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<p id="Chapter7" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 7
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<p id="a1Co7_1"><a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,'1-40');">1Cr 7:1-40</a>. REPLY TO THEIR INQUIRIES AS TO MARRIAGE; THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE IN OTHER THINGS IS, ABIDE IN YOUR STATION, FOR THE TIME IS SHORT.
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<p><b>1.</b> 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.
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<br><br><b>good</b>—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. <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',13,4);">Hbr 13:4</a>, in opposition to ascetic and Romish notions of superior <i>sanctity</i> in celibacy, declares, "Marriage is HONORABLE IN ALL." Another reason why in some cases celibacy may be a matter of Christian <i>expediency</i> is stated in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,34, 35);">1Cr 7:34-35</a>, "that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." But these are exceptional cases, and in exceptional times, such as those of Paul.
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<p id="a1Co7_2"><b>2.</b> Here the general rule is given
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<br><br><b><i>to avoid</i> fornication</b>—More literally, "<i>on account of fornications,</i>" to which as being very prevalent at Corinth, and not even counted sins among the heathen, unmarried persons might be tempted. The <i>plural,</i> "fornications," marks irregular lusts, as contrasted with the <i>unity</i> of the marriage relation [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>let every man have</b>—a positive command to all who have not the gift of continency, in fact to the great majority of the world (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,5);">1Cr 7:5</a>). The dignity of marriage is set forth by Paul (<a onclick="return mV('Eph',5,'25-32');">Eph 5:25-32</a>), in the fact that it signifies the mystical union between Christ and the Church.
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<p id="a1Co7_3"><b>3, 4.</b> <i>The duty of cohabitation on the part of the married.</i>
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<br><br><b>due benevolence</b>—The oldest manuscripts read simply, "her due"; that is, the conjugal cohabitation <i>due</i> by the marriage contract (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,4);">1Cr 7:4</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_4"><b>4.</b> A paradox. She <i>hath not power over</i> her body, and yet it is <i>her own.</i> The <i>oneness of body</i> in which marriage places husband and wife explains this. The one complements the other. Neither without the other realizes the perfect ideal of man.
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<p id="a1Co7_5"><b>5. Defraud...not</b>—namely, of the conjugal duty "due" <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,3);">1Cr 7:3</a>; compare the <i>Septuagint,</i> <a onclick="return mV('Exd',21,10);">Exd 21:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>except it be</b>—"unless perchance" [ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>give yourselves to</b>—literally, "be at leisure for"; be <i>free from interruptions for;</i> namely, on some <i>special</i> "<i>season,</i>" as the <i>Greek</i> for "time" means (compare <a onclick="return mV('Exd',19,15);">Exd 19:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Joe',2,16);">Joe 2:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Zec',7,3);">Zec 7:3</a>).
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<br><br><b>fasting and prayer</b>—The oldest manuscripts omit "fasting and"; an interpolation, evidently, of ascetics.
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<br><br><b>come together</b>—The oldest manuscripts read, "be together," namely, in the regular state of the married.
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<br><br><b>Satan</b>—who often thrusts in his temptations to unholy thoughts amidst the holiest exercises.
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<br><br><b>for your incontinency</b>—<i>because of</i> your inability to "contain" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,9);">1Cr 7:9</a>) your natural propensities, which Satan would take advantage of.
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<p id="a1Co7_6"><b>6. by permission...not of commandment</b>—not <i>by God's permission to me to say it:</i> but, "by way of permission to you, not as a commandment." "This" refers to the directions, <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,'2-5');">1Cr 7:2-5</a>.
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<p id="a1Co7_7"><b>7. even as I</b>—having the gift of continence (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',19,11, 12);">Mat 19:11-12</a>). This wish does not hold good absolutely, else the extension of mankind and of the Church would cease; but relatively to "the present distress" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,26);">1Cr 7:26</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_8"><b>8. to the unmarried</b>—in general, of both sexes (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,10,11);">1Cr 7:10-11</a>).
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<br><br><b>and widows</b>—in particular.
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<br><br><b>even as I</b>—unmarried (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',9,5);">1Cr 9:5</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_9"><b>9. if they cannot contain</b>—that is, "have not continency."
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<br><br><b>burn</b>—with the secret flame of lust, which lays waste the whole inner man. (Compare AUGUSTINE [<i>Holy Virginity</i>]). The dew of God's grace is needed to stifle the flame, which otherwise would thrust men at last into hell-fire.
