7:1b This line raises at least four questions:

(1) Should it have quotation marks around it? Yes—modern translations like the ESV correctly add quotation marks, because Paul is quoting what the Corinthians wrote.90

(2) Is “to have sexual relations with” a correct way to translate an infinitive that formally means “to touch”? Yes, touch was a euphemism for have sexual relations with.91

(3) Is the statement true? It depends. It is true if it refers to extramarital sex, but it is false if it refers to the unselfish marital sex that God commands in verses 2–5 (cf. comments on 7:2–5).

(4) Why do the Corinthians say this? We can only speculate. (a) Some of them may embrace asceticism, which could connect to their faulty view of the body and the resurrection (cf. comments on 6:12–20; 15:1–58).92 (b) Some might say this “in view of the present distress” (cf. comment on 7:26)—that is, some may prefer to abstain from sex in marriage as a contraceptive during the present crisis and to pursue extramarital sex instead.

7:2 Paul refutes verse 1b—on the contrary, it is good for a husband and wife to enjoy sex together regularly. It is a way for them to avoid sexual immorality. It is dangerous to pursue sex outside marriage (6:12–20), and it is dangerous not to enjoy sex inside marriage regularly.

“Each man” and “each woman” refer to each married man and woman—that is, to those who are already married; Paul is not saying that every single person must marry (cf. 7:7–9). The verb “have” in this context refers to having in a sexual manner (cf. comment on 5:1–2a).

A pagan husband in the ancient Roman world would generally sleep with his wife only to procreate, while pursuing sex with others (e.g., concubines and prostitutes) for pleasure. The way Demosthenes (384–322 BC) allegedly explained the purpose of marriage represents how the Roman culture of Paul’s day perceived marriage and sex:

This is what living with a woman as one’s wife means—to have children by her and to introduce the sons to the members of the clan and of the deme [a suburb of Athens], and to betroth the daughters to husbands as one’s own. Mistresses we keep for the sake of pleasure, concubines for the daily care of our persons, but wives to bear us legitimate children and to be faithful guardians of our households.93

But God designed sex for a husband and wife to enjoy exclusively with each other. Anything else is sexual immorality, which was normal in Corinth’s historical-cultural context.94

7:3–4 Verse 3 explains verse 2, with the added support of verse 4. To give “conjugal rights” means to share sex with one’s spouse. Each spouse’s body belongs to the other: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Song 6:3).

What Paul says about the wife here was not controversial: she should allow sex with her husband, because her husband has authority over her body. Her marital duty is to meet his sexual needs. But what Paul says about the husband was shockingly countercultural: a husband should likewise engage in sex with his wife because his wife has authority over his body. His marital duty is to meet her sexual needs.

That implies that a husband and wife should enjoy sex exclusively with each other. A husband who commits sexual immorality seeks to satisfy himself and is acting as if he (and not his wife) had authority over his own body. One (evil) tradition on wedding days in ancient Roman culture was to remind the bride that her husband still loved her when he committed adultery and that he was legitimately satisfying his sexual passions.95

7:5 “Do not deprive one another” is an inference of verses 2–4: since a husband and wife should regularly enjoy sex exclusively with each other, they should not rob each other of it. Neither spouse should hold back from the other.

The rest of the sentence qualifies the first line. It begins with “except perhaps,” indicating that Paul has a category for a possible exception. But this exception for a married couple to abstain from sex with each other has four conditions:

(1) “By agreement.” They must agree to abstain.

(2) “For a limited time.” The abstaining must be short—not an indefinite period.

(3) “That you may devote yourselves to prayer.” The purpose for abstaining must be to focus on praying.

(4) “But then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” The result must be that they again engage in regular sex so that Satan will not use their abstaining to tempt them toward immoral sex. A husband and wife who refrain from sex may lack self-control, and Satan may seize on that weakness. This implies that regular sexual relations in marriage (a) is exercising self-control and (b) is so important that it would be better for a husband and wife not to abstain from it at all.

7:6 “This” could refer to what Paul writes next (cf. ESV mg.), but it more naturally refers to the qualified abstinence Paul concedes in verse 5, as in the ESV main text.

7:7 The way Paul addresses singleness and marriage parallels how he later addresses speaking in tongues and prophesying. Here he commends marriage and then hyperbolically wishes all were single, as he is. Later he commends prophecy (14:5) and then hyperbolically thanks God that he speaks in tongues more than all of the Corinthians (14:18).

