1 Corinthians 7:27
in 1 Corinthians 7Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
KJV
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 7
Commentary
12 notes on this verseFor 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.
This site's exposition
Are you committed to a wife?
on 1 Corinthians 7:27-28
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
However, touching second marriage, we know plainly that the apostle has pronounced: "Thou t been loosed from a wife; seek not a wife. But if thou shalt marry, thou wilt not sin." Still, as in the former case, he has introduced the order of this discourse too from his personal suggestion, not from a divine precept.
Why should you restore what God has put an end to? Why do you, by repeating the servitude of matrimony, spurn the liberty which is offered you? "You have been bound to a wife," sap the apostle; "seek not loosing.
Why should you restore what God has put an end to? Why do you, by repeating the servitude of matrimony, spurn the liberty which is offered you? "You have been bound to a wife," sap the apostle; "seek not loosing. You have been loosed from a wife; seek not binding.
"Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife." These words carry no contradiction to what had been said before but rather the most entire agreement with them. For he says in that place also, "Except it be by consent:" as here he says, "Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not separation." This is no contradiction. For its being against consent makes a dissolution: but if with consent both live continently, it is no dissolution.
Paul says that no one should be divorced from his wife except in a case of fornication. As for the unmarried, what advantage is there in giving in to the lusts of the flesh?
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
With the words "are you bound to a wife?" he showed that marriage, as a bond, brings with it troubles. By "divorce" he means not abstinence by mutual agreement, but divorce without sufficient cause; for if the spouses abstain by mutual agreement, then this is …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Art thou bound unto a wife?....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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?
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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).
Art thou bound unto a wife? - i.e. Married; for the marriage contract was considered in the light of a bond. Seek not to be loosed - Neither regret your circumstances, notwithstanding the present distress, nor seek on this account for a dissolution of the marriage contract. But if thou art under no matrimonial engagements, do not for the present enter into any.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| δέδεσαι | dedesai | Have you been bound | G1210 → | |
| γυναικί; | gunaiki | to a wife? | G1135 → | 211 times |
| μὴ | me | Not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| ζήτει | zetei | do seek | G2212 → | 117 times |
| λύσιν· | lusin | to be loosed; | G3080 → | |
| λέλυσαι | lelusai | Have you been loosed | G3089 → | |
| ἀπὸ | apo | from | G575 → | 640 times |
| γυναικός; | gunaikos | a wife? | G1135 → | 211 times |
| μὴ | me | Not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| ζήτει | zetei | do seek | G2212 → | 117 times |
| γυναῖκα. | gunaika | a wife. | G1135 → | 211 times |
δέδεσαιHave you been bound
dedesaiG1210 →
γυναικί;to a wife?
gunaikiG1135 →211 times
μὴNot
meG3361 →1066 times
ζήτειdo seek
zeteiG2212 →117 times
λύσιν·to be loosed;
lusinG3080 →
λέλυσαιHave you been loosed
lelusaiG3089 →
ἀπὸfrom
apoG575 →640 times
γυναικός;a wife?
gunaikosG1135 →211 times
μὴNot
meG3361 →1066 times
ζήτειdo seek
zeteiG2212 →117 times
γυναῖκα.a wife.
gunaikaG1135 →211 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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 7:20Each one should remain in the situation he was in when he was called.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 7:17
Regardless, each one should lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him and to which God has called him. This is what I prescribe in all the churches.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:11
and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:12
We command and urge such people by our Lord Jesus Christ to begin working quietly to earn their own living.
- Proverbs 27:8
Like a bird that strays from its nest is a man who wanders from his home.
- 1 Corinthians 7:21–24
Were you a slave when you were called? Do not let it concern you—but if you can gain your freedom, take the opportunity.
- 1 Corinthians 7:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 11 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; 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; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V; Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity; Tertullian, To His Wife Book I and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.