Today's reading: 1 Samuel 19; 1 Corinthians 7
I don't have too much to say about this passage, but it can honestly be a kind of odd passage, especially depending on which translation you are reading, and it's one I've taught a few times over the years so I've had to work through and study some of that oddness, so it seemed like a good one to talk about.
The first kind of odd thing comes in verse 6, where Paul says, "Now as a concession, not a command, I say this." There are three different ways this verse gets handled: (1) Some translations will include verse 6 with the previous comments about a husband and wife, (2) some translations will include it with the following comments about staying single and not getting married, and (3) some translations go non-committal and throw it on it's own in between the two. When you dig into it though, this statement really belongs with the initial section on marriage. Paul is not saying that he only allows people to get married as a concession but they should really be remaining single, he is saying that he is not suggesting husbands and wives abstain from sex to pray. It was evidently something they were doing in Corinth and Paul is essentially saying, "I'm not endorsing this, or telling you it's good or important to do, but if you're going to do this, only do it for a short time so that it doesn't cause issues for either spouse." This placement is important to get right, otherwise it seems to imply that sex inside of marriage somehow impedes your prayer life or something, or that getting married should really be avoided unless you really really can't handle yourself single, and neither of those is a biblical position.
The next oddity is where Paul makes a distinction between what is coming from him and what is coming from the Lord. If this is Scripture, and all Scripture is God breathed (1 Timothy 3), how can this just be coming from Paul and not the Lord? Is this just Paul's opinion and he is letting us know that this part might be good advice, but it's not Scripture since it's not from God? Nope! This whole chapter is Scripture, and the whole thing is from God. So what is Paul saying? He is pointing out that that command against divorce comes directly from Jesus. The rest of this Jesus didn't directly address, but we have His comments on divorce and this is exactly His stance on it. So it's not that this one line is binding Scripture and the rest is just Paul's idle musings, but that this portion comes directly from the Lord Jesus Himself. I think Paul included that note because he wanted that instruction to carry more weight (maybe divorce was an issue in the Corinthian church), not because the rest of what he had to say was not accurately Scriptural.
The last oddity I want to address isn't really an issue if you are reading a newer translation, but is pretty weird if you're reading an older translation. In verse 36 Paul starts addressing a man and his betrothed (his fiancee). He has been suggesting it is better to remain single, but what about the person who is already engaged, is he suggesting they call it off? His answer is that if they can handle not getting married, it might go better for them (just like he's been suggesting all along), but if they can't handle it, they should still go ahead and get married rather than fall into sexual sin. That all seems fine enough, but if you read a translation like the NASB95, instead of "betrothed" or "fiancee" it says, "virgin daughter," and that makes this really weird. With NASB95 and other similar translations, it makes it sound like Paul is saying, "If you are too attracted to your daughter that you don't think you can handle not sleeping with her, marry her off so that having her around the house won't be a temptation," which is beyond weird on so many levels. The fact of the matter is though that in the Greek it merely refers to the man's "virgin," with no other specifier. Saying "virgin daughter" was a interpretative choice as to the relationship between the man and the virgin, and given the context, I think they made a poor choice (which is probably why the current NASB merely says, "virgin" and leaves it open to interpretation).
The last thing I'll briefly address is the content. It definitely seems like Paul is saying we should err toward staying single rather than getting married. He does qualify that over and over by saying it is not sin to get married and such, but should we, as Christians, be pushing for people to get married less? On the one hand, maybe, in terms of recognizing that God is not calling every person to marriage and that is a totally legitimate and godly lifestyle (this is much more accepted now than it was even a few decades ago...). But on the other hand, Paul even says himself, in verse 26, that this is all in light of their present distress. Something was going on in the Corinthian church that led Paul to say, "Given everything going on right now, it will probably be easier if you aren't married and having to worry about a spouse with it all too. Many people think that was in regard to persecution in the church at the time, but either way, while his comments are general wisdom, it is important for us to recognize that he was not speaking broadly to the global Christian community when he penned 1 Corinthians 7, but to one particular church in light of their present distress.
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