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<p id="a1Co7_10"><b>10. not I, but the Lord</b>—(Compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,12,25,40);">1Cr 7:12, 25, 40</a>). In ordinary cases he writes on <i>inspired apostolic authority</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',14,37);">1Cr 14:37</a>); but here on the <i>direct</i> authority of the <i>Lord Himself</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Mar',10,11, 12);">Mar 10:11-12</a>). 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].
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<br><br><b>Let not the wife depart</b>—literally, "be separated from." Probably the separation on either side, whether owing to the husband or to the wife, is forbidden.
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<p id="a1Co7_11"><b>11. But and if she depart</b>—or "be separated." If the sin of separation has been committed, that of a new marriage is not to be added (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',5,32);">Mat 5:32</a>).
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<br><br><b>be reconciled</b>—by appeasing her husband's displeasure, and recovering his good will.
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<br><br><b>let not...husband put away...wife</b>—In <a onclick="return mV('Mat',5,32);">Mat 5:32</a> the only exception allowed is, "saving for the cause of fornication."
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<p id="a1Co7_12"><b>12. to the rest</b>—the other classes (besides "the married," <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,10);">1Cr 7:10</a>, where both husband and wife are believers) about whom the Corinthians had inquired, namely, those involved in mixed marriages with unbelievers.
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<br><br><b>not the Lord</b>—by any direct command spoken by Him.
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<br><br><b>she be pleased</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "consents": implying his wish in the first instance, with which hers <i>concurs.</i>
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<p id="a1Co7_13"><b>13. the woman</b>—a believer.
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<br><br><b>let her not leave him</b>—"her husband," instead of "him," is the reading of the oldest manuscripts The <i>Greek</i> for "leave" is the same as in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,12);">1Cr 7:12</a>, "put away"; translate, "Let her not <i>put away</i> [that is, part with] her husband." The wife had the power of effecting a divorce by Greek and Roman law.
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<p id="a1Co7_14"><b>14. sanctified</b>—Those inseparably connected with the people of God are <i>hallowed</i> thereby, so that the latter may retain the connection without impairing their own sanctity (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',4,5);">1Ti 4:5</a>); 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.
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<br><br><b>by...by</b>—rather, "in...in"; that is, in virtue of the marriage tie between them.
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<br><br><b>by the husband</b>—The oldest manuscripts read, "by the brother." It is the fact of the husband being a "brother," that is, a <i>Christian,</i> though the wife is not so, that sanctifies or hallows the union.
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<br><br><b>else...children unclean</b>—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 (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',17,7);">Gen 17:7</a>). 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 <a onclick="return mV('Rom',11,16);">Rom 11:16</a>). Timothy, the bearer of this Epistle, is an instance in point (<a onclick="return mV('Act',16,1);">Act 16:1</a>). 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 <i>his,</i> though incapable at the time of using or comprehending its advantage; he is not hereafter <i>to acquire the title and claim</i> 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].
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<p id="a1Co7_15"><b>15. if...depart</b>—that is, wishes for separation. Translate, "separateth himself": offended with her Christianity, and refusing to live with her unless she renounce it.
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<br><br><b>brother or a sister is not under bondage</b>—is not bound to renounce the faith for the sake of retaining her unbelieving husband [HAMMOND]. So <a onclick="return mV('Deu',13,6);">Deu 13:6</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',10,'35-37');">Mat 10:35-37</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',14,26);">Luk 14:26</a>. 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 <i>AEcumenius</i>].
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<br><br><b>but God hath called us to peace</b>—Our Christian calling is one that tends to "peace" (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',12,18);">Rom 12:18</a>), not quarrelling; therefore the believer should not ordinarily depart from the unbelieving consort (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,'12-14');">1Cr 7:12-14</a>), 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 (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',5,32);">Mat 5:32</a>). Better still it would be not to enter into such unequal alliances at all (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,40);">1Cr 7:40</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',6,14);">2Cr 6:14</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_16"><b>16.</b> 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 (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,'12-14');">1Cr 7:12-14</a>). 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 (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',3,1);">1Pe 3:1</a>) [CALVIN]. Or else (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,15);">1Cr 7:15</a>), if thy unbelieving consort wishes to depart, let him go, so that thou mayest live "in peace": for <i>thou canst not be sure of converting him,</i> so as to make it obligatory on thee at all costs to stay with him against his will [MENOCHIUS and ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>save</b>—be the instrument of salvation to (<a onclick="return mV('Jam',5,20);">Jam 5:20</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_17"><b>17. But</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "If not." "Only." Caution that believers should not make this direction (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,16);">1Cr 7:16</a>; as ALFORD explains it) a ground for separating "of themselves" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,'12-14');">1Cr 7:12-14</a>). Or, <i>But if</i> there be <i>no</i> hope of gaining over the unbeliever, still let the general principle be maintained, "As <i>the Lord</i> hath allotted to each, as <i>God</i> hath called each, so let him walk" (so the <i>Greek</i> 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.
