_HE TREATETH OF MARRIAGE, SHEWING IT TO BE A REMEDY AGAINST FORNICATION; AND THAT THE BOND THEREOF OUGHT NOT LIGHTLY TO BE DISSOLVED. EVERY MAN MUST BE CONTENT WITH HIS VOCATION. VIRGINITY WHEREFORE TO BE EMBRACED: AND FOR WHAT RESPECTS WE MAY EITHER MARRY, OR ABSTAIN FROM MARRYING._ _Anno Domini... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW CONCERNING THE THINGS, &C.— The chief business of the foregoing chapter we have seen to be, the lessening the credit of the false Apostle, and the extinguishing of that faction. What follows is in answer to some questions which they had proposed to St. Paul. This chapter contains conjugal matter... [ Continue Reading ]
DUE BENEVOLENCE— _What is due._ Wells. _Benevolence_ here signifies that complacency and compliance which every married couple ought to have for each other, with respect to their mutual satisfaction. Locke.... [ Continue Reading ]
ALSO THE HUSBAND HATH NOT POWER, &C.— The woman, who in all other rights is inferior, has here the same power given her over the man, that the man has over her.... [ Continue Reading ]
DEFRAUD YE NOT ONE THE OTHER— Do not in this matter be wanting one to another, unless it be by mutual consent for a short time, that you may wholly attend to acts of devotion, when you fast upon some solemn occasion: and when this time of solemn devotion is over, return to your former freedom and co... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I SPEAK THIS BY PERMISSION— "You will observe, that I say this by permission from Christ; but not by any express command which he gave in person in the days ofhis flesh, or gives by the inspiration and suggestion of his Spirit now;—by which inspiration you may conclude I am guided, when I throw... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WOULD THAT ALL MEN, &C.— "As for the main question that we are now upon, I could wish that all men were in this respect even as myself; that all Christians could as easily bear the severities of a single life, in the present circumstances, and exercise as resolute command over their natural de... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UNTO THE MARRIED I COMMAND, &C.— The translation published by the English Jesuits at Bourdeaux has it, _To those who are united in the sacrament of marriage;_ which we mention as one instance selected from a number, of the dishonesty of that translation, and of the subtilty of the translators.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT TO THE REST SPEAK I, &C.— "I have reminded you of the decision of Christ, with respect to the affair of divorce; now, as to the rest of the persons and cases to which I shall address myself, it is to be observed that I speak according to what duty or prudence seems on the whole to require; and i... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HER NOT LEAVE HIM— The Greek word being the same both in this and the 12th verse, though it be rendered _put away_ in that, and _leave_ in this, and being directed both to the man and woman, seems to intimate the same power and same act of dismissing in both; and consequently it should have been... [ Continue Reading ]
IS SANCTIFIED— The words _sanctified, holy,_ and _unclean,_ are used here by the Apostle in the Jewish sense. The Jews called all that were Jews _holy,_ and all others _unclean._ Thus _proles genita extra sanctitatem,_ was, "a child begotten by parents, while they were yet heathens." _Genita intra s... [ Continue Reading ]
IS NOT UNDER BONDAGE, &C.— That is, says _Hilary,_ "The Christian in this case is free to marry to another Christian." "He is free," says _Photius,_ "to depart, because the other has dissolved the marriage." "If he depart," say Chrysostom, OEcumenius, and Theophylact, "because thou wilt not communic... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHAT KNOWEST THOU, &C.— Continue with your infidel spouses who are willing to dwell with you; for _how knowest thou, O_ Christian _wife, whether thou shalt convert thy husband,_ (see 1 Peter 3:1.) _and how knowest thou, O_ Christian _husband, whether thou shalt convert thy wife,_ if thou continu... [ Continue Reading ]
IS ANY MAN CALLED BEING CIRCUMCISED?— This is a very pertinent digression, as it so directly contradicts the notion which prevailed among the Jews, that embracing the true religion dissolved all the relations which had before been contracted; whereas the Apostle here declares, that the Gospel left t... [ Continue Reading ]
LET EVERY MAN ABIDE IN THE SAME CALLING, &C.— It is plain from what immediately follows, that this is not an absolute command; but only signifies, that a man should not think himself discharged by the privilege of his Christian state, and the franchises of the kingdom of Christ into which he was ent... [ Continue Reading ]
BEING A SERVANT— That is, _a slave. Use it rather,_ implies, that if a man could obtain his freedom, he might lawfully desire it; but if he could not, he was not to look upon it as a mark of the displeasure of God. The word 'Απελευθερος, rendered _freed-man,_ in Latin _Libertus,_ signifies not simpl... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE— _Slaves_ were bought and sold in the market, as cattle are, and the laws of the Roman Empire considered them as the property of the purchasers. This therefore is a reason for what the Apostle advised, 1 Corinthians 7:21 _that they should not be slaves to men,_ that is, no... [ Continue Reading ]
ABIDE WITH GOD— Beausobre and L'Enfant explain παρα τω Θεω, by, _in the sight of God;_—"taking care to behave in a religious and prudent manner, as under the divine inspection." (See 2 Corinthians 11:11.Ephesians 2:6.)... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW, CONCERNING VIRGINS— St. Paul by _virgins_ evidently means those of both sexes who are in a state of celibacy. It is probable that he had formerly dissuaded them from marriage, in the present situation of the church. (See the next note.) It seems they were uneasy under this, (1 Corinthians 7:28;... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE PRESENT DISTRESS— This must certainly refer to the prevalence of persecution at that time; for nothing (as we have before remarked) can be more absurd, than to imagine that an inspired Apostle would in the general discountenance marriage; considering that it was expressly agreeable to a divi... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TIME IS SHORT— "Is _contracted_ within very narrow limits." The word συνεσταλμενος properly imports this, being a metaphor taken from _furling_ or _gathering up a sail._ The Apostle probably said this from a prophetic view of the approaching persecution under Nero; while in its general import it... [ Continue Reading ]
AS NOT ABUSING IT.— The word Καταχρωμενοι does not here signify _abusing_ in our sense of the word, but _intently using,_—not carrying the enjoyments of it to any excess; _for the_ whole scheme and _fashion of this world passes off,_ and is gone like a scene in a theatre, which presently shifts; or... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW SHE MAY PLEASE HER HUSBAND, &C.— The Apostle in this text, and the counterpart to it, seems to declare, that single persons of either sex have generally opportunities for devotion beyond those who are married, even in the most peaceful times of the church; and that a diversity of humours, both i... [ Continue Reading ]
TOWARD HIS VIRGIN.— The word Παρθενον seems here, says Mr. Locke, used for the virgin _state,_ and not for the _person_ of a virgin. Whether there be examples of the like use of it, he adds, I know not; and therefore I propose it as my conjecture upon these grounds: _First,_ because the resolution o... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEN, HE THAT GIVETH HER IN MARRIAGE, &C.— If the word παρθενος be taken in the sense proposed in the lastnote, it is necessary in this verse to follow those copies which read Γαμιζων, _marriage,_ for εκγαμιζων, _giving in marriage,—So then, he that marrieth, doth well; but he that marrieth not,... [ Continue Reading ]
ONLY IN THE LORD— "Only let her take care that she marry in the Lord; and that, retaining a sense of the importance of her Christian obligation, she do not choose a partner for life of a different religion from herself." See Doddridge.... [ Continue Reading ]
I THINK ALSO THAT I HAVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD.— This seems to glance at his adversaries in the church, who might be of a different opinion. What he writes was to answer questions proposed. It is very unreasonable for any to infer hence, that St. Paul was uncertain whether hewas inspired or not: whereas... [ Continue Reading ]