VII. Concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me. — Some members of the Church having written to St. Paul to ask his counsel on matters concerning which there existed a difference of opinion at Corinth, the Apostle now proceeds to answer these inquiries, and his reply occupies the remainder of t... [ Continue Reading ]
TO AVOID FORNICATION. — Better, _because of the_ (_prevalent_)_ fornication._ This was so general in Corinth, and so little regarded as sin. that the unmarried were liable to be led into it. It may at first sight appear as if the Apostle thus put marriage upon very low and merely utilitarian ground:... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE HUSBAND RENDER UNTO THE WIFE DUE BENEVOLENCE. — Rather, _Let the husband render unto the wife her due_ — such being the reading of the better MSS. In this verse the Apostle answers the scruples of those who already were married and who doubted whether they should continue so.... [ Continue Reading ]
OF HER OWN BODY. — Bengel notices that these words, “She has not power of her own body,” form an elegant paradox, bringing out the equal rights of both.... [ Continue Reading ]
EXCEPT IT BE... THAT YE MAY GIVE YOURSELVES — _i.e., that ye may have leisure._ Any such separation should be temporary, and with consent of both parties. Even then it must not be from mere caprice, but for some religious purpose, such as a special season of prayer. (See Exodus 19:15; 1 Samuel 21:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I SPEAK THIS BY PERMISSION. — Better, _Now I say this as a permission, and not as a command._ As the passage is given in our English version, it might seem as if the Apostle implied that he had no actual command, but only a permission to write this, which is not at all his meaning. What he does... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I WOULD THAT ALL MEN WERE EVEN AS I MYSELF. — Better, _I wish rather that all men were as I myself._ These words do not mean that the Apostle wished that every one was unmarried, but that every one had the same grace of continence which he himself was endowed with, so that they might without ris... [ Continue Reading ]
I SAY THEREFORE. — Better, _Now what I say is,_... Widows are here joined with those who have not been married, otherwise discussion might have arisen as to whether the Apostle had intended his advice for them also. It has been curiously conjectured (by Luther amongst others), from the passage where... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS BETTER... — Because to be influenced with unlawful desire is a sin, and to marry is no sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UNTO THE MARRIED... — The Apostle has concluded his instruction to the unmarried and widows, and in 1 Corinthians 7:10 gives his advice to those married persons who had been troubled with doubts as to whether they ought (if marriage were undesirable) to continue in that state. I COMMAND, YET NOT... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AND IF SHE DEPART. — Better, _but if she have actually separated._ These words, from “but” to “husband,” are a parenthesis, and the concluding words, “and let not the husband put away his wife,” are the completion of the Lord’s command given in 1 Corinthians 7:10. The Apostle, in case such a sep... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT TO THE REST. — Up to this point the writer has alluded only to Christians; he has spoken of the duties of unmarried persons, of widows, and of those already married. There still remains one class of marriages concerning which differences of opinion existed — viz., mixed marriages. In a church li... [ Continue Reading ]
LET HER NOT LEAVE HIM. — Better, _let her not put him away;_ the Greek being the same as is applied to the husband in 1 Corinthians 7:12. Under Roman law — and St. Paul was writing to those who were under such law — the wife, as well as the husband, was permitted to obtain a divorce. It is therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
THE UNBELIEVING HUSBAND IS SANCTIFIED BY THE WIFE. — Any scruple which a Christian might have felt as to whether matrimonial union with an unbeliever would be defiling is here removed, and the purity of the former teaching justified. In contrast to that other union in which the connection is defilin... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF THE UNBELIEVING DEPART. — Supposing, however, the desire for separation arises from the unbelieving partner, how is the Christian partner to act? If the married life, for example, be made intolerable by the unbeliever urging the believer to join in such religious acts as conscience cannot app... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WHAT KNOWEST THOU, O WIFE...? — This verse has been very generally regarded as a kind of modification of the previous one, as if the Apostle suggested that it might be advisable not to let the unbelieving partner depart from the marriage union when he so desired, in any case where there was even... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AS GOD HATH DISTRIBUTED... — Regarding 1 Corinthians 7:16 as a kind of parenthesis, these words follow on from 1 Corinthians 7:15 as a general principle to be ever borne in mind, as limiting in practice the very broad liberty which the Apostle has given regarding separation in cases of mixed mar... [ Continue Reading ]
IS ANY MAN CALLED BEING CIRCUMCISED? — Better, _Was any one called having been circumcised?_ The previous general rule is now illustrated by, and applied to, two conditions of life — CIRCUMCISION (1 Corinthians 7:18) and SLAVERY (1 Corinthians 7:20). If any man was converted after having been circum... [ Continue Reading ]
