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Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) But that isn’t a command—I’m only suggesting that it’s good to do,[fn]
7:6 It’s not clear here whether Paul is referring back to marriage here (v2), or to abstaining from sex to focus on praying (v5).![]()
OET-LV But this I_am_saying by concession, not by command.
![]()
SR-GNT Τοῦτο δὲ λέγω κατὰ συγγνώμην, οὐ κατʼ ἐπιταγήν. ‡
(Touto de legō kata sungnōmaʸn, ou katʼ epitagaʸn.)
Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT But I say this as a concession, not as a command.
UST I do not command you to stop having sex regularly in order to focus on praying. Rather, I am only allowing you to do so.
BSB I say this as a concession, not as a command.
MSB I say this as a concession, not as a command.
BLB Now I say this by way of concession, not by way of command.
AICNT Now I say this as a concession, not as a command.
OEB I say this, however, as a concession, not as a command.
WEBBE But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET I say this as a concession, not as a command.
LSV and this I say by way of concurrence—not of command,
FBV I'm telling you this not as a command, but as a concession.
TCNT Now I say this as a concession, not as a command.
T4T I am telling you these things to say that God allows you to get married, but he does not say that you must get married.
LEB But I say this as a concession, not as a command.
BBE But this I say as my opinion, and not as an order of the Lord.
Moff But what I have just said is by way of concession, not command.
Wymth Thus much in the way of concession, not of command.
ASV But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.
DRA But I speak this by indulgence, not by commandment.
YLT and this I say by way of concurrence — not of command,
Drby But this I say, as consenting [to], not as commanding [it].
RV But this I say by way of permission, not of commandment.
SLT And this I say according to indulgence, not according to order.
Wbstr But I speak this by permission, and not as a commandment.
KJB-1769 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.
KJB-1611 But I speake this by permission, and not of commandement.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)
Bshps This I say of fauour, & not of commaundement.
(This I say of favour, and not of commandment.)
Gnva But I speake this by permission, not by commandement.
(But I speak this by permission, not by commandment. )
Cvdl But this I saye of fauoure, and not of commaundemet.
(But this I say of favour, and not of commandment.)
TNT This I saye of faveour not of commaundement.
(This I say of faveour not of commandment. )
Wycl But Y seie this thing as yyuyng leeue, not bi comaundement.
(But I say this thing as yyuing leeue, not by commandment.)
Luth Solches sage ich aber aus Vergunst und nicht aus Gebot.
(Such said I but out_of Vergunst and not out_of commandment/command.)
ClVg Hoc autem dico secundum indulgentiam, non secundum imperium.[fn]
(This however I_mean/say after/second indulgence, not/no after/second government. )
7.6 Hoc autem, etc
7.6 This however, etc
UGNT τοῦτο δὲ λέγω κατὰ συνγνώμην, οὐ κατ’ ἐπιταγήν.
(touto de legō kata sungnōmaʸn, ou kat’ epitagaʸn.)
SBL-GNT τοῦτο δὲ λέγω κατὰ συγγνώμην, οὐ κατʼ ἐπιταγήν.
(touto de legō kata sungnōmaʸn, ou katʼ epitagaʸn.)
RP-GNT Τοῦτο δὲ λέγω κατὰ συγγνώμην, οὐ κατ' ἐπιταγήν.
(Touto de legō kata sungnōmaʸn, ou kat' epitagaʸn.)
TC-GNT Τοῦτο δὲ λέγω κατὰ [fn]συγγνώμην, οὐ κατ᾽ ἐπιταγήν.
(Touto de legō kata sungnōmaʸn, ou kat epitagaʸn. )
7:6 συγγνωμην ¦ συνγνωμην TH WH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, orange:accents differ, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
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.
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 began to discuss the subjects the Corinthians had written to him about. It seems that some believers were thinking that sexual intercourse was not good. Those people even said that married Christians should not have sexual intercourse with each other. Paul said that it was good for married believers to live together normally as man and wife. This would help them avoid being tempted to commit sex sins.
I say this as a concession,
I am allowing you to do this,
I do permit married people to keep themselves from sexual relations during times of prayer.
not as a command.
but I do not order you to do it.
But that is not something you are obliged to do.
I say this as a concession, not as a command: The BSB, like most English versions, does not make explicit the reference of the word this. Many modern commentators believe that Paul was here referring back to what he had just said in 7:5b, that married couples could abstain from normal relations. He allowed them to abstain for a short while if they both agreed and wanted to pray. But he was not commanding them to abstain. They did not need to refrain from normal relations in order to be able to pray. In some languages it may be necessary to make some of this explicit. For example:
I say this to give you permission to stay away from sexual relations for a time. It is not a command to do so. (NCV)
concession: The Greek word that the BSB translates as concession means to agree with what someone thinks about something or to meet someone halfway. Paul thought it was not good for husbands and wives to stop having sexual intercourse. But he agreed or conceded that sometimes there could be good reasons for stopping for a while.
In some languages it may be natural to reverse the order of 7:6a and 6b. For example:
6bI do not order you to stop sleeping with your spouse. 6aI only say that you may do it/this if you want to.
Note 1 topic: writing-pronouns
τοῦτο
this
Here, this could refer to: (1) what Paul has said about the one situation in which they may “deprive each other” in [7:5](../07/05.md). Alternate translation: [this about when you may deprive each other] (2) what Paul has said about how married couples should regularly have sex in [7:2–5](../07/02.md). Alternate translation: [this about being married]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure
κατὰ συνγνώμην, οὐ κατ’ ἐπιταγήν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ λέγω κατά συγγνώμην οὒ κατʼ ἐπιταγήν)
If your language would express the negative statement before the positive, you could reverse the order of these two phrases. Alternate translation: [not as a command but as a concession]
Note 3 topic: translate-unknown
συνγνώμην
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ λέγω κατά συγγνώμην οὒ κατʼ ἐπιταγήν)
Here, a concession is something that one allows even though one does not entirely agree with it. Usually, the concession is made because one wishes to avoid antagonizing the person one is dealing with. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind concessionby using a comparable word or phrase. Alternate translation: [a compromise] or [an allowance]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
κατὰ συνγνώμην, οὐ κατ’ ἐπιταγήν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τοῦτο Δέ λέγω κατά συγγνώμην οὒ κατʼ ἐπιταγήν)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas behind concession and command, you can express the idea by using a verb such as “concede” and “command.” Alternate translation: [because I concede it, not because I command it]