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OET (OET-LV) A_wife has_been_bound for as_long_as time is_living the husband of_her, but if may_be_fallen_asleep the husband, free she_is to_whom she_is_willing to_be_married, only in the_master.
OET (OET-RV) A wife is committed to her husband as long as he lives, but if he passes away, she’s free to marry whoever she wants to, as long as he’s a believer.
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
Some women in the Corinthian church were widows. Apparently the Corinthians had asked Paul whether they should remarry. Some of the believers seem to have thought that these widows could be more holy and please God more if they stayed unmarried. Paul said that when a woman’s husband dies, that breaks the marriage tie, and in God’s eyes it is all right for her to marry someone else. But it is also all right if she remains unmarried, and in Paul’s opinion, she may be happier that way.
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives.
¶ A wife is joined/tied/united to her husband as long as he is alive.
¶ A married woman is obliged to remain her husband’s wife for his whole life.
¶ If a woman is married, the laws of marriage make her permanently married to her husband all his life.
A wife is bound to her husband: The Greek word that the BSB translates as bound indicates that marriage obliges the two people to behave in a certain way to one another, both in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of God. This the same word Paul used in 7:27a, where the BSB translated it as “committed.” See the note on 7:27a.
as long as he lives: Paul indicated that marriage is supposed to be permanent. He did not want believers to get divorced. Here Paul repeated in different words the same thing he said in 7:10–11.
But if her husband dies,
But if her husband dies,
However, if it happens that he dies before she does,
But: The Greek word that the BSB translates as But here introduces a contrasting set of circumstances. That new set of circumstances is if her husband dies. His death sets her free from her marriage. In some languages a conjunction may not be natural here. The RSV does not translate the conjunction and begins a new sentence.
if her husband dies: A marriage ends when the husband or wife dies. It is possible that some believers in Corinth thought that a husband and wife were “bound” (permanently joined) in marriage not only in life here on earth, but in the future life also. (See Matthew 22:23–33). Paul told them that the marriage tie is for life here on earth only.
dies: The Greek word that the BSB translates as dies is literally “sleeps.” The word “sleep” is a euphemism for talking about death. A euphemism is an indirect way of saying something that might offend someone if it was said directly. You may substitute a euphemism that is natural in your language if death is something you would not talk about directly and if the meaning remains clear.
she is free to marry anyone she wishes,
then it is all right for her to marry someone else if she wants to,
she is released from that marriage and may get married again to any man she wants to.
she is free to marry anyone she wishes: The word free here contrasts with the word “bound” in 7:39a. The widow is neither obliged to marry again nor obliged to remain unmarried. Paul said that Christian widows could decide for themselves if they will marry again and whom they will marry.
as long as he belongs to the Lord.
as long as he is also a believer.
But she should marry a Christian.
as long as he belongs to the Lord: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as as long as he belongs to the Lord is literally “only in the Lord.” Here is another way to translate this:
but only if he is a Christian (GNT)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
δέδεται ἐφ’
˓has_been˒_bound for
Here, bound refers to the legal and moral obligation to remain married. This obligation is strong enough that Paul can speak about it as if it were a rope that bound the man and the woman together. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind bound plainly or with a comparable metaphor. Alternate translation: [is required to stay with her husband] or [is spoken for]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
γυνὴ δέδεται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γυνή δέδεται ἐφʼ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνήρ αὐτῆς ἐάν δέ κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνήρ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ)
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 wife, who is bound, rather than the person doing the “binding.” If you must state who does the action, Paul implies that “God” or the “law” does it. Alternate translation: [A wife must remain married] or [God’s law binds a wife]
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-condition-hypothetical
ἐὰν & κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γυνή δέδεται ἐφʼ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνήρ αὐτῆς ἐάν δέ κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνήρ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ)
Here Paul uses if to introduce a true possibility. He means that the husband might die or he might not. He then specifies the result for if the husband dies. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this form by stating the if statement by using a relative clause. Alternate translation: [any wife whose husband dies is free]
Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-exceptions
ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι, μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ
free (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Γυνή δέδεται ἐφʼ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνήρ αὐτῆς ἐάν δέ κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνήρ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ)
If it would appear in your language that Paul was making a statement here and then contradicting it, you could reword this to avoid using this form. Alternate translation: [she is free to marry whomever she wishes as long as they are in the Lord]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐν Κυρίῳ
in ˓the˒_Lord
Here Paul uses the spatial metaphor in the Lord to describe the union of believers with Christ. In this case, being in the Lord, or united to the Lord, identifies the person as someone who believes in Jesus. Alternate translation: [if they believe in the Lord]
OET (OET-LV) A_wife has_been_bound for as_long_as time is_living the husband of_her, but if may_be_fallen_asleep the husband, free she_is to_whom she_is_willing to_be_married, only in the_master.
OET (OET-RV) A wife is committed to her husband as long as he lives, but if he passes away, she’s free to marry whoever she wants to, as long as he’s a believer.
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.