Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 7:28
But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
28. trouble in the flesh ] Tribulation, either as Monica, when she saw her son Augustine falling into sin and infidelity, or as many other Christian parents whose souls the ‘sword’ of the executioner was destined to ‘pierce through,’ as they beheld the martyrdom of their children.
but I spare you ] Either (1) the Apostle from his tenderness towards them spares them the recital of the many sorrows that will befall them, or (2) he is anxious to spare them the sorrows themselves.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou hast not sinned – There is no express command of God on this subject. The counsel which I give is mere advice, and it may be observed or not as you shall judge best. Marriage is honorable and lawful; and though there may be circumstances where it is advisable not to enter into this relation, yet there is no law which prohibits it. The same advice would be proper now, if it were a time of persecution; or if a man is poor, and cannot support a family; or if he has already a dependent mother and sisters to be supported by him, it would be well to follow the advice of Paul. So also when the cares of a family would take up a mans time and efforts; when but for this he might give himself to a missionary life, the voice of wisdom may be in accordance with that of Paul; that a man may be free from these cares, and may give himself with more undivided interest and more successful toil to the salvation of man.
Such shall have trouble in the flesh – They shall have anxiety, care; solicitude, trials. Days of persecution are coming on, and you may be led to the stake, and in those fiery trials your families may be torn asunder, and a part be put to death. Or you may be poor, and oppressed, and driven from your homes, and made wanderers and exiles, for the sake of your religion.
But I spare you – I will not dwell on the melancholy theme. I will not pain your hearts by describing the woes that shall ensue. I will not do anything to deter you from acting as you deem right. If you choose to marry, it is lawful; and I will not imbitter your joys and harrow up your feelings by the description of your future difficulties and trials. The word flesh here denotes outward circumstances in contradistinction from the mind. They might have peace of mind, for religion would furnish that; but they would be exposed to poverty, persecution, and calamity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 28. But, and if thou marry] As there is no law against this, even in the present distress, thou hast not sinned, because there is no law against this; and it is only on account of prudential reasons that I give this advice.
And if a virgin marry] Both the man and the woman have equal privileges in this case; either of them may marry without sin. It is probable, as there were many sects and parties in Corinth, that there were among them those who forbade to marry, 1Ti 4:3, and who might have maintained other doctrines of devils besides. These persons, or such doctrines, the apostle has in view when he says, They may marry and yet not sin.
Trouble in the flesh] From the simple circumstance of the incumbrance of a family while under persecution; because of the difficulty of providing for its comfort and safety while flying before the face of persecution.
But I spare you.] The evil is coming; but I will not press upon you the observance of a prudential caution, which you might deem too heavy a cross.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I would not have you mistake me, as if I judged marriage sinful for persons in any state or condition, or of any sex; but those that are married in any time, will find troubles about the things of this life, and those that marry in such times as these are, and you are like further to see, will meet with more than ordinary troubles of this nature: I only would spare you, and have you keep yourselves as free as you can: or:
I spare you any further discourse of that nature, not willing to torment you before the time cometh.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28. trouble in the fleshThosewho marry, he says, shall incur “trouble in the flesh”(that is, in their outward state, by reason of the present distress),not sin, which is the trouble of the spirit.