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<br><br><b>so ordain I in all churches</b>—Ye also therefore should obey.
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<p id="a1Co7_18"><b>18. not become uncircumcised</b>—by surgical operation (<u>1 Maccabees 1:15</u>; JOSEPHUS [<i>Antiquities,</i> 12.5.1]). Some Christians in excess of anti-Jewish feeling might be tempted to this.
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<br><br><b>let him not be circumcised</b>—as the Judaizing Christians would have him (<a onclick="return mV('Act',15,1,5,24);">Act 15:1, 5, 24</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,2);">Gal 5:2</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_19"><b>19. Circumcision...nothing, but...keeping of...commandments of God</b>—namely, is all in all. In <a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,6);">Gal 5:6</a> this "keeping of the commandments of God" is defined to be "faith which worketh by love"; and in <a onclick="return mV('Gal',6,15);">Gal 6:15</a>, "a new creature." Circumcision was a commandment of God: but not for ever, as "love."
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<p id="a1Co7_20"><b>20. the same calling</b>—that is, the <i>condition</i> from which he is called a Jew, a Greek, a slave, or a freeman.
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<p id="a1Co7_21"><b>21. care not for it</b>—Let it not be a trouble to thee that thou art a servant or slave.
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<br><br><b>use it rather</b>—Continue rather in thy state as a servant (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,20);">1Cr 7:20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',3,28);">Gal 3:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',6,2);">1Ti 6:2</a>). The <i>Greek,</i> "But if <i>even</i> thou mayest be made free, <i>use</i> it," and the context (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,20,22);">1Cr 7:20, 22</a>) 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 (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,24);">1Cr 7:24</a>), though an undesirable one, since in our union with Christ all outward disparities of condition are compensated (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,22);">1Cr 7:22</a>). Be not unduly impatient to cast off "<i>even</i>" thy condition as a servant <i>by unlawful means</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,'13-18');">1Pe 2:13-18</a>); as, for example, Onesimus did by fleeing (<a onclick="return mV('Phm',1,'10-18');">Phm 1:10-18</a>). The precept (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,23);">1Cr 7:23</a>), "Become not (so the <i>Greek</i>) the servants of men," implies plainly that slavery is abnormal (compare <a onclick="return mV('Lev',25,42);">Lev 25:42</a>). "Men stealers," or slave dealers, are classed in <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',1,10);">1Ti 1:10</a>, with "murderers" and "perjurers." NEANDER, GROTIUS, etc., explain, "If called, being a slave, to Christianity, be content—but yet, if <i>also</i> thou canst be free (as a still <i>additional</i> good, which if thou canst not attain, be satisfied without it; but which, if offered to thee, is not to be despised), <i>make use of the opportunity of becoming free, rather than</i> 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 <i>Greek.</i>
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<p id="a1Co7_22"><b>22. the Lord's freeman</b>—(<a onclick="return mV('Phm',1,16);">Phm 1:16</a>) —rather, "freedman." Though a slave externally, spiritually <i>made free</i> by the Lord: from sin, <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',8,36);">Jhn 8:36</a>; from the law, <a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,2);">Rom 8:2</a>; from "circumcision," <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,19);">1Cr 7:19</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,1);">Gal 5:1</a>.