God does not require all Christian adults to marry. To the contrary, singleness is a viable, respectable option that Paul prefers. “Each has his own gift from God” implies that both marriage and singleness are gifts from God. At this stage in the history of salvation, marriage is not inherently better than singleness (cf. Response section on 7:1–40: [2]).

Once again, what Paul says is countercultural. The Roman culture expected all adults to marry. Roman law penalized men (ages 25–60) and women (ages 20–50) if they did not marry—including those who were divorced or widowed.96

7:8–9 The ESV translates verse 8 as “to the unmarried and the widows,” though it is possible that Paul is addressing widowers and widows.97 If so, then “as I am” suggests that Paul had previously married and that his wife has died.98 Regardless, the ideal situation for this group is to remain single and not (re)marry.

Paul qualifies that a single person should marry if he is not controlling99 his sexual passions and needs an outlet for them in marriage. In the clause “it is better to marry than to burn,” burn figuratively means “burn with sexual desire”—for sexual passion to be out of control (BDAG, s.v. πυρόω). It is better to marry than to pursue immoral sex.

7:10–11 The ideal situation is for a husband and wife to remain married and for neither to divorce the other. This passage raises at least three questions:

(1) Why does Paul say, “Not I, but the Lord,” here and then say, “I, not the Lord,” in verse 12? He is referring to what the Lord Jesus taught during his earthly ministry (Matt. 5:32; 19:9). In Jesus’ earthly ministry, he directly addressed the issue Paul raises in 1 Corinthians 7:10–11 (and Jesus gave exceptions in Matt. 5:32 and 19:9 that Paul does not repeat here), but Jesus did not address the issue Paul raises in 1 Corinthians 7:12–16. Paul is not implying that verses 10–11 are authoritative but verses 12–16 are not authoritative but simply Paul’s fallible opinion. The apostle Paul’s instruction is God-breathed. Jesus did not address this issue because in his context he was teaching Jews, who married fellow Jews. But this is a new situation: Paul is teaching Christian Gentiles who are married to non-Christian Gentiles.

(2) Is there a difference between the terms separate (Gk. chōrizō) and divorce (aphiēmi) in the final phrases of verses 10–11? No, they are synonymous.100 Paul would not recognize the technical category for separation but not divorce that some cultures have today.101

(3) Paul says that if a person divorces his or her spouse, then that person has two options: (1) remain unmarried or (2) reconcile with the spouse. Are these the only options? Apparently yes if the divorce has no biblical ground, but not if the divorce has a biblical ground (cf. comment on 7:15–16).

7:12–14 Paul addresses “the rest”—that is, those who do not fit in verses 8–11. On “I, not the Lord,” cf. comment on 7:10–11.

Since Paul forbids a Christian to marry a non-Christian (v. 39), the main scenario he has in mind here is one in which a non-Christian becomes a believer but his or her spouse does not. A Christian spouse should not divorce simply because his or her spouse is not a Christian, for if one spouse is a Christian, then the entire family benefits: both the non-Christian spouse and the children are “holy” (cf. 1 Pet. 3:1–2)—clean rather than unclean. This does not mean that a Christian spouse automatically turns the rest of their family into Christians (1 Cor. 7:16). Rather, a Christian, whose body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (6:19–20), sets the entire household apart in some sense and positively influences it.102

7:15–16 Paul includes an exception. The condition for the non-Christian spouse in verses 13–14 is to consent to live with the Christian spouse. But if the non-Christian spouse physically deserts the Christian one (e.g., rejecting the Christian spouse’s faith), then the Christian is no longer obligated to stay married: “If the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so” (v. 15). This separation refers to physical, spatial desertion that essentially constitutes divorce: “There was . . . no distinction between ‘separation’ and ‘divorce’ in Roman law; anyone who separated with view to ending the marriage was considered fully divorced, without the need for any written deed or court appearance.”103

When an unbelieving spouse physically deserts a Christian spouse, the Christian is free to divorce because he or she is “not enslaved.” The reason Paul gives is that God has called Christians to peace, so a Christian wife or husband is not obligated to wait indefinitely to reconcile with a non-Christian spouse who has physically deserted the believer. The Christian spouse simply has no assurance of being the human instrument through which God may save the non-Christian spouse.104

There are two main views on what Paul means by “not enslaved” in verse 15: (1) the Christian is free to divorce but not to remarry (i.e., vv. 10–11 apply to this situation); and (2) the Christian is free to divorce and remarry.