but I spare youTheemphasis in the Greek is on “I.” My motive inadvising you so is, to “spare you” such trouble in theflesh. So ALFORD afterCALVIN, BENGEL,and others. ESTIUS fromAUGUSTINE explains it, “Ispare you further details of the inconveniences of matrimony, lesteven the incontinent may at the peril of lust be deterred frommatrimony: thus I have regard for your infirmity.” Theantithesis in the Greek of “I . . . you” and “such”favors the former.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But and if thou marry, thou sinnest not,…. If a man that has never been married, or one that has, if legally loosed from his wife, thinks fit to marry, he commits no sin, he breaks no law of God, far from it; marriage is honourable in all. The apostle would be understood, that in the advice he before gives, he is not dissuading from marriage, as a thing sinful and criminal; only that it was more advisable to such as could to abstain from it, under the present circumstances of things; and what he says of a man holds equally true of a virgin:
and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned; the one may as lawfully marry as another; there is no law forbidding virgins to marry, any more than young men; and if they think fit to enter into such a state, they break no law of God, and consequently sin not:
nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh; that is, such young men and virgins, who choose to marry, and who generally promise themselves a great deal of pleasure, shall meet with a great deal of trouble; and that even where they expected the most satisfaction and delight, “in the flesh”; the body, the outward man, and external circumstances of life. This “trouble” is the same with the present necessity before mentioned, the persecutions and tribulations the saints should suffer in the flesh, for the sake of Christ and his Gospel; not that married persons should be the only ones that should have trouble in this way, but that such persons would be less able to bear it, or to escape from it. Moreover, this may be extended to all the sorrows, troubles, and distresses which attend a married state:
but I spare you; the sense of which is, either that the apostle, out of his great tenderness to such who were inclined to marry, and could not contain, just gave this hint, that such should have trouble in the flesh; but did not dwell upon it or enter into particulars, lest they should be discouraged from it, and fall into temptation, sin, and a snare; or because of the great respect he had to the Corinthians, he gave the above advice to keep themselves single, that they might the better bear afflictions and persecutions, for the sake of their profession, and escape many troubles which others endure.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But and if thou marry ( ). Condition of the third class, undetermined with prospect of being determined, with the ingressive first aorist (late form) active subjunctive with : “But if thou also commit matrimony or get married,” in spite of Paul’s advice to the contrary.
Thou hast not sinned ( ). Second aorist active indicative of , to sin, to miss a mark. Here either Paul uses the timeless (gnomic) aorist indicative or by a swift transition he changes the standpoint (proleptic) in the conclusion from the future (in the condition) to the past. Such mixed conditions are common (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 1020, 1023). Precisely the same construction occurs with the case of the virgin () except that the old form of the first aorist subjunctive () occurs in place of the late above. The MSS. interchange both examples. There is no special point in the difference in the forms.
Shall have tribulation in the flesh ( ). Emphatic position of (pressure). See 2Co 12:7 (thorn in the flesh).
And I would spare you ( ). Possibly conative present middle indicative, I am trying to spare you like in Ro 2:4 and in Ga 5:4.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I spare you [ ] . Rev., “I would spare,” is not warranted grammatically, but perhaps avoids the ambiguity of I spare, which might be understood : I spare you further mention of these things. The meaning is : I give you these injunctions in order to spare you the tribulation of the flesh.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned. lean de kai gameses ouch hemartes) if however thou should marry thou dost not sin (as a formerly unmarried man).
2) And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. (kai ean geme he parthenos) And should a virgin (morally pure unmarried young woman) marry. (ouch hemarten) She sinned not, when she did.
3) Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh; but I spare you. (thlipsin de te sarki ikousin oi toioutoi ego de humon pheidomai) however, affliction in the flesh such as one shall have Gen 3:16. But I am sparing you – leaving the choice to you.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
28. But if thou shouldest even marry. As there was a danger of one’s thinking from the preceding statement, that he tempted God, if he knowingly and willingly bound himself to marriage, (as that would be to renounce his liberty,) he removes this scruple; for he gives liberty to widows to marry, and says, that those that marry do not sin. The word even also seems to be emphatic — to intimate, that even though there be no positive necessity urging to it, the unmarried are not prohibited from marrying whenever they may see fit.
And if a virgin marry Whether this is an amplification, or simply an illustration, this, in the first place, is beyond all controversy, that Paul designed to extend the liberty of marriage to all. Those who think that it is an amplification, are led to think so by this, that it seems to approach nearer to a fault, and is more open to reprehension, or at least has more occasion of shame, to loose the virgin girdle (as the ancients express themselves) than, upon the death of a husband, to enter into a second marriage. The argument then would be this: “If it is lawful for a virgin to marry, much more may widows.” I am rather of opinion, that he makes both equal in this way: “As it is allowable for a virgin, so is it for widows also.” For second marriages among the ancients were not without some mark of reproach, as they adorned those matrons, who had contented themselves with one marriage during their whole life, with a chaplet of chastity (420) — an honor that tended to reflect reproach upon those that had married repeatedly. And it is a well known saying of Valerius, (421) that “it betokens a legitimate excess (422) when a second marriage is desired.” The Apostle, therefore, makes virgins and widows alike as to liberty of marriage.
Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh. He frequently repeats the reason why he leans more to the side of celibacy in his exhortations, lest he should seem to prefer the one condition to the other on its own account, rather than on account of its consequences. He says, that there are many troubles that are connected with the married life, and that on that account he wishes all to be free from marriage, who desire to be exempt from troubles. When he says, that they will have trouble of the flesh, or in the flesh, he means, that the anxieties and distresses in which married persons are involved arise from the affairs of the world. The flesh, therefore, is taken here to mean the outward man. To spare means to indulge, or to wish them to be exempted from the troubles that are connected with marriage. “I am desirous to make provision for your infirmity, that you may not have trouble: now marriage brings with it many troubles. This is the reason why I should wish you not to require to marry — that you may be exempt from all its evils.” Do not, however, infer from this that Paul reckons marriage to be a necessary evil for those troubles of which he speaks do not arise so much from the nature of marriage, as from the corruption of it, for they are the fruits of original sin.
(420) In accordance with this, Univira , (the wife of one husband,) is often found in ancient inscriptions as an epithet of honor. — Ed.
(421) “ Autheur aneien;” — “An ancient author.”
(422) “ C’est a dire, coloree et reglee par les lois;” — “That is to say, colored over and regulated by the laws.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) But and if thou marry.Better, If, however, thou hast married. The teaching here is not for some who will, after this advice, persist in marrying, but the reference is still to those who are actually married, and a further and clearer statement to them that the question is not one of sin, but merely of desirability.
If a virgin marry.In the original it is emphatically If the virgin have married. It is possible that in the letter from Corinth some particular case was referred to in which a Christian parent had scruples as to allowing his daughter to marry, and while dealing, in reply, with the subject generally, the Apostle refers immediately here to the particular case which had given rise to the inquiry. He says that if she have married she will have committed no sin; but that she and those who, like her, have married, will have troubles in the flesh, i.e., earthly troubles. It is not a spiritual question.
But I spare you.This might, at first sight, seem to imply that he does not desire to harass them by any detail of their troubles just referred to; but the true meaning, however, is that the Apostle states his desire in giving this advice is to spare them their troubles. Matrimony will involve you in earthly troubles when the expected distress comes: therefore, in advising you to remain unmarried, my desire is to spare you them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
28. If thou marry There doubtless were those in the Corinthian Church “forbidding to marry as a sin.” While Paul, on prudential grounds, advises celibacy for the present, he discountenances the depreciation of the sacred institution as if it were an un-holiness.
Trouble Rendered, in Mat 24:21, “tribulation.”
In the flesh In our temporal circumstances.
Spare you From dwelling on a topic so unpleasant as your coming troubles and the privations they demand.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And if a virgin marry she has not sinned. Yet such will have tribulation in the flesh, and I would spare you.’
There is no question of it being sinful for a virgin to marry, he points out. God does not require perpetual virginity. Paul’s only hesitation is as to whether it will put her into a position of greater hardship. (Here the virgin must be a woman as it is paralleled to a man’s behaviour).
‘Such will have tribulation.’ This may be just a general statement suggesting the preferability of not being married, having in mind such things as the pains of childbirth, the distress of infant mortality, and the possibility of future family problems and dissension, or it may be suggesting that the present or impending distress will lead to such tribulation of the flesh.