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<br><br><b>Christ's servant</b>—(<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',9,21);">1Cr 9:21</a>). Love makes Christ's service perfect freedom (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',11,29,30);">Mat 11:29-30</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,13);">Gal 5:13</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Pe',2,16);">1Pe 2:16</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_23"><b>23. be not ye</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "become not ye." Paul here changes rom "thou" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,21);">1Cr 7:21</a>) to "ye." YE ALL are "bought" with the blood of Christ, whatever be your earthly state (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',6,20);">1Cr 6:20</a>). "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 (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',3,21,22);">1Cr 3:21-22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',23,'8-10');">Mat 23:8-10</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',11,20);">2Cr 11:20</a>); 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 <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,21,'32-35');">1Cr 7:21, 32-35</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_24"><b>24. abide with God</b>—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 <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,20);">1Cr 7:20</a>. 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 <i>Note,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/1Cr/1Cr007.html#a1Co7_21">1Co 7:21</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_25"><b>25. no commandment of the Lord: yet...my judgment</b>—I have no <i>express revelation</i> from the Lord <i>commanding</i> it, but I give my <i>judgment</i> (opinion); namely, under the ordinary inspiration which accompanied the apostles in all their canonical writings (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,40);">1Cr 7:40</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',14,37);">1Cr 14:37</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Th',4,15);">1Th 4:15</a>). The Lord inspires me in this case to give you only a <i>recommendation,</i> which you are free to adopt or reject—not a positive <i>command.</i> In the second case (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,10,11);">1Cr 7:10-11</a>) it was a positive command; for the Lord had already made known His will (<a onclick="return mV('Mal',2,14, 15);">Mal 2:14-15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',5,31,32);">Mat 5:31-32</a>), In the third case (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,12);">1Cr 7:12</a>), the Old Testament commandment of God to put away strange wives (<a onclick="return mV('Ezr',10,3);">Ezr 10:3</a>), Paul by the Spirit revokes.
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<br><br><b>mercy of the Lord</b>—(<a onclick="return mV('1Ti',1,13);">1Ti 1:13</a>). He attributes his apostleship and the gifts accompanying it (including inspiration) to God's grace alone.
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<br><br><b>faithful</b>—in dispensing to you the inspired directions received by me from the Lord.
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<p id="a1Co7_26"><b>26. I suppose</b>—"I consider."
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<br><br><b>this</b>—namely, "for a man so to be," that is, in the same state in which he is (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,27);">1Cr 7:27</a>).
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<br><br><b>for</b>—by reason of.
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<br><br><b>the present distress</b>—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 (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',24,'8-21');">Mat 24:8-21</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Act',11,28);">Act 11:28</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_27"><b>27.</b> Illustrating the meaning of "so to be," <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,26);">1Cr 7:26</a>. Neither the married (those "bound to a wife") nor the unmarried (those "loosed from a wife") are to "seek" a change of state (compare <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,20, 24);">1Cr 7:20, 24</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_28"><b>28. trouble in the flesh</b>—Those who marry, he says, shall incur "trouble in the flesh" (that is, in their outward state, by reason of the present distress), not <i>sin,</i> which is the trouble of the <i>spirit.</i>
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<br><br><b>but I spare you</b>—The emphasis in the <i>Greek</i> is on "I." <i>My</i> 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 <i>Greek</i> of "I...you" and "such" favors the former.
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<p id="a1Co7_29"><b>29. this I say</b>—A summing up of the whole, wherein he draws the practical inference from what precedes (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,50);">1Cr 15:50</a>).
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<br><br><b>the time</b>—the <i>season</i> (so the <i>Greek</i>) of this present dispensation up to the coming of the Lord (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',13,11);">Rom 13:11</a>). He uses the <i>Greek</i> expression which the Lord used in <a onclick="return mV('Luk',21,8);">Luk 21:8</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mar',13,33);">Mar 13:33</a>.
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<br><br><b>short</b>—literally, "contracted."
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<br><br><b>it remaineth</b>—The oldest manuscripts read, "The time (season) is shortened <i>as to what remains,</i> in order that both they," etc.; that is, the effect which the shortening of the time ought to have is, "that for the remaining time (henceforth), both they," etc. The clause, "as to what remains," though in <i>construction</i> belonging to the previous clause, in <i>sense</i> belongs to the following. However, CYPRIAN and <i>Vulgate</i> support <i>English Version.</i>
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<br><br><b>as though they had none</b>—We ought to consider nothing as our own in real or permanent possession.
