1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7
←  chapter 6 chapter 8  →
1 Corinthians 7:33–8:4 in Papyrus 15, written in the 3rd century.
Book	First Epistle to the Corinthians
Category	Pauline epistles
Christian Bible part	New Testament
Order in the Christian part	7

1 Corinthians 7 is the seventh chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, a citizen of Tarsus and Sosthenes in Ephesus. In this chapter, Paul replies to certain questions raised by the Corinthian church in a letter sent to him.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek and this chapter is divided into 40 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:

• Papyrus 129 (mid 2nd century; extant verses 32–37) ^[1]
• Papyrus 15 (3rd century; extant verses 18–40)
• Codex Vaticanus (325–350)
• Codex Sinaiticus (330–360)
• Codex Alexandrinus (400–440)
• Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 1–17)
• Papyrus 11 (7th century; extant verses 3–6, 10–11,12–14) ^[2]

Letter from Corinth

In this chapter, Paul replies to certain questions raised by the Corinthian church in a letter to him. Methodist writer Joseph Benson comments:

The letter of the Corinthian believers to which the apostle alludes here, and in which it appears they put [diverse] questions to him, hath long been lost, a circumstance to be much regretted; for had it been preserved, it would doubtless have illustrated many passages of the two epistles to the Corinthians, which are now obscure because we are ignorant of the matters to which the apostle alludes in these passages.

— Joseph Benson, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7 ^[3]

Principles of marriage (7:1–16)

Verse 6

But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment.

— 1 Corinthians 7:6, New King James Version ^[4]

But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

— 1 Corinthians 7:6, King James Version ^[5]

• "But I say this by permission": referring to 1 Corinthians 7:5 ^[6] about husband and wife separating for a time  – for fasting and prayer  – and afterwards coming together again, because it is not God's command that they should separate for a time. ^[7] It does not refer to Paul's earlier statement in 1 Corinthians 7:2 ^[8] that to avoid "sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband," as this is by command (Genesis 2:24), ^[9] not by permission, that carnal copulation should be between one man and one woman in a married state. ^[7] Nor it is related to 1 Corinthians 7:3–4 ^[10] that married persons render affection to each other, and have authority over each other's bodies, as it is a precept, not a permission (Exodus 21:10). ^{[11] [7]}
• "Not as a commandment": Paul said this as an advice, "lest Satan should draw them into sin", but without fixed time, and to be said in opposition to a Jewish notion, which makes marriage a "command", ^[12] as Paul puts it as a matter of choice, and not of obligation. ^{[7] [ unreliable source? ]}

Verse 11

But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife

— 1 Corinthians 7:11, King James Version ^[13]

• "Depart": If the sin of separation has been committed, a new marriage is not to be added (Matthew 5:32). ^[14]

Living as one's calling (7:17–40)

Verse 17

But as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk. And so I ordain in all the churches.

— 1 Corinthians 7:17, New King James Version ^[15]

• "Ordain": or "direct" ^[16]

See also

• Divorce
• Marriage
• Negiah
• Related Bible parts: Genesis 2, Exodus 19, 1 Samuel 21, Jeremiah 15, Matthew 19, Mark 10

References

1. See the Kurzgefasste Liste, search for P129.
2. Gregory, Caspar René (1908). Die griechischen Handschriften des Neuen Testament. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung. p. 46.
3. Benson, J., Benson Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7, accessed 28 March 2017
4. 1 Corinthians 7:6 NKJV
5. 1 Corinthians 7:6 KJV
6. 1 Corinthians 7:5
7. John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, – 1 Corinthians 7:6
8. 1 Corinthians 7:2
9. Genesis 2:24
10. 1 Corinthians 7:3–4
11. Exodus 21:10
12. Maimon. Hilch, Isbot, c. 15. sect. 2. Quote: a man, they say, is bound to this command at seventeen years of age, and if he passes twenty and does not marry, he transgresses, and makes void an affirmative precept. quoted in Gill on 1 Corinthians 7:6.
13. 1 Corinthians 7:11 KJV
14. Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7, accessed 22 March 2016.
15. 1 Corinthians 7:17 NKJV
16. Note [a] on 1 Corinthians 7:17 in NKJV

External links

• 1 Corinthians 7 King James Bible - Wikisource
• English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate
• Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
• Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)