1 Corinthians 7:23
in 1 Corinthians 7You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye were bought with a price; become not bondservants of men.
KJV
Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 7
Commentary
16 notes on this verseThe 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.
This site's exposition
You were bought at a price
on 1 Corinthians 7:23-24
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
We have been bought at so high a price that only Christ, who owns everything, is able to pay it. Therefore whoever is bought with a price ought to serve all the more, in an effort to pay back the buyer. Having been bought by …
Christ came and "bought us back" when we were serving that lord to whom we sold ourselves by sinning. So he appears to have recovered as his own those whom he created. He has redeemed a people who chose to belong to another, who sought another lord for themselves by sinning.
What greater price is there than that the Creator shed his blood for the creature?
"Ye were bought with a price: become not bondservants of men." This saying is addressed not to slaves only but also to free men. For it is possible for one who is a slave not to be a slave; and for one who is a freeman to be a slave. "And how can one be a slave and not a slave?" When he doeth all for God: when he feigns nothing, and doeth nothing out of eye-service towards men: that is how one that is a slave to men can be free. Or again, how doth one that is free become a slave? When he serves men in any evil service, either for gluttony or desire of wealth or for office' sake. For such an one, though he be free, is more of a slave than any man. But if this be not the meaning, if he bade them forsake their masters and strive contentiously to become free, in what sense did he exhort them, saying, "Let each one remain in the calling in which he is called?" And in another place, "As many servants as are under the yoke, let them count their own masters worthy of all honor; and those that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren who partake of the benefit." And writing to the Ephesians also and to the Colossians, he ordains and exacts the same rules. Whence it is plain that it is not this slavery which he annuls, but that which caused as it is by vice befalls free men also: and this is the worst kind of slavery, though he be a free man who is in bondage to it.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Let us not give our body to sin. "We have been bought at a great price. Do not become servants of men" nor of demons nor of sins. If I had redeemed some servant, I would not give him away for nothing.
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
He says this not to slaves alone, but also to free people, exhorting all Christians to do nothing for the sake of pleasing men and not to obey them if their commands are unlawful. This is what it means: having been bought by God, to …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Ye are bought with a price - Ye belong to God; therefore, where it can be avoided, do not become the bondslaves of men - Which may expose you to many temptations.
Ye are bought with a price,....
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
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!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
be not ye--Greek, "become not ye." Paul here changes from "thou" (1Co 7:21) to "ye." YE ALL are "bought" with the blood of Christ, whatever be your earthly state (1Co 6:20).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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! Well did our poet put it in the remarkable verse which we sang— "There's never a gift His hand bestows But cost His heart a groan." Out of that fact grow certain most weighty practical Truths of God and I have chosen it as the subject of this evening's discourse that I may urge them upon your minds. May the Holy Spirit work graciously through the Word which you will hear and cause you to live as those who are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. First, I shall have to say to you that redemption is our chief blessing—nothing better can be said of you than this, "You are bought with a price." Then I shall have to remind you that redemption on God's part becomes His paramount claim upon us. And thirdly, I shall have to show that this claim is remarkably extensive, and I shall urge you to admit it. I. First, then, "YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE." To every man of whom this may be said, it is the best news he ever heard! An angel sent from Heaven could not bring to any man or woman a more delightful message than this, "You are bought with a price, even with the precious blood of Christ." "You are Christ's," says the Apostle in the chapter we read to you (1 Corinthians 3), and he seemed as if his heart glowed as he said it. He even made it the climax of a remarkable burst of eloquence. "Therefore let no man glory in men.
Ye are bought with a price - As truly as your bodies have become the property of your masters, in consequence of his paying down a price for you; so sure you are now the Lord’s property, in consequence of your being purchased by the blood of Christ. Some render this verse interrogatively: Are ye bought with a price from your slavery? Do not again become slaves of men. Never sell yourselves; prefer and retain your liberty now that ye have acquired it. In these verses the apostle shows that the Christian religion does not abolish our civil connections; in reference to them, where it finds us, there it leaves us. In whatever relation we stood before our embracing Christianity, there we stand still; our secular condition being no farther changed than as it may be affected by the amelioration of our moral character. But slavery, and all buying and selling of the bodies and souls of men, no matter what color or complexion, is a high offense against the holy and just God, and a gross and unprincipled attack on the liberty and rights of our fellow creatures.
Modern Voices1 voice
It would also be cheaper if a number of us slept at different times, so as to use the same pair of trousers. But the question is not how cheap are we buying a thing, but what are we buying? It is cheap to own …
The words behind it
6 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| τιμῆς | times | With a price | G5092 → | 41 times |
| ἠγοράσθητε· | egorasthete | you were bought; | G59 → | 30 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| γίνεσθε | ginesthe | do become | G1096 → | 667 times |
| δοῦλοι | douloi | slaves | G1401 → | 129 times |
| ἀνθρώπων. | anthropon | of men. | G444 → | 549 times |
τιμῆςWith a price
timesG5092 →41 times
ἠγοράσθητε·you were bought;
egorastheteG59 →30 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
γίνεσθεdo become
ginestheG1096 →667 times
δοῦλοιslaves
douloiG1401 →129 times
ἀνθρώπων.of men.
anthroponG444 →549 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Corinthians 6:20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 1:18
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 12:1
Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
- 1 Peter 2:9
Through
Revelation 5:9And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and…
it leads to
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Matthew 26:28
This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
Through
Titus 2:14He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
it leads to
- Hebrews 9:14
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Hebrews 9:14
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 15 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); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY 21; Bonaventure, Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1163: “Redemption and Its Claims” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); GK Chesterton, What's Wrong with the World, Woman (1910); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILY 29; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 19; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Origen of Alexandria, HOMILIES ON EXODUS 6 and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.