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<p id="a1Co7_30"><b>30. they that weep...wept not</b>—(Compare <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',6,10);">2Cr 6:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>they that buy...possessed not</b>—(Compare <a onclick="return mV('Isa',24,1,2);">Isa 24:1-2</a>). Christ specifies as the condemning sin of the men of Sodom not merely their open profligacy, but that "they bought, they sold," etc., as men whose all was in this world (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',17,28);">Luk 17:28</a>). "Possessed" in the <i>Greek</i> implies a <i>holding fast of a possession;</i> this the Christian will not do, for his "enduring substance" is elsewhere (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,34);">Hbr 10:34</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_31"><b>31. not abusing it</b>—not abusing it by an <i>overmuch using</i> of it. The meaning of "abusing" here is, not so much <i>perverting,</i> as <i>using it to the full</i> [BENGEL]. We are to use it, "not to <i>take our fill</i>" of its pursuits as our chief aim (compare <a onclick="return mV('Luk',10,'40-42');">Luk 10:40-42</a>). 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.
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<br><br><b>fashion</b>—the present fleeting <i>form.</i> Compare <a onclick="return mV('Psa',39,6);">Psa 39:6</a>, "vain show"; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',73,20);">Psa 73:20</a>, "a dream"; <a onclick="return mV('Jam',4,14);">Jam 4:14</a>, "a vapor."
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<br><br><b>passeth away</b>—not merely <i>shall pass away,</i> but <i>is</i> now actually <i>passing away.</i> The image is drawn from a <i>shifting</i> scene in a play represented on the stage (<a onclick="return mV('1Jo',2,17);">1Jo 2:17</a>). 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.
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<p id="a1Co7_32"><b>32. without carefulness</b>—I would have you to be not merely "without trouble," but "without distracting cares" (so the <i>Greek</i>).
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<br><br><b>careth</b>—if he uses aright the advantages of his condition.
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<p id="a1Co7_34"><b>34. difference also</b>—Not merely the unmarried and the married <i>man</i> differ in their respective duties, but <i>also</i> the <i>wife</i> and the <i>virgin.</i> Indeed a woman undergoes a greater change of condition than a man in contracting marriage.
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<p id="a1Co7_35"><b>35. for your own profit</b>—not to display <i>my</i> apostolic authority.
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<br><br><b>not...cast a snare upon you</b>—image from <i>throwing a noose</i> 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.
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<br><br><b>comely</b>—<i>befitting</i> under present circumstances.
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<br><br><b>attend upon</b>—literally, "assiduously wait on"; <i>sitting down</i> to the duty. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Luk',10,39);">Luk 10:39</a>, Mary; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',2,37);">Luk 2:37</a>, "Anna...a widow, who departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day" (<a onclick="return mV('1Ti',5,5);">1Ti 5:5</a>).
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<br><br><b>distraction</b>—the same <i>Greek</i> as "cumbered" (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',10,40);">Luk 10:40</a>, Martha).
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<p id="a1Co7_36"><b>36. behaveth...uncomely</b>—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.
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<br><br><b>need so require</b>—if the exigencies of the case require it; namely, regard to the feelings and welfare of his daughter. Opposed to "having no necessity" (<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,37);">1Cr 7:37</a>).
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<br><br><b>let them marry</b>—the daughter and her suitor.
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<p id="a1Co7_37"><b>37. steadfast</b>—not to be turned from his purpose by the obloquy of the world.
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<br><br><b>having no necessity</b>—arising from the natural inclinations of the daughter.
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<br><br><b>power over his...will</b>—when, owing to his daughter's will not opposing his will, he has power to carry into effect his will or wish.
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<br><br><b>decreed</b>—determined.
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<p id="a1Co7_38"><b>38. <i>her</i></b>—The oldest manuscripts have "his own virgin daughter."
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<br><br><b>but</b>—The oldest manuscripts have "and."
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<p id="a1Co7_39"><b>39. bound by the law</b>—The oldest manuscripts omit "by the law."
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<br><br><b>only in the Lord</b>—Let her marry <i>only a Christian</i> (<a onclick="return mV('2Cr',6,14);">2Cr 6:14</a>).
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<p id="a1Co7_40"><b>40. happier</b>—(<a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,1, 28, 34, 35);">1Cr 7:1, 28, 34, 35</a>).
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<br><br><b>I think also</b>—"I also think"; just as you Corinthians and your teachers <i>think</i> much of your opinions, <i>so I also give my opinion</i> by inspiration; so in <a onclick="return mV('1Cr',7,25);">1Cr 7:25</a>, "my judgment" or opinion. <i>Think</i> does not imply doubt, but often a matter of well-grounded assurance (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',5,39);">Jhn 5:39</a>).
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