Jamieson, Fausset & Brown :: Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7

The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET

CHAPTER 7

      1. The Corinthians in their letter had probably asked questions which tended to disparage marriage, and had implied that it was better to break it off when contracted with an unbeliever.
      good--that is, "expedient," because of "the present distress"; that is, the unsettled state of the world, and the likelihood of persecutions tearing rudely asunder those bound by marriage ties. Hbr 13:4, in opposition to ascetic and Romish notions of superior sanctity in celibacy, declares, "Marriage is HONORABLE IN ALL." Another reason why in some cases celibacy may be a matter of Christian expediency is stated in 1Cr 7:34, 35, "that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." But these are exceptional cases, and in exceptional times, such as those of Paul.

      2. Here the general rule is given
      to avoid fornication--More literally, "on account of fornications," to which as being very prevalent at Corinth, and not even counted sins among the heathen, unmarried persons might be tempted. The plural, "fornications," marks irregular lusts, as contrasted with the unity of the marriage relation [BENGEL].
      let every man have--a positive command to all who have not the gift of continency, in fact to the great majority of the world ( 1Cr 7:5 ). The dignity of marriage is set forth by Paul ( Eph 5:25-32 ), in the fact that it signifies the mystical union between Christ and the Church.

      3, 4. The duty of cohabitation on the part of the married.
      due benevolence--The oldest manuscripts read simply, "her due"; that is, the conjugal cohabitation due by the marriage contract (compare 1Cr 7:4 ).

      4. A paradox. She hath not power over her body, and yet it is her own. The oneness of body in which marriage places husband and wife explains this. The one complements the other. Neither without the other realizes the perfect ideal of man.

      5. Defraud. . . not--namely, of the conjugal duty "due" ( 1Cr 7:3; compare the Septuagint, Exd 21:10 ).
      except it be--"unless perchance" [ALFORD].
      give yourselves to--literally, "be at leisure for"; be free from interruptions for; namely, on some special "season," as the Greek for "time" means (compare Exd 19:15 Joe 2:16 Zec 7:3 ).
      fasting and prayer--The oldest manuscripts omit "fasting and"; an interpolation, evidently, of ascetics.
      come together--The oldest manuscripts read, "be together," namely, in the regular state of the married.
      Satan--who often thrusts in his temptations to unholy thoughts amidst the holiest exercises.
      for your incontinency--because of your inability to "contain" ( 1Cr 7:9 ) your natural propensities, which Satan would take advantage of.

      6. by permission. . . not of commandment--not by God's permission to me to say it: but, "by way of permission to you, not as a commandment." "This" refers to the directions, 1Cr 7:2-5.

      7. even as I--having tile gift of continence ( Mat 19:11, 12 ). This wish does not hold good absolutely, else the extension of mankind and of the Church would cease; but relatively to "the present distress" ( 1Cr 7:26 ).

      8. to the unmarried--in general, of both sexes ( 1Cr 7:10, 11 ).
      and widows--in particular.
      even as I--unmarried ( 1Cr 9:5 ).

      9. 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.

      10. not I, but the Lord--(Compare 1Cr 7:12, 25, 40 ). In ordinary cases he writes on inspired apostolic authority ( 1Cr 14:37 ); but here on the direct authority of the Lord Himself ( Mar 10:11, 12 ). In both cases alike the things written are inspired by the Spirit of God "but not all for all time, nor all on the primary truths of the faith" [ALFORD].
      Let not the wife depart--literally, "be separated from." Probably the separation on either side, whether owing to the husband or to the wife, is forbidden.

      11. But and if she depart--or "be separated." If the sin of separation has been committed, that of a new marriage is not to be added ( Mat 5:32 ).
      be reconciled--by appeasing her husband's displeasure, and recovering his good will.
      let not. . . husband put away. . . wife--In Mat 5:32 the only exception allowed is, "saving for the cause of fornication."

      12. to the rest--the other classes (besides "the married," 1Cr 7:10, where both husband and wife are believers) about whom the Corinthians had inquired, namely, those involved in mixed marriages with unbelievers.
      not the Lord--by any direct command spoken by Him.
      she be pleased--Greek, "consents": implying his wish in the first instance, with which hers concurs.

      13. the woman--a believer.
      let her not leave him--"her husband," instead of "him," is the reading of the oldest manuscripts The Greek for "leave" is the same as in 1Cr 7:12, "put away"; translate, "Let her not put away [that is, part with] her husband." The wife had the power of effecting a divorce by Greek and Roman law.

      14. sanctified--Those inseparably connected with the people of God are hallowed thereby, so that the latter may retain the connection without impairing their own sanctity (compare 1Ti 4:5 ); nay, rather imparting to the former externally some degree of their own hallowed character, and so preparing the way for the unbeliever becoming at last sanctified inwardly by faith.
      by. . . by--rather, "in. . . in"; that is, in virtue of the marriage tie between them.
      by the husband--The oldest manuscripts read, "by the brother." It is the fact of the husband being a "brother," that is, a Christian, though the wife is not so, that sanctifies or hallows the union.
      else. . . children unclean--that is, beyond the hallowed pale of God's people: in contrast to "holy," that is, all that is within the consecrated limits [CONYBEARE and HOWSON]. The phraseology accords with that of the Jews, who regarded the heathen as "unclean," and all of the elect nation as "holy," that is, partakers of the holy covenant. Children were included in the covenant, as God made it not only with Abraham, but with his "seed after" him ( Gen 17:7 ). So the faith of one Christian parent gives to the children a near relationship to the Church, just as if both parents were Christians (compare Rom 11:16 ). Timothy, the bearer of this Epistle, is an instance in point ( Act 16:1 ). Paul appeals to the Corinthians as recognizing the principle, that the infants of heathen parents would not be admissible to Christian baptism, because there is no faith on the part of the parents; but where one parent is a believer, the children are regarded as not aliens from, but admissible even in infancy as sharers in, the Christian covenant: for the Church presumes that the believing parent will rear the child in the Christian faith. Infant baptism tacitly superseded infant circumcision, just as the Christian Lord's day gradually superseded the Jewish sabbath, without our having any express command for, or record of, transference. The setting aside of circumcision and of sabbaths in the case of the Gentiles was indeed expressly commanded by the apostles and Paul, but the substitution of infant baptism and of the Lord's day were tacitly adopted, not expressly enacted. No explicit mention of it occurs till IRENAEUS in the third century; but no society of Christians that we read of disputed its propriety till fifteen hundred years after Christ. Anabaptists would have us defer baptism till maturity as the child cannot understand the nature of it. But a child may be made heir of an estate: it is his, though incapable at the time of using or comprehending its advantage; he is not hereafter to acquire the title and claim to it: he will hereafter understand his claim, and be capable of employing his wealth: he will then, moreover, become responsible for the use he makes of it [ARCHBISHOP WHATELY].

      15. if. . . depart--that is, wishes for separation. Translate, "separateth himself": offended with her Christianity, and refusing to live with her unless she renounce it.
      brother or a sister is not under bondage--is not bound to renounce the faith for the sake of retaining her unbelieving husband [HAMMOND]. So Deu 13:6 Mat 10:35-37 Luk 14:26. The believer does not lie under the same obligation in the case of a union with an unbeliever, as in the case of one with a believer. In the former case he is not bound not to separate, if the unbeliever separate or "depart," in the latter nothing but "fornication" justifies separation [PHOTIUS in AEcumenius].
      but God hath called us to peace--Our Christian calling is one that tends to "peace" ( Rom 12:18 ), not quarrelling; therefore the believer should not ordinarily depart from the unbelieving consort ( 1Cr 7:12-14 ), on the one hand; and on the other, in the exceptional case of the unbeliever desiring to depart, the believer is not bound to force the other party to stay in a state of continual discord ( Mat 5:32 ). Better still it would be not to enter into such unequal alliances at all ( 1Cr 7:40 2Cr 6:14 ).

      16. What knowest thou but that by staying with thy unbelieving partner thou mayest save him or her? Enforcing the precept to stay with the unbelieving consort ( 1Cr 7:12-14 ). So Ruth the Moabitess became a convert to her husband's faith: and Joseph and Moses probably gained over their wives. So conversely the unbelieving husband may be won by the believing wife ( 1Pe 3:1 ) [CALVIN]. Or else ( 1Cr 7:15 ), if thy unbelieving consort wishes to depart, let him go, so that thou mayest live "in peace": for thou canst not be sure of converting him, so as to make it obligatory on thee at all costs to stay with him against his will [MENOCHIUS and ALFORD].
      save--be the instrument of salvation to ( Jam 5:20 ).

      17. But--Greek, "If not." "Only." Caution that believers should not make this direction ( 1Cr 7:16; as ALFORD explains it) a ground for separating "of themselves" ( 1Cr 7:12-14 ). Or, But if there be no hope of gaining over the unbeliever, still let the general principle be maintained, "As the Lord hath allotted to each, as God hath called each, so let him walk" (so the Greek in the oldest reading); let him walk in the path allotted to him and wherein he was called. The heavenly calling does not set aside our earthly callings.
      so ordain I in all churches--Ye also therefore should obey.

      18. not become uncircumcised--by surgical operation (1 Maccabees 1:15; JOSEPHUS [Antiquities, 12.5.1]). Some Christians in excess of anti-Jewish feeling might be tempted to this.
      let him not be circumcised--as the Judaizing Christians would have him ( Act 15:1, 5, 24 Gal 5:2 ).

      19. Circumcision. . . nothing, but. . . keeping of. . . commandments of God--namely, is all in all. In Gal 5:6 this "keeping of the commandments of God" is defined to be "faith which worketh by love"; and in Gal 6:15, "a new creature." Circumcision was a commandment of God: but not for ever, as "love."

      20. the same calling--that is, the condition from which he is called a Jew, a Greek, a slave, or a freeman.

      21. care not for it--Let it not be a trouble to thee that thou art a servant or slave.
      use it rather--Continue rather in thy state as a servant ( 1Cr 7:20 Gal 3:28 1Ti 6:2 ). The Greek, "But if even thou mayest be made free, use it," and the context ( 1Cr 7:20, 22 ) favors this view [CHRYSOSTOM, BENGEL, and ALFORD]. This advice (if this translation be right) is not absolute, as the spirit of the Gospel is against slavery. What is advised here is, contentment under one's existing condition ( 1Cr 7:24 ), though an undesirable one, since in our union with Christ all outward disparities of condition are compensated ( 1Cr 7:22 ). Be not unduly impatient to cast off "even" thy condition as a servant by unlawful means ( 1Pe 2:13-18 ); as, for example, Onesimus did by fleeing ( Phm 1:10-18 ). The precept ( 1Cr 7:23 ), "Become not (so the Greek) the servants of men," implies plainly that slavery is abnormal (compare Lev 25:42 ). "Men stealers," or slave dealers, are classed in 1Ti 1:10, with "murderers" and "perjurers." NEANDER, GROTIUS, &c., explain, "If called, being a slave, to Christianity, be content--but yet, if also thou canst be free (as a still additional good, which if thou canst not attain, be satisfied without it; but which, if offered to thee, is not to be despised), make use of the opportunity of becoming free, rather than by neglecting it to remain a slave." I prefer this latter view, as more according to the tenor of the Gospel, and fully justified by the Greek.

      22. the Lord's freeman-- ( Phm 1:16 ) --rather, "freedman." Though a slave externally, spiritually made free by the Lord: from sin, Jhn 8:36; from the law, Rom 8:2; from "circumcision," 1Cr 7:19 Gal 5:1.
      Christ's servant-- ( 1Cr 9:21 ). Love makes Christ's service perfect freedom ( Mat 11:29, 30 Gal 5:13 1Pe 2:16 ).

      23. be not ye--Greek, "become not ye." Paul here changes from "thou" ( 1Cr 7:21 ) to "ye." YE ALL are "bought" with the blood of Christ, whatever be your earthly state ( 1Cr 6:20 ). "Become not servants to men," either externally, or spiritually; the former sense applying to the free alone: the latter to Christian freemen and slaves alike, that they should not be servile adherents to their party leaders at Corinth ( 1Cr 3:21, 22 Mat 23:8-10 2Cr 11:20 ); nor indeed slaves to men generally, so far as their condition admits. The external and internal conditions, so far as is attainable, should correspond, and the former be subservient to the latter (compare 1Cr 7:21, 32-35 ).

      24. abide with God--being chiefly careful of the footing on which he stands towards God rather than that towards men. This clause, "with God," limits the similar precept in 1Cr 7:20. A man may cease to "abide in the calling wherein he was called," and yet not violate the precept here. If a man's calling be not favorable to his "abiding with God" (retaining holy fellowship with Him), he may use lawful means to change from it (compare Note, see on JF & B for 1Co 7:21).

      25. no commandment of the Lord: yet. . . my judgment--I have no express revelation from the Lord commanding it, but I give my judgment (opinion); namely, under the ordinary inspiration which accompanied the apostles in all their canonical writings (compare 1Cr 7:40 1Cr 14:37 1Th 4:15 ). The Lord inspires me in this case to give you only a recommendation, which you are free to adopt or reject--not a positive command. In the second case ( 1Cr 7:10, 11 ) it was a positive command; for the Lord had already made known His will ( Mal 2:14, 15 Mat 5:31, 32 ). In the third case ( 1Cr 7:12 ), the Old Testament commandment of God to put away strange wives ( Ezr 10:3 ), Paul by the Spirit revokes.
      mercy of the Lord-- ( 1Ti 1:13 ). He attributes his apostleship and the gifts accompanying it (including inspiration) to God's grace alone.
      faithful--in dispensing to you the inspired directions received by me from the Lord.

      26. I suppose--"I consider."
      this--namely, "for a man so to be," that is, in the same state in which he is ( 1Cr 7:27 ).
      for--by reason of.
      the present distress--the distresses to which believers were then beginning to be subjected, making the married state less desirable than the single; and which would prevail throughout the world before the destruction of Jerusalem, according to Christ's prophecy ( Mat 24:8-21; compare Act 11:28 ).

      27. Illustrating the meaning of "so to be," 1Cr 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 1Cr 7:20, 24 ).

      28. trouble in the flesh--Those who marry, he says, shall incur "trouble in the flesh" (that is, in their outward state, by reason of the present distress), not sin, which is the trouble of the spirit.
      but I spare you--The emphasis in the Greek is on "I." My motive in advising you so is, to "spare you" such trouble in the flesh. So ALFORD after CALVIN, BENGEL, and others. ESTIUS from AUGUSTINE explains it, "I spare you further details of the inconveniences of matrimony, lest even the incontinent may at the peril of lust be deterred from matrimony: thus I have regard for your infirmity." The antithesis in the Greek of "I. . . you" and "such" favors the former.

      29. this I say--A summing up of the whole, wherein he draws the practical inference from what precedes ( 1Cr 15:50 ).
      the time--the season (so the Greek) of this present dispensation up to the coming of the Lord ( Rom 13:11 ). He uses the Greek expression which the Lord used in Luk 21:8 Mar 13:33.
      short--literally, "contracted."
      it remaineth--The oldest manuscripts read, "The time (season) is shortened as to what remains, in order that both they," &c.; that is, the effect which the shortening of the time ought to have is, "that for the remaining time (henceforth), both they," &c. The clause, "as to what remains," though in construction belonging to the previous clause, in sense belongs to the following. However, CYPRIAN and Vulgate support English Version.
      as though they had none--We ought to consider nothing as our own in real or permanent possession.

      30. they that weep. . . wept not--(Compare 2Cr 6:10 ).
      they that buy. . . possessed not--(Compare Isa 24:1, 2 ). Christ specifies as the condemning sin of the men of Sodom not merely their open profligacy, but that "they bought, they sold," &c., as men whose all was in this world ( Luk 17:28 ). "Possessed" in the Greek implies a holding fast of a possession; this the Christian will not do, for his "enduring substance" is elsewhere ( Hbr 10:34 ).

      31. not abusing it--not abusing it by an overmuch using of it. The meaning of "abusing" here is, not so much perverting, as using it to the full [BENGEL]. We are to use it, "not to take our fill" of its pursuits as our chief aim (compare Luk 10:40-42 ). As the planets while turning on their own axis, yet revolve round the sun; so while we do our part in our own worldly sphere, God is to be the center of all our desires.
      fashion--the present fleeting form. Compare Psa 39:6, "vain show"; Psa 73:20, "a dream"; Jam 4:14, "a vapor."
      passeth away--not merely shall pass away, but is now actually passing away. The image is drawn from a shifting scene in a play represented on the stage ( 1Jo 2:17 ). Paul inculcates not so much the outward denial of earthly things, as the inward spirit whereby the married and the rich, as well as the unmarried and the poor, would be ready to sacrifice all for Christ's sake.

      32. without carefulness--I would have you to be not merely "without trouble," but "without distracting cares" (so the Greek).
      careth--if he uses aright the advantages of his condition.

      34. difference also--Not merely the unmarried and the married man differ in their respective duties, but also the wife and the virgin. Indeed a woman undergoes a greater change of condition than a man in contracting marriage.

      35. for your own profit--not to display my apostolic authority.
      not. . . cast a snare upon you--image from throwing a noose over an animal in hunting. Not that by hard injunctions I may entangle you with the fear of committing sin where there is no sin.
      comely--befitting under present circumstances.
      attend upon--literally, "assiduously wait on"; sitting down to the duty. Compare Luk 10:39, Mary; Luk 2:37, "Anna. . . a widow, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" ( 1Ti 5:5 ).
      distraction--the same Greek as "cumbered" ( Luk 10:40, Martha).

      36. behaveth. . . uncomely--is not treating his daughter well in leaving her unmarried beyond the flower of her age, and thus debarring her from the lawful gratification of her natural feeling as a marriageable woman.
      need so require--if the exigencies of the case require it; namely, regard to the feelings and welfare of his daughter. Opposed to "having no necessity" ( 1Cr 7:37 ).
      let them marry--the daughter and her suitor.

      37. steadfast--not to be turned from his purpose by the obloquy of the world.
      having no necessity--arising from the natural inclinations of the daughter.
      power over his. . . will--when, owing to his daughter's will not opposing his will, he has power to carry into effect his will or wish.
      decreed--determined.

      38. her--The oldest manuscripts have "his own virgin daughter."
      but--The oldest manuscripts have "and."

      39. bound by the law--The oldest manuscripts omit "by the law."
      only in the Lord--Let her marry only a Christian ( 2Cr 6:14 ).

      40. happier-- ( 1Cr 7:1, 28, 34, 35 ).
      I think also--"I also think"; just as you Corinthians and your teachers think much of your opinions, so I also give my opinion by inspiration; so in 1Cr 7:25, "my judgment" or opinion. Think does not imply doubt, but often a matter of well-grounded assurance ( Jhn 5:39 ).