1 Corinthians 7:37

37 nam qui statuit in corde suo firmus non habens necessitatem potestatem autem habet suae voluntatis et hoc iudicavit in corde suo servare virginem suam bene facit

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.

1 Corinthians 7:37 In-Context

35 porro hoc ad utilitatem vestram dico non ut laqueum vobis iniciam sed ad id quod honestum est et quod facultatem praebeat sine inpedimento Dominum observandi
36 si quis autem turpem se videri existimat super virgine sua quod sit superadulta et ita oportet fieri quod vult faciat non peccat nubat
37 nam qui statuit in corde suo firmus non habens necessitatem potestatem autem habet suae voluntatis et hoc iudicavit in corde suo servare virginem suam bene facit
38 igitur et qui matrimonio iungit virginem suam bene facit et qui non iungit melius facit
39 mulier alligata est quanto tempore vir eius vivit quod si dormierit vir eius liberata est cui vult nubat tantum in Domino
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.