1 Corinthians 7:37

Listen to 1 Corinthians 7:37
37 But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, [a] he will do well.

1 Corinthians 7:37 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 7:37

Nevertheless, he that standeth steadfast in his heart
The apostle returns to confirm his former advice, where it can be attended to with safety; and observes, that notwithstanding what he had allowed might lawfully be done, and was proper to be done; yet a man that had deliberated upon, and had well weighed the matter of virginity, the case of a single life, and was at a point about in, having no hesitation nor fluctuation of mind concerning it: and also "having no necessity"; of acting otherwise, either through the meanness of his circumstances, or rather through the weakness of his virgin, she not having the gift of continency:

but hath power over his own will;
his daughter's will being the same with his, and she entirely consenting to live a single life; otherwise he would have no power of acting as he pleased in such a case:

and hath so decreed in his heart:
it is a fixed point on mature deliberation, in which he himself is hearty and determined, and his child perfectly assents to it, so that on all hands it is an agreed matter:

that he will keep his virgin;
at home with him, unmarried, and not give her to any man in marriage:

doth well:
or that which is for both temporal and spiritual profit and advantage, as before observed. Some understand all this of a man's keeping his own virginity, and determining to continue unmarried.

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1 Corinthians 7:37 In-Context

35 I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but in order to promote proper decorum and undivided devotion to the Lord.
36 However, if someone thinks he is acting inappropriately toward his betrothed, and if she is beyond her youth and they ought to marry, let him do as he wishes; he is not sinning; they should get married.
37 But the man who is firmly established in his heart and under no constraint, with control over his will and resolve in his heart not to marry the virgin, he will do well.
38 So then, he who marries the virgin does well, but he who does not marry her does even better.
39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.

Footnotes 1

  • [a] Literally in his heart to keep the virgin or in his heart to keep the betrothed
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain