Paul uniquely shifts from his typical grace-centered language to issuing direct commandments about sexual obligations, using "owe" (opheilē) to describe marital duty rather than his usual vocabulary of love or fellowship.
1 Corinthians 7
Marriage and Sexual Relations
1Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.
2But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
3Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband.
4The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
7Yet I wish that all men were like me. However, each man has his own gift from God, one of this kind, and another of that kind.
8But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.
9But if they don’t have self-control, let them marry. For it’s better to marry than to burn with passion.
10But to the married I command—not I, but the Lord—that the wife not leave her husband
11(but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband not leave his wife.
12But to the rest I—not the Lord—say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her.
13The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband.
14For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
15Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.
16For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?
Remain in Your Calling
17Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies.
18Was anyone called having been circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised. Has anyone been called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.
19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but what matters is keeping God’s commandments.
20Let each man stay in that calling in which he was called.
21Were you called being a bondservant? Don’t let that bother you, but if you get an opportunity to become free, use it.
22For he who was called in the Lord being a bondservant is the Lord’s free man. Likewise he who was called being free is Christ’s bondservant.
23You were bought with a price. Don’t become bondservants of men.
24Brothers, let each man, in whatever condition he was called, stay in that condition with God.
Concerning the Unmarried and Widows
25Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
26Therefore I think that because of the distress that is on us, it’s good for a man to remain as he is.
27Are you bound to a wife? Don’t seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don’t seek a wife.
28But if you marry, you have not sinned. If a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have oppression in the flesh, and I want to spare you.
29But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none;
30and those who weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess;
31and those who use the world, as not using it to the fullest. For the mode of this world passes away.
32But I desire to have you to be free from cares. He who is unmarried is concerned for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33but he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
34There is also a difference between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she who is married cares about the things of the world—how she may please her husband.
35This I say for your own benefit, not that I may ensnare you, but for that which is appropriate, and that you may attend to the Lord without distraction.
36But if any man thinks that he is behaving inappropriately toward his virgin, if she is past the flower of her age, and if need so requires, let him do what he desires. He doesn’t sin. Let them marry.
37But he who stands steadfast in his heart, having no urgency, but has power over his own will, and has determined in his own heart to keep his own virgin, does well.
38So then both he who gives his own virgin in marriage does well, and he who doesn’t give her in marriage does better.
39A wife is bound by law for as long as her husband lives; but if the husband is dead, she is free to be married to whomever she desires, only in the Lord.
40But she is happier if she stays as she is, in my judgment, and I think that I also have God’s Spirit.
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Theme
Paul addresses questions about marriage, singleness, and social relationships within the Christian community. He advocates for contentment in one's current state while providing practical guidance for married couples, mixed marriages with unbelievers, and those considering marriage. Throughout, Paul emphasizes that both marriage and singleness are gifts from God, each with their own advantages for serving Christ.
Context
This chapter responds to specific questions the Corinthians had written to Paul, continuing his pastoral guidance that began with addressing divisions and moral issues in earlier chapters.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-9 Marriage and Celibacy Paul discusses the benefits of singleness while acknowledging marriage as proper for those who lack self-control.
- 10-16 Instructions for Married Couples Guidelines for Christian marriages and mixed marriages with unbelieving spouses, emphasizing permanence and potential for witness.
- 17-24 Remain in Your Calling Paul's principle that believers should generally remain in their social circumstances when called to faith.
- 25-40 Advice for the Unmarried Counsel for virgins and widows regarding marriage, influenced by present distress and eschatological concerns.
Marriage and Sexual Relations
7:1–7:16 epistle instruction contemplative
Paul addresses questions about marriage, sexual relations, and divorce, emphasizing mutual obligations between spouses and providing guidance for mixed marriages between believers and unbelievers.
person_contrast
Paul uniquely shifts from his typical grace-centered language to issuing direct commandments about sexual obligations, using "owe" (opheilē) to describe marital duty rather than his usual vocabulary of love or fellowship.
Remain in Your Calling
7:17–7:24 epistle instruction contemplative
Paul instructs believers to remain in their social and economic circumstances when called to faith, emphasizing that circumcision status and slavery are less important than keeping God's commandments.
person_contrast
Paul's rare emphasis on "commandments" (entolē) appears only here and two other passages, contrasting sharply with his typical focus on grace and freedom from law.
Concerning the Unmarried and Widows
7:25–7:40 epistle instruction urgent
Paul advises unmarried people and widows about marriage, suggesting singleness may be preferable due to present distress and the shortness of time, allowing undivided devotion to the Lord.
person_contrast
Paul uniquely frames singleness as a divine "calling" (klēsis) rather than mere circumstance, elevating celibacy to the same theological status as marriage and spiritual gifts.
Insights
Paul's rare emphasis on "commandments" (entolē) appears only here and two other passages, contrasting sharply with his typical focus on grace and freedom from law.
Paul uniquely frames singleness as a divine "calling" (klēsis) rather than mere circumstance, elevating celibacy to the same theological status as marriage and spiritual gifts.
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
1 Corinthians 7:1 2 references
1 Corinthians 7:2 5 references
Lexicals 5
Ephesians 5:33 Lexical
Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband…
1 Peter 3:5 Lexical
For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own hu…
Ephesians 5:22 Lexical
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
1 Timothy 3:12 Lexical
Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1 Peter 3:1 Lexical
In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won…
1 Corinthians 7:3 1 reference
1 Corinthians 7:4 5 references
Lexicals 5
1 Peter 3:1 Lexical
In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won…
1 Timothy 3:12 Lexical
Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1 Peter 3:5 Lexical
For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own hu…
Ephesians 5:22 Lexical
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:23 Lexical
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the bod…
1 Corinthians 7:7 5 references
Lexicals 5
1 Corinthians 11:21 Lexical
For in your eating each one takes his own supper first. One is hungry, and another is drunken.
Matthew 25:15 Lexical
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his j…
Romans 14:5 Lexical
One man esteems one day as more important. Another esteems every day alike. Let each man be fully assured in his own min…
1 Corinthians 15:38 Lexical
But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
Romans 6:11 Lexical
Thus consider yourselves also to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:10 1 reference
1 Corinthians 7:11 2 references
1 Corinthians 7:12 5 references
Lexicals 5
1 Corinthians 9:5 Lexical
Have we no right to take along a wife who is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord,…
Mark 12:20 Lexical
There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring.
Mark 12:19 Lexical
“Teacher, Moses wrote to us, ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his bro…
Luke 18:29 Lexical
He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or wife, or brothers, or parents, or ch…
Matthew 22:25 Lexical
Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
1 Corinthians 7:14 3 references
Lexicals 3
Titus 1:6 Lexical
if anyone is blameless, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, who are not accused of loose or unruly beh…
1 Timothy 3:12 Lexical
Let servants be husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1 Peter 3:5 Lexical
For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own hu…
1 Corinthians 7:15 4 references
Lexicals 4
James 2:15 Lexical
And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food,
Matthew 19:29 Lexical
Everyone who has left houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name…
Mark 10:29 Lexical
Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mothe…
1 Corinthians 5:11 Lexical
But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, o…
1 Corinthians 7:17 1 reference
1 Corinthians 7:24 1 reference
1 Corinthians 7:26 2 references
1 Corinthians 7:34 4 references
Lexicals 4
Luke 16:18 Lexical
“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery. He who marries one who is divorced from a husband…
Ephesians 5:23 Lexical
For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the bod…
Ephesians 5:28 Lexical
Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
1 Peter 3:5 Lexical
For this is how in the past the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own hu…
1 Corinthians 7:37 5 references
Lexicals 5
Hebrews 7:27 Lexical
who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins o…
Romans 14:4 Lexical
Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has…
Mark 7:6 Lexical
He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips,…
Jude 1:6 Lexical
Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under…
Acts 24:21 Lexical
unless it is for this one thing that I cried standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being ju…
1 Corinthians 7:39 5 references
Lexicals 5
Romans 7:2 Lexical
For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharg…
Romans 7:3 Lexical
So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband…
Acts 9:2 Lexical
and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or w…
Mark 6:17 Lexical
For Herod himself had sent out and arrested John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s…
Romans 7:1 Lexical
Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as h…
1 Corinthians 7:40 1 reference
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