As, if there was a period of distress, we do not know what the distress was, or was expected to be (if it existed), we cannot interpret the latter in more detail. The Corinthians would have known. But the principle applies in all difficult times. It was no doubt applied by some Christians in the two world wars of the twentieth century who would argue that in the circumstances it was better not to marry. Certainly many who did marry had ‘tribulation in the flesh’ when husbands were killed or severely wounded.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 7:28 . ] But should it be the case that thou shalt have married, thou hast not sinned therein. Comp Matthiae, p. 1203; Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 172 [E. T. 199]. Hofmann is wrong here also (comp on 1Co 7:11 ) in holding that means: but if already actually , etc.
.] Here as in 1Ti 5:11 the term is applied, indeed, to the woman (see on 1Co 7:39 ), but without violation of rule, since it is not joined with an accusative. Comp Fritzsche, a [1206] Marc. p. 424.
] not in the ethical sense, but (comp Gal 4:13 ) for the material, animal part of man’s nature. In troublous times the married man is exposed to special anguish from sufferings of this kind (hunger, nakedness, sickness, misusage, banishment, etc.). Whether we have here a dative of appropriation (trouble for the flesh; see on 1Co 12:7 ; Bernhardy, p. 88), or whether it belongs to the verb, cannot well be determined.
. ] but I , for my part, deal tenderly towards you , in advising you rather to remain unwedded; for by this advice, if you will follow it, I spare you from such .
[1206] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
Ver. 28. Thou hast not sinned ] If any man call lawful marriage a sinful defilement, he hath the apostate dragon dwelling in him, saith Ignatius. (Epist. ad Philadelph.) And yet the Papists teach that it is a far greater sin for a priest to have a wife than to keep many harlots.
Such shall have trouble in the flesh ] Mark that he saith, “in the flesh;” the delights of wedlock will be alloyed with troubles, to avoid surfeit. Before marriage people promise themselves much happiness in that estate, and think they could live together with all delight; but after, they see they are deceived, and therefore need to go to school to learn how to behave themselves one toward another.
But I spare you ] q.d. No more of that; and yet I’ll show you a way how you may escape, or at least mitigate those troubles in the flesh. Thus this First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, though in weight of argument it be far inferior to the preceding Epistle to the Romans, yet in variety of things it ought to be judged equal, and in order of time before the other. Thesaurus sane est, imo vere mundus rerum cognitu dignissimature, as Erasmus saith of Pliny’s Natural History: surely it is a treasure, yea, a very world of things, most worthy to be understood.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28 .] Not sin , but outward trouble , will be incurred by contracting marriage, whether in the case of the unmarried man or of the virgin; and it is to spare them this , that he gives his advice. But if also ( , of the other alternative : see 1Co 7:21 ) thou shalt have married, thou didst not sin (viz. when thou marriedst); and if a virgin (if the art. is to stand, it is generic) shall have married, she sinned not; but such persons (viz. ) shall have tribulation in the flesh (it is doubtful, as Meyer remarks, whether the dative belongs to the substantive, trouble for the flesh , or to the verb, shall have in the flesh trouble ): but I (emphatic my motive is) am sparing you (endeavouring to spare you this , by advising you to keep single).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
But and = Moreover.
hast not = wouldst not have.
sinned. App-128.
hath not = would not have.
trouble = tribulation. Greek. thlpsis. See Act 7:10, and compare Mat 24:19-21.
spare. Greek. pheidomai. See Act 20:29.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] Not sin, but outward trouble, will be incurred by contracting marriage, whether in the case of the unmarried man or of the virgin; and it is to spare them this, that he gives his advice. But if also (, of the other alternative: see 1Co 7:21) thou shalt have married, thou didst not sin (viz. when thou marriedst); and if a virgin (if the art. is to stand, it is generic) shall have married, she sinned not; but such persons (viz. ) shall have tribulation in the flesh (it is doubtful, as Meyer remarks, whether the dative belongs to the substantive,-trouble for the flesh,-or to the verb,-shall have in the flesh trouble): but I (emphatic-my motive is) am sparing you (endeavouring to spare you this , by advising you to keep single).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 7:28. , in the flesh) Not in the spirit, to which the trouble is sin-but in this present case here there is no sin.- , but I) He writes to them with the affection of a father, 1Co 7:32.-, I spare) It is more difficult and requires greater firmness to regulate well the state of marriage, than of celibacy.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 7:28
1Co 7:28
But shouldest thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned.-But if he cannot restrain himself and he marries, he does not sin. And if a virgin marries, she does not sin. But under persecutions, such will have trouble in the flesh. Childbearing, family duties, and obligations will increase the troubles that will come upon them.