The second view is far more likely, for two reasons: (1) “Not enslaved” conceptually parallels “bound” and “free to be married” in verse 39. (2) Neither the ancient Greco-Roman world nor the Jewish world had a category for a lawful divorce that excluded remarriage.105

Consequently, physically deserting one’s spouse is a ground for divorce because it breaks the marriage covenant to leave and cleave and to become one flesh (Gen. 2:24). After divorcing with biblical warrant, a person is free to remarry.106

7:17 Paul states the “stay where God has called you” principle.

7:18–19 Paul applies the “stay where God has called you” principle to circumcision. Jews required males to be circumcised. “Seek to remove the marks of circumcision” translates a verb that refers to a surgical procedure called epispasm: “to pull the foreskin over the end of the penis . . . to conceal circumcision” (BDAG, s.v. ἐπισπάω). At a time when some Romans were anti-Semitic (cf. Acts 18:1–2), some Hellenistic Jews were embarrassed to be circumcised, which would be visible in contexts such as the gymnasium and public baths. Paul says that when God calls a man to become a Christian, the man does not need to worry about whether or not he is circumcised. That issue is now inconsequential (cf. Gal. 5:6; 6:15). What counts is “keeping the commandments of God.”

What Paul asserts is breathtaking, because to be circumcised was to keep “the commandments of God” in the OT. God commanded males under the old covenant to practice circumcision. So how can one of the most distinguishing boundary markers of the Jews no longer matter? God’s people under the new covenant are no longer under the old covenant but “under the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21). The old covenant is obsolete.109

In the context of chapters 5–7, God commands his people not to engage in immoral sex, and throughout chapter 7 Paul discusses being married versus being single. So verse 19 implies that what matters before God is not being married or single but keeping what God commands, particularly about immoral sex.110

7:20 Paul repeats the “stay where God has called you” principle (cf. v. 17).

7:21–23 Paul applies the “stay where God has called you” principle to slavery. When God calls a person to become a Christian, he does not need to worry about whether he is a bondservant or free. (Paul adds an aside: if a bondservant gets an opportunity to become free, he should take it.)111

Verse 22 gives the reason for verse 21a. Verse 23a explains verse 22b, and verse 23b is an inference of verse 23a. The passage could be paraphrased: “Bondservant, do not worry about remaining a bondservant after God saves you, because you are already free in the Lord. Inversely, free person, you are enslaved to Christ, because God bought you at the cost of Christ’s death, so do not voluntarily become a bondservant to fellow humans.” Some freeborn Greeks chose to become prominent bondservants in a Roman household in order to become Roman citizens.

7:24 Paul repeats the “stay where God has called you” principle (cf. vv. 17, 20).

7:25 Paul again clarifies that Jesus did not directly address this issue during his earthly ministry (cf. v. 12 and comment on 7:10–11), but unlike in verse 12, in verses 25–40 Paul shares his reasoned opinion and does not command the Corinthians what to do. This situation is a wisdom issue in which Christians may choose different options.

7:26 Paul repeats the “stay where God has called you” principle (cf. vv. 17, 20, 24). The phrase “in view of the present distress” qualifies the principle with reference to the betrothed, and it is crucial for interpreting verses 25–40. There are two viable ways to interpret the phrase:

(1)  “The present distress” refers not to a crisis but to a “constraint as inherent in the nature of things” (BDAG, s.v. ἀνάγκη). That constraint occurs during the entire period between Christ’s first and second comings.112

(2)  “The present distress” refers to a crisis—“a state of distress or trouble” (BDAG, s.v. ἀνάγκη)—most likely resulting from a grain famine in AD 51 that caused a food shortage in Greece that may have lasted up to five years.113 This crisis probably included social unrest (e.g., riots) and economic uncertainty (e.g., panicked buying).

For both views, the five “as though” phrases in verses 29–31 highlight that our time on earth is temporary and that we should not become too attached to earthly activities.

The second view is more likely since it fits both the historical-cultural context and the literary context so well. It is much easier for a single person to live through social upheaval; a married person has more obligations. Consequently, what Paul recommends in verses 26–38 applies directly to the Corinthians in light of the “present distress” and not to all other situations in the same way. Everything Paul advises in this passage is in light of the “present distress” the Corinthian Christians are experiencing. Therefore, it is incorrect to infer from this passage that it is always more strategic for a Christian to be single or that the most committed Christians are celibate.

