1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Within the bonds of wedlock, “the due” should be yielded (1 Corinthians 7:3) by each for the satisfaction and according to the rights of the other (1 Corinthians 7:4). This dictum defends marital intercourse against rigorists, as that of 1 Corinthians 7:1 commends celibacy against sensualists. The word ὀφειλὴ guards, both positively and negatively, the κοίτη ἀμίαντος (Hebrews 13:4); what is due to one alone must be given to one alone (τῇ γυναικί, τῷ ἀνδρί). The gloss of the T.R., as old as the Syriac Version, is a piece of mistaken delicacy. The precise repetition of ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ corrects the onesidedness of common sentiment and of public law, both Greek and Jewish: she is as much the mistress of his person, as he the master of hers. ἐξουσιάζω (= ἐξουσίαν ἔχω) implies moral power, authority (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:12). τοῦ ἰδίου … οὐκ ἐξουσιάζει, “elegans paradoxon” (Bg [1008]) his (her) own is not his (her) own.

[1008] Bengel's Gnomon Novi Testamenti.