Yet such shall have tribulation in the flesh: and I would spare you.-He would save them from these added troubles and afflictions, so he gives this advice as prudential, not as a command from God. The following or not following the advice does not involve disobedience to God, or sin; but he would spare them added troubles brought on by marriage.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
sinned
Sin. (See Scofield “Rom 3:23”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
thou hast: 1Co 7:36, Heb 13:4
Nevertheless: 1Co 7:26, 1Co 7:32-34
but: 1Co 7:35, 2Co 1:23
Reciprocal: 1Co 7:9 – let 1Co 7:25 – concerning 1Co 7:38 – then 1Ti 4:3 – Forbidding Rev 14:4 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 7:28. If thou marry, thou host not sinned. Paul had never forbidden marriage as being wrong, but only advised against it on account of the present distress. While not a sin, yet the marriage will bring them trouble in the flesh which means the hardships caused by the condition of the country. I spare you is a brief way of saying “I wish to spare you these troubles by advising you not to marry while the present conditions prevail.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
But shouldest thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Yet such shall have tribulation in the flesh: and I would spare you. [the pains and sufferings which will arise by reason of your marriage ties.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 28
Shall have trouble. Marriage would obviously increase the distress and suffering in a time of persecution.–I spare you; I wish to save you as far as possible from the sufferings to which you will be exposed.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1Co 7:28. A safeguard, for both sexes, against the supposition that this advice is anything more than mere expediency justified only by the present abnormal circumstances.
The flesh: as in 2Co 12:7 : the body, as now constituted. What the affliction is, Paul leaves us to infer. And this is not difficult. A man with wife and family presents more points of attack in days of persecution, and is therefore more exposed to troubles, and even bodily privation, than the unmarried man. Hence the anxiety of 1Co 7:32.
Am sparing you: from this bodily privation, by advising you to remain unmarried. An appeal appropriate to men over whom (1Co 3:1-3) the bodily life had great sway, and doubtless Paul wished to save them, not merely from bodily privation, but from the peril of apostacy to which such privation would expose babes in Christ. This advice will be further discussed below.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
7:28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the {y} flesh: but I {z} spare you.
(y) By the “flesh” he understands whatever things belong to this present life, for marriage brings with it many problems. So that he leans more to a single life, not because it is a service more agreeable to God than marriage is, but for those problems which (if it were possible) he would wish all men to be avoid, so that they might give themselves to God alone.
(z) I would your weakness were provided for.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Nevertheless marrying in such a case is not sinful. Furthermore if a young woman decides to marry rather than staying single, she has not sinned. However the decision to marry may complicate her service of the Lord.
For example, suppose a single woman gets into a position where an adversary may torture her for her faith. She could face that possibility more easily than a married woman who has children for whom she has responsibility could. It is that kind of "trouble" that Paul evidently had in mind.
"One of the unfortunate things that has happened to this text in the church is that the very pastoral concern of Paul that caused him to express himself in this way has been a source of anxiety rather than comfort. Part of the reason for this is that in Western cultures we do not generally live in a time of ’present distress.’ Thus we fail to sense the kind of care that this text represents. Beyond that, what is often heard is that Paul prefers singleness to marriage, which he does. But quite in contrast to Paul’s own position over against the Corinthians, we often read into that preference that singleness is somehow a superior status. That causes some who do not wish to remain single to become anxious about God’s will in their lives. Such people need to hear it again: Marriage or singleness per se lies totally outside the category of ’commandments’ to be obeyed or ’sin’ if one indulges; and Paul’s preference here is not predicated on ’spiritual’ grounds but on pastoral concern. It is perfectly all right to marry." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 334.]