7:27 Paul applies the principle from verse 26: for now, in light of the “present distress,” if you are engaged, stay engaged (i.e., do not marry yet), and if you are single and not engaged, stay single (i.e., do not even seek to get engaged to at this point). Some may think Paul first addresses married men and then addresses single men, but he is more specific than that: he first addresses engaged men and then addresses unengaged men.

Paul is not encouraging engaged couples to remain engaged but unmarried indefinitely; otherwise he would advise such couples to break off their engagement (which he does not do here or in vv. 36–38). Rather, Paul recommends that they wait to marry until the “present distress” dissipates.

7:28 Paul qualifies verse 27: it is not sinful to marry, so marrying is a valid option. “But,” Paul warns, “those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that.” Marrying during the “present distress” (v. 26) will result in hardship, which Paul wants them to avoid.

7:29–31 Verse 29a explains verses 26–28: “the appointed time has grown very short.”

Paul then draws an inference from verse 29a: Since the time is short, Christians should prioritize eternal realities over transient ones. That is what the five examples illustrate (vv. 29b–31a). A Christian must view marriage, mourning, rejoicing, buying possessions, and using worldly things in proper perspective. They are not inherently sinful; they are important and can be God-glorifying. But they are not ultimately important; they are relatively important. The tensions we feel now—marriage versus celibacy, mourning versus rejoicing, buying possessions versus not buying them, using worldly things versus being preoccupied with them—are part of this world but not the next.114 A Christian must view those activities in their proper place as one strategizes about what to do, especially in a time of crisis.

Verse 31b gives a reason for verses 29b–31a: “the present form of this world is passing away.” So verses 29a and 31b are parallel reasons for verses 29b–31a. Christians must not be so attached to the day-to-day activities of this present world (especially in light of “the present distress” in v. 26) that they fail to live in light of the next.

7:32–34 The first sentence of verse 32 further explains verses 26–28: Paul wants the Corinthians not to be tied up with anxieties because of the “present distress” (v. 26). Unmarried men and women are free to serve the Lord with relatively few distractions, but married men and women are divided (and honorably so) because they have more obligations—to each other and their children. Paul’s advice reflects his experience as a pioneer missionary who has experienced all sorts of hardships (e.g., 2 Cor. 4:8–12; 6:4–10; 11:23–28).

7:35 Now Paul explains the purpose of what he has just said (vv. 32–34): he wants to help the Corinthians “in view of the present distress” (v. 26). He does not want to burden or restrict them—“lay any restraint upon you” translates the sense of a phrase that more formally reads “put or throw a noose on someone to catch or restrain him (an expr[ession] fr[om] war or hunting).”115 Paul merely wants the Corinthians to serve the Lord with “undivided devotion” (contrast the “divided” interests in v. 34).

7:36–38 Next Paul applies the principle stated in verse 26 and the discourse of verses 29–35. In this tightly argued section, verse 36 expands verse 28a and leads to verse 38a, while verse 37 expands verse 27 and leads to verse 38b:

(A)  If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed, if his passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. (v. 36)

(B)  But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. (v. 37)

(A')  So then he who marries his betrothed does well, (v. 38a)

(B')  and he who refrains from marriage will do even better. (v. 38b)

The beginning of verse 36 refers to a Christian man engaged to a virgin. The grammar, literary context, and historical-cultural context rule out the possibility that it refers to a father refusing to let his unmarried daughter get married.116

Paul is not asserting that overall—in all situations—marriage is fine but singleness is superior. He is sharing his opinion that “in view of the present distress” as a general rule it is good for engaged couples to marry but even better to refrain for now (cf. comments on 7:26–27).

7:39–40 After mentioning marriage in the previous sentence (v. 38), Paul reminds the Corinthians that marriage is a lifelong covenant broken at death (cf. comments on 7:12–16). A Christian is free to remarry anyone he or she desires on the conditions that (1) his or her spouse dies and (2) the new spouse is a Christian.117

Paul adds that he thinks a widow would be happier if she did not remarry (perhaps based on his own experience, if he was a widower; cf. comment on 7:8–9). “Remains as she is” repeats the principle of verse 26b: “it is good for a person to remain as he is.”

Some Corinthians might think they do not need Paul’s advice in verses 25–40 because they have the Spirit of God. Paul’s final line—“I think that I too have the Spirit of God”—cautions them (perhaps with a tinge of friendly sarcasm) not to dismiss his thoughtful counsel (cf. comment on 7:25).