1 Corinthians 7:9
in 1 Corinthians 7But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
KJV
But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 7
Commentary
14 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
But if they cannot contain - If they have not the gift of continence; if they cannot be secure against temptation; if they have not strength of virtue enough to preserve them from the danger of sin, and of bringing reproach and scandal on the church. It is better - It is to be preferred. Than to burn - The passion here referred to is often compared to a fire; see Virgil, Aeneas 4:
This site's exposition
It is good for them if they abide even as I
on 1 Corinthians 7:8-9
I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I: Paul extends his own preference to those already single, without commanding it. But if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn names the alternative plainly, burn read by the bench as the fire of unsatisfied desire rather than any threat of judgment, marriage the honorable answer to a real appetite rather than a lesser path for the weak. The unit continues the chapter's pattern of stating a preference and then guarding it at once against becoming a burden on those it does not fit.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
And would that the same fate might befall those, too, who obtruncate the pure and true integrity of the flesh; amputating not the extremest superficies, but the inmost image of modesty itself, while they promise pardon to adulterers and fornicators, in the teeth of the primary discipline of the Christian Name; a discipline to which heathendom itself bears such emphatic witness, that it strives to punish that discipline in the persons of our females rather by defilements of the flesh than tortures; wishing to wrest from them that which they hold dearer than life!
Such a person [who cannot exercise self-control] is not sinning against the covenant [by marrying], but neither is he fulfilling the highest purpose of the gospel ethic.
Why do you acknowledge that there is a necessary remedy for lust yet contradict me when I say that lust is a disease? If you recognize the remedy, then recognize the disease as well.
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.
Do you see the strong sense of Paul how he both signifies that continence is better, and yet puts no force on the person who cannot attain to it; fearing lest some offence arise? "For it is better to marry than to burn." He indicates how great is the tyranny of concupiscence. What he means is something like this: "If you have to endure much violence and burning desire, withdraw yourself from your pains and toils, lest haply you be subverted."
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do you see the wisdom of Paul, how he both shows the superiority of virginity and at the same time does not compel abstinence from marriage for one who is unable to abstain, lest otherwise he suffer a more grievous fall? If, he says, you …
Secondly, as to his statement, but each one has his own gift; as if to say: not everyone has received from God the gift of continence. Hence he says, if they cannot exercise self-control, that is, if they have not yet received this gift, they …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
13 And the woman which hath a husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:100%@v12-14
But if they cannot contain, &c.
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 Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
if they cannot contain--that is, "have not continency." burn--with the secret flame of lust, which lays waste the whole inner man. (Compare AUGUSTINE [Holy Virginity]). The dew of God's grace is needed to stifle the flame, which otherwise would thrust men at last into hell-fire.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
But if they cannot contain - If they find it inconvenient and uncomfortable to continue as widowers and widows, let them remarry. It is better to marry than to burn - Bishop Pearce translates the original thus: For it is better to marry than to be made uneasy. Πυρουσθαι, says he, “signifies primarily to burn; but in a metaphorical sense, to be troubled, vexed, or made uneasy. So in 2Co 11:29: Who is offended and I burn not, και ουκ εγω πυρουμαι, and I am not troubled. So in Terence, Uro hominem, is I vex him.” It would be well to soften the sense of this word in reference to the subject of which the apostle speaks. He cannot mean burning with lust, no more than Virgil means so when he says, Aen. iv. ver. 68: Uritur infelix Dido, the unfortunate Dido is tormented; and in Eccl. ii. 68: Me tamen urit amor, love torments me. All this may be said with the strictest truth in such cases where the impure fire referred to above has no existence. A curious story, which certainly casts light on the phraseology of this place, is related by Dr. Lightfoot, from the tract Kiddushin, fol. 81. “Some captive women were brought to Nehardea, and disposed in the house and the upper room of Rabbi Amram. They took away the ladder (that the women might not get down, but stay there till they were ransomed.) As one of these captives passed by the window, the light of her great beauty shined into the house. Amram (captivated) set up the ladder; and when he was got to the middle of the steps (checked by his conscience) he stopped short, and with a loud voice cried out Fire! Fire! in the house of Amram! (This he did that, the neighbors flocking in, he might be obliged to desist from the evil affection which now prevailed in him.) The rabbins ran to him, and (seeing no fire) they said, Thou hast disgraced us. […]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἰ | ei | If | G1487 → | 508 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἐγκρατεύονται, | egkrateuontai | they have self-control, | G1467 → | |
| γαμησάτωσαν· | gamesatosan | they should marry; | G1060 → | 28 times |
| κρεῖττον | kreitton | better | G2908 → | 19 times |
| γάρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | it is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| γαμῆσαι | gamesai | to marry | G1060 → | 28 times |
| ἢ | e | than | G2228 → | 342 times |
| πυροῦσθαι.¶ | purousthai | to burn with passion. | G4448 → |
εἰIf
eiG1487 →508 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἐγκρατεύονται,they have self-control,
egkrateuontaiG1467 →
γαμησάτωσαν·they should marry;
gamesatosanG1060 →28 times
κρεῖττονbetter
kreittonG2908 →19 times
γάρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ἐστινit is
estinG1510 →2333 times
γαμῆσαιto marry
gamesaiG1060 →28 times
ἢthan
eG2228 →342 times
πυροῦσθαι.¶to burn with passion.
purousthaiG4448 →
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 7:2But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:28
In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
- Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
- Proverbs 18:22
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
- Proverbs 5:18–19
May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
- 1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
- Ephesians 5:28
Through
1 Corinthians 7:39A 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.
it leads to
- Romans 7:2–3
For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–16
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Romans 7:2–3
Through
1 Timothy 5:14So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.
it leads to
- Titus 2:5
to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.
- Titus 2:5
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 14 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); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Augustine of Hippo, AGAINST JULIAN 15; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 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; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Tertullian, On Modesty; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.