CIRCUMCISION IS NOTHING, AND UNCIRCUMCISION IS NOTHING. — Often those who regard some ceremony as unimportant magnify the very disregard of it into a necessary virtue. The Apostle carefully guards against that by expressing the nothingness of both circumcision and uncircumcision (Romans 2:25; Galati... [ Continue Reading ]
LET EVERY MAN ABIDE IN THE SAME CALLING WHEREIN HE WAS CALLED. — This is an emphatic repetition of the principle on which the previous practical instruction is based. “Calling” must not here be regarded in the modern sense of profession or condition in life; it is nowhere so used in the New Testamen... [ Continue Reading ]
ART THOU CALLED BEING A SERVANT? — Better, _Were you called while a slave? Do not let that make you anxious._ The fact of your being in slavery does not affect the reality of completeness of your conversion; and so you need have no anxiety to try and escape from servitude. In this and the following... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE THAT IS CALLED IN THE LORD, BEING A SERVANT,... — Better, _For he that was converted as a slave is Christ’s freedman; and, similarly, the one who was converted as a freeman is Christ’s slave._ Therefore, no one need trouble himself as to his mere earthly servitude or freedom. If he be a slave... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE... — Better, _You were bought with a price therefore become not slaves of men._ This carries on the idea of freedmen of the previous verse. With a great price — even the blood of Christ — they have been purchased by Him as freedmen: therefore, do not become slaves of men —... [ Continue Reading ]
BRETHREN, LET EVERY MAN, WHEREIN HE IS CALLED. — Better, _was called._ Here we have an earnest reiteration of the principle underlying the previous instruction, Let the converted man abide, as regards his social or political state, as he was; in doing so, he will be with God. They were brought near... [ Continue Reading ]
WOW CONCERNING VIRGINS... — A new subject is here introduced — viz., the duty of parents regarding their young unmarried daughters. Ought they to give them in marriage? The answer occupies to 1 Corinthians 7:38. On this subject the Apostle states that he has no actual command from Christ. It was a p... [ Continue Reading ]
I SUPPOSE THEREFORE THAT THIS IS GOOD FOR THE PRESENT DISTRESS. — Better, _I think then that it is good because of the impending distress_ — _that it is good for a person to be so_ — _i.e.,_ to continue in the state in which he is, married or unmarried, as the case may be. The construction of this... [ Continue Reading ]
ART THOU BOUND UNTO A WIFE? — This is an explanation and re-assertion of the previous words “so to be.” Being “loosed from a wife” does not mean a separation after marriage, but simply “unmarried.”... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT AND IF THOU MARRY. — Better, _If, however, thou hast married._ The teaching here is not for some who will, after this advice, persist in marrying, but the reference is still to those who are actually married, and a further and clearer statement to them that the question is not one of sin, but me... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THIS I SAY, BRETHREN. — This does not introduce a reiteration of what he has said already, but commences a solemn and affectionate warning, urging on them earnestly that, whether they applied or did not apply the principle to marriage, still that it is true, and of vast importance in regulating... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT ABUSING IT. — We can scarcely find a better word in English than “abusing” by which to render the Greek of this passage. But this word implies, in modern language, an abuse arising from misuse, and not, as in the original here, an abuse arising from over-much use. All the things mentioned in thi... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT I WOULD HAVE YOU. — These words seem to take up again the form of expression in 1 Corinthians 7:28. I would spare you trouble; I also wish to have you free from anxious care. That is my reason for so advising you. And here the Apostle returns to the subject immediately under consideration, and s... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THIS I SPEAK FOR YOUR OWN PROFIT. — The reference is to the preceding passage, commencing with 1 Corinthians 7:32; and the writer explains that these instructions are given, not to please himself, but for (emphatically) _your own_ advantage; not to entangle you in a noose, and so take away your... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF ANY MAN THINK. — Here the writer turns to the duty of parents, and there is a further explanation to such that the previous expressions are not binding commandments, but apostolic advice. If the case arises that a parent thinks he would be acting unfairly towards his unmarried daughter (_i.e.... [ Continue Reading ]
NEVERTHELESS HE THAT STANDETH STEDFAST IN HIS HEART. — The previous verse must not be understood as applying to any other cases than those to which it is strictly limited — viz., those where positive harm is likely to result from the parent withholding his consent. Where no such necessity arises, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THEN... — Better, _So then he that gives his daughter in marriage does well, and_ (not “but”) h_e that giveth her not shall do better._ It is worth noticing how, in the case of the one who gives his daughter in marriage, we have the present tense “does well” — as if the good he did began and ende... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WIFE. — The question of the re-marriage of widows is here considered. It was probably a matter in which his opinion had been asked, and, in any case, naturally completes the subject of marriage. The widow may be married again if she desire, but “only in the Lord” — _i.e.,_ not to a heathen. She,... [ Continue Reading ]