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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
1 Cor C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
1 Cor 7 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35 V36 V37 V38 V39 V40
OET (OET-LV) But this I_am_saying, brothers, the season having_been_shortened is.
For/Because_the rest, in_order_that even the ones having wives, as not having may_be,
OET (OET-RV) But brothers and sisters, I will say this: the time is short, so from now on, even those who are married should live as if they’re not.
In an earlier letter to Paul, the Corinthians had mentioned some problems and asked him some questions. There are no longer any copies of this letter, so we can only guess what they wrote by reading Paul’s answers. Apparently some of the questions the Corinthians had asked were about marriage and sex. In this section Paul discussed these topics. He wrote about sexual intercourse, divorce, marrying again after a person’s husband or wife dies, and never marrying.
From the way Paul talked, it appears that the Corinthians were thinking that if believers want to be holy, they should abstain from sexual relations. The Corinthians were wondering if married people should sleep together, if Christians who were married to non-Christians should divorce them, and if Christians should get married. Paul gave them some wise teaching on each of these topics. In 7:1–16 he addressed Christians who were married. In 7:17–24 he wrote about his general rule for Christians: Remain as you are. In 7:25–38 he taught Christians who were not married. In 7:39–40 he addressed women whose husbands had died.
Other possible section headings include:
Paul gave/wrote instructions about Christian marriage
Paul’s teaching on marriage
Paul addressed the whole group of believers. He told them that the present way of life in this world would not last much longer. He instructed them as to how they should think and live when all will soon change.
What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short.
¶ My fellow believers, I will explain what I mean. Our(incl) time here is brief/limited.
¶ And furthermore, my friends, consider this: This time we live in will not last much longer.
What I am saying: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as What I am saying here can literally be translated as: “Now this I declare.” Here Paul introduced some important Christian teaching that is background explanation for what he had just said.
brothers: The Greek word that the BSB translates as brothers here refers to the believers in the church.
the time is short: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as the time is short is more literally “the time has been shortened.” Paul was saying that the time had become or grown brief/short. Soon God will change the world and the way people live in it. Other ways to translate this include:
we(incl) do not have much time
only a short while remains
the time we live in will not last long (REB)
there is not much time left (GNT)
the time: The Greek word that the BSB translates as time refers to a period of time set aside for a purpose. Here it refers to the time God has set aside to finish his work. That time will end when Christ comes back to earth again.
These five verse parts are very similar in form. Each of them is a polite or soft command. Paul was telling the Corinthian believers how he wanted them to live. He wanted them to realize that the things of this earthly life are not the most important. Christ will return and then all these things will come to an end. Things like marrying and buying are all part of our life in this world and will not last forever.
In some languages it may be natural to translate these indirect third-person commands as polite second-person commands. For example:
From now on I want those of you who have wives to live as if you had no wives, those of you who weep as though you did not weep, those of you who are joyful, as though you were not, and those of you who make a purchase, as though you had nothing. And those of you who use the things of this world, I want you to not be dependent on them.
For another suggestion as to how to break up the long sentence in the BSB into shorter sentences, see the General Comment on 7:29b-31a at the end of 7:31a.
From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none;
So from this time on, Christian/believing men who are married should live as if they were not married.
So for the rest of the time we are living in this world, do not be overly/too concerned/worried about your wife/marriage.
So during the time we have left in this world, remember that having a wife or not is not the most important thing in our life.
those who have wives should live as if they had none: In this part Paul addressed men, but the same teaching would be true for anyone who was married. Paul wanted them to remember that our time here in this life is short. He did not want them to spend all their time thinking about the things of this life such as marriage. Other ways to translate this include:
those with wives should not focus only on their marriage (NLT)
you married men should not make your wife your main concern
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
τοῦτο & φημι
this & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
Here, this refers forward to what Paul is about to say. Paul refers to what he will say before he says it in order to emphasize what he is about to say. If your language would not use this to refer to something that will soon be said, you could use a word or phrase that does introduces something about to be said and express the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [listen to what I am about to say]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἀδελφοί
brothers
Although brothers is masculine, Paul is using it to refer to any believer, whether man or woman. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express brothers with a non gendered word or refer to both genders. Alternate translation: [brothers and sisters]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ὁ καιρὸς συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
When time is shortened, an event at the end of that time is about to happen. In other words, something is about to happen. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind The time is shortenedwith a comparable metaphor or a descriptive phrase. Alternate translation: [There is not much time left] or [The time until the event occurs is short]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ὁ καιρὸς συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Paul uses the passive form here to focus on the time, which is shortened, rather than focusing on the person doing the “shortening.” If you must state who does the action, Paul implies that “God” does it. Alternate translation: [God has shortened the time]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ὁ καιρὸς
the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
Here, The time could refer to the time until: (1) the events of the end times begin. Alternate translation: [The time until the end] or [The time until Jesus comes back] (2) the “distress” he has mentioned in [7:26](../07/26.md), [28](../07/28.md) begins. Alternate translation: [The time until the distress]
Note 6 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
τὸ λοιπὸν, ἵνα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
Here Paul introduces how the Corinthians should behave now that the time has been shortened. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express so that from now on with a word or phrase that draws an inference or introduces a result. If you use the following alternate translation, you may need to add a period before it. Alternate translation: [This means that, from the present on]
ὡς μὴ ἔχοντες ὦσιν
as (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
Alternate translation: [should behave like those who have none]
Note 7 topic: writing-pronouns
μὴ ἔχοντες
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ φημί ἀδελφοί ὁ καιρός συνεσταλμένος ἐστίν Τό λοιπόν ἵνα καί οἱ ἔχοντες γυναῖκας ὡς μή ἔχοντες ὦσιν)
Here, none refers back to wives. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express none by clarifying that it refers to wives. Alternate translation: [those having no wives]
7:1-40 Paul consistently states his strong conviction that true Christians, as slaves of Christ, are wholly claimed by Christ the Lord for his own service. Because of this, he recommends that Christians remain single, but concedes that getting married is no sin.
OET (OET-LV) But this I_am_saying, brothers, the season having_been_shortened is.
For/Because_the rest, in_order_that even the ones having wives, as not having may_be,
OET (OET-RV) But brothers and sisters, I will say this: the time is short, so from now on, even those who are married should live as if they’re not.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.