery, must be a breach of marriage-covenants, and a violation of the partner's rights.

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5 more voices on this verse

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

The wife hath not power of her own body,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

He gives direction to those who are married to continue together, though they might have an unbelieving relative, unless the unbeliever would part, in which case a Christian would not be in bondage,

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.
The wife hath not power ... - By the marriage covenant that power, in this respect, is transferred to the husband, And likewise, also, the husband - The equal rights of husband and wife, in the Scriptures, are everywhere maintained. They are to regard themselves as united in most intimate union, and in most tender ties.

The words behind it

23 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

6 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 19:9

    Now I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman, commits adultery.”

    it leads to

    • Matthew 5:32

      But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, brings adultery upon her. And he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

    • Luke 16:18

      Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

    • 1 Corinthians 7:39

      A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.

    • 1 Corinthians 7:10–13

      To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

    • Mark 10:11–12

      So He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.

  • Through

    Hosea 3:3

    Then I said to her, “You must live with me for many days; you must not be promiscuous or belong to another, and I will do the same for you.”

    it leads to

    • Deuteronomy 21:13

      and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband,…

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Corinthians

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, 1495 to 1498. Public domain.
The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, 1495 to 1498. Public domain.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 19; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 3.33.41-46; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.