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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 V29 V30 V31 V32 V34 V35 V36 V37 V38 V39 V40
OET (OET-LV) but the one having_married is_caring_for the things of_the world, how he_may_bring_pleasure to_the wife, and has_been_divided.
Both the woman the unmarried and the virgin
OET (OET-RV) but married men are concerned about worldly affairs—wanting to please their wives—so they’re divided. And unmarried or single women
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 wanted them to be “free from concern” (7:32a). Many scholars think that in these verses Paul was giving a reason why he thought it was good to stay unmarried. This paragraph is difficult to interpret.
But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world,
But if a man has a wife, he constantly thinks about his day-to-day life in this world.
On the other hand, a man with a wife spends time thinking about getting the things he and his family needs to live from day to day.
But married men devote their thoughts/energy to things that have to do with living in this world.
But the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world: This verse part indicates that a man who has a family has to spend much of his time thinking about things of this life. He has to work and provide for his family. Another way to translate this is:
but the man who is married gives his mind to the affairs of this world (NJB)
But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities (NLT)
how he can please his wife,
He wants to take care of his wife.
They want to make their wife happy.
how he can please his wife: See the notes on 7:32c. As there, it may be natural to translate this as a direct quote. For example:
He asks himself, “How can I make my wife happy/content?”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
ὁ & γαμήσας
the_‹one› & ˓having˒_married
Here Paul refers to the married man in the singular, but he is speaking generically about any married man. If your language does not use the singular form to refer to people in general, you can use a form that does refer generically to people in your language. Alternate translation: [each unmarried man]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
μεριμνᾷ
˓is˒_caring_for
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 man who is concerned rather than focusing on what makes him concerned. If you must state who does the action, Paul implies that the married man himself does it. Alternate translation: [concerns himself with]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
τὰ τοῦ κόσμου
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ δέ γαμήσας μεριμνᾷ τά τοῦ κόσμου πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῇ γυναικί καί μεμέρισται Καί ἡ γυνή ἡ ἄγαμος καί ἡ παρθένος)
Here Paul uses the possessive form to describe things that are directly related to the world. This phrase identifies anything that one does that relates to the world. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the things of the world with a word or phrase that refers to anything related to the world. Alternate translation: [many things that relate to the world]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
τῇ γυναικί
˱to˲_his wife
Here Paul refers to the wife, but he specifically has in mind the wife of the married man already mentioned. If your language would not use this form to refer to the man’s wife, you could express the idea more clearly. Alternate translation: [his wife]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
μεμέρισται
˓has_been˒_divided
Here Paul speaks as if the man is divided into two pieces. By speaking in this way, Paul means that the married man has conflicting interests or concerns. He is concerned about how to please the Lord and how to please his wife. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express is divided with a comparable metaphor or express the idea plainly. Alternate translation: [he is pulled in two directions] or [he is of two minds]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
μεμέρισται
˓has_been˒_divided
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 he who is divided rather than focusing on what does the “dividing.” If you must state who does the action, Paul implies that the man’s “concerns” do it. Alternate translation: [concerns about the Lord and the world divide him]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἄγαμος καὶ ἡ παρθένος
the ¬the the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ δέ γαμήσας μεριμνᾷ τά τοῦ κόσμου πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῇ γυναικί καί μεμέρισται Καί ἡ γυνή ἡ ἄγαμος καί ἡ παρθένος)
Here Paul refers to the unmarried woman and the virgin in the singular, but he is speaking generically about unmarried woman or virgin. If your language does not use the singular form to refer to people in general, you can use a form that does refer generically to people in your language. Alternate translation: [each unmarried woman or virgin]
Note 8 topic: translate-unknown
ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἄγαμος καὶ ἡ παρθένος
the ¬the the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ δέ γαμήσας μεριμνᾷ τά τοῦ κόσμου πῶς ἀρέσῃ τῇ γυναικί καί μεμέρισται Καί ἡ γυνή ἡ ἄγαμος καί ἡ παρθένος)
Here Paul could be distinguishing between: (1) older single women (the unmarried woman) and younger single women (the virgin). Alternate translation: [the older or younger single woman] (2) divorced women (the unmarried woman) and women who have never been married (the virgin). Alternate translation: [the divorced woman or the woman who has never married]
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 the one having_married is_caring_for the things of_the world, how he_may_bring_pleasure to_the wife, and has_been_divided.
Both the woman the unmarried and the virgin
OET (OET-RV) but married men are concerned about worldly affairs—wanting to please their wives—so they’re divided. And unmarried or single women
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.