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. Heb 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 Co1 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.
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 (Co1 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.
due benevolence--The oldest manuscripts read simply, "her due"; that is, the conjugal cohabitation due by the marriage contract (compare Co1 7:4).
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 Exo 19:15; Joe 2:16; Zac 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" (Co1 7:9) your natural propensities, which Satan would take advantage of.
and widows--in particular.
even as I--unmarried (Co1 9:5).
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.
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.
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."
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.
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 Co1 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.
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 IRENÆUS 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].
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 Æcumenius].
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 (Co1 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 (Co1 7:40; Co2 6:14).
save--be the instrument of salvation to (Jam 5:20).
so ordain I in all churches--Ye also therefore should obey.
let him not be circumcised--as the Judaizing Christians would have him (Act 15:1, Act 15:5, Act 15:24; Gal 5:2).
use it rather--Continue rather in thy state as a servant (Co1 7:20; Gal 3:28; Ti1 6:2). The Greek, "But if even thou mayest be made free, use it," and the context (Co1 7:20, Co1 7:22) 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 (Co1 7:24), though an undesirable one, since in our union with Christ all outward disparities of condition are compensated (Co1 7:22). Be not unduly impatient to cast off "even" thy condition as a servant by unlawful means (Pe1 2:13-18); as, for example, Onesimus did by fleeing (Plm 1:10-18). The precept (Co1 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 Ti1 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.
Christ's servant-- (Co1 9:21). Love makes Christ's service perfect freedom (Mat 11:29-30; Gal 5:13; Pe1 2:16).
mercy of the Lord-- (Ti1 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.
this--namely, "for a man so to be," that is, in the same state in which he is (Co1 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).
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.
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.
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 (Heb 10:34).
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 (Jo1 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.
careth--if he uses aright the advantages of his condition.
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" (Ti1 5:5).
distraction--the same Greek as "cumbered" (Luk 10:40, Martha).
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" (Co1 7:37).
let them marry--the daughter and her suitor.
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.
but--The oldest manuscripts have "and."
only in the Lord--Let her marry only a Christian (Co2 6:14).
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 Co1 7:25, "my judgment" or opinion. Think does not imply doubt, but often a matter of well-grounded assurance (Joh 5:39).