1 Coríntios 7

ARC · Chapter 7/16

1Ora, quanto ás coisas, que me escrevestes, bom seria que o homem não tocasse mulher;

2Mas, por causa da fornicação, cada um tenha a sua propria mulher, e cada uma tenha o seu proprio marido.

3O marido pague á mulher a devida benevolencia, e da mesma sorte a mulher ao marido.

4A mulher não tem poder sobre o seu proprio corpo, mas tem-o o marido; e tambem da mesma maneira o marido não tem poder sobre o seu proprio corpo, mas tem-o a mulher.

5Não vos defraudeis um ao outro, senão por consentimento de ambos por algum tempo, para vos applicardes á oração: e depois ajuntae-vos outra vez, para que Satanás vos não tente pela vossa incontinencia.

6Digo, porém, isto por permissão e não por mandamento.

7Porque quizera que todos os homens fossem como eu mesmo: mas cada um tem de Deus o seu proprio dom, um d'uma maneira e outro d'outra.

8Digo, porém, aos solteiros e ás viuvas, que lhes é bom se ficarem como eu

9Mas, se não podem conter-se, casem-se. Porque é melhor casar-se do que abrazar-se.

10Porém aos casados, mando, não eu mas o Senhor, que a mulher se não aparte do marido.

11Se, porém, se apartar, que fique sem casar, ou que se reconcilie com o marido; e que o marido não deixe a mulher.

12Mas aos outros digo eu, não o Senhor: Se algum irmão tem mulher descrente, e ella consente em habitar com elle, não a deixe.

13E, se alguma mulher tem marido descrente, e elle consente em habitar com ella, não o deixe.

14Porque o marido descrente é sanctificado pela mulher: e a mulher descrente é sanctificada pelo marido; d'outra sorte os vossos filhos seriam immundos; porém agora são sanctos.

15Mas, se o descrente se apartar, aparte-se; porque n'este caso o irmão, ou irmã, não está sujeito á servidão; mas Deus chamou-nos para a paz

16Porque, d'onde sabes tu ó mulher, se salvarás o marido? ou, d'onde sabes tu, ó marido, se salvarás a mulher?

17Porém cada um ande assim como Deus lhe repartiu, cada um como o Senhor o chamou. E assim ordeno em todas as egrejas.

18É alguem chamado estando já circumcidado? fique circumcidado. É alguem chamado estando incircumcidado? não se circumcide.

19A circumcisão é nada e a incircumcisão nada é, mas sim a observancia dos mandamentos de Deus.

20Cada um fique na vocação em que foi chamado.

21Foste chamado sendo servo? não te dê cuidado; e, se ainda podes ser livre, antes aproveita-te.

22Porque o que é chamado pelo Senhor, sendo servo, é liberto do Senhor; e da mesma maneira tambem o que é chamado sendo livre, servo é de Christo.

23Fostes comprados por preço; não vos façaes servos dos homens.

24Irmãos, cada um fique diante de Deus no estado em que foi chamado.

25Ora, quanto ás virgens, não tenho mandamento do Senhor; dou, porém, o meu parecer, como quem tem alcançado misericordia do Senhor para ser fiel.

26Tenho pois isto por bom, por causa da instante necessidade, que é bom para o homem o estar assim.

27Estás ligado á mulher? não busques separar-te. Estás livre de mulher? não busques mulher.

28Mas, se tambem casares, não peccas; e, se a virgem se casar, não pecca. Todavia os taes terão tribulações na carne; porém eu vos poupo

29Isto, porém, vos digo, irmãos, que o tempo se abrevia; o que resta é que tambem os que teem mulheres sejam como se as não tivessem;

30E os que choram, como se não chorassem; e os que folgam, como se não folgassem; e os que compram, como se não possuissem;

31E os que usam d'este mundo, como se d'elle não abusassem, porque a apparencia d'este mundo passa.

32E bem quizera eu que estivesseis sem cuidado. O solteiro cuida nas coisas do Senhor, em como ha de agradar ao Senhor:

33Mas o que é casado cuida nas coisas do mundo, em como ha de agradar á mulher.

34Ha differença entre a mulher casada e a virgem: a solteira cuida nas coisas do Senhor para ser sancta, assim do corpo como do espirito; porém a casada cuida nas coisas do mundo, em como ha de agradar ao marido.

35Porém digo isto para proveito vosso, não para vos enlaçar, mas para vos guiar ao que é decente e conveniente, para vos unirdes ao Senhor sem distracção alguma.

36Mas, se alguem julga que trata sem decoro a sua filha virgem, se tiver passado a flor da idade, e assim convier que se case, faça o tal o que quizer; não pecca; casem-se.

37Porém o que está firme em seu coração, não tendo necessidade, mas tem poder sobre a sua propria vontade, e isto resolveu no seu coração, guardar a sua virgem, faz bem.

38De sorte que, o que a dá em casamento, faz bem; mas o que a não dá em casamento faz melhor.

39A mulher casada está ligada pela lei todo o tempo que o seu marido vive; mas, se fallecer o seu marido, fica livre para casar com quem quizer, comtanto que seja no Senhor.

40Porém será mais bemaventurada se ficar assim, segundo o meu parecer, e tambem eu cuido que tenho o Espirito de Deus.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Answering specific questions from the church, Paul offers counsel on marriage, celibacy, divorce, and remaining in the state in which each person was called by God. He values both marriage and celibacy as different gifts.

Explanation

This chapter responds to a letter the Corinthians themselves had sent to Paul, likely influenced by currents that either rejected marriage as something inferior or treated it with license. Paul presents a balanced view: marriage is good and involves mutual duties of care, but celibacy dedicated to God's service is also a valid gift, especially given the hardships of that time. He repeats the principle that each person should remain, whenever possible, in the state in which they were called, without anxiously seeking to change their social or marital condition. Today's practical lesson is that both marriage and single life can be full paths of service to God, with neither superior to the other.

Fun facts

  • The mention of 'the present distress' (v.26) likely refers to a concrete crisis Corinth was facing at the time — possibly famine or persecution — which made marriage more costly at that particular moment.
  • This is one of the most cited texts in Christian debates about marriage and celibacy throughout history, including a direct influence on the tradition of priestly celibacy in some churches.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Coríntios 7:1Paul is answering a letter the Corinthians had sent him — “now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me” — which is why this chapter deals only with their specific questions. The phrase “it is good for a man not to touch a woman” may even be a quotation from their letter, reflecting a current in the church that considered marriage inferior to single life.
  2. 1 Coríntios 7:2Answering the idea that “it is good not to touch a woman” (v. 1), Paul gives practical advice for most people: because of the risk of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband — marriage is the answer.
  3. 1 Coríntios 7:3Within marriage, Paul calls for sexual reciprocity: husband and wife owe each other the same consideration, without either side imposing abstinence on the other on their own.
  4. 1 Coríntios 7:4An unusual idea for the time: within marriage, neither the husband nor the wife has exclusive power over his or her own body — each one “belongs” also to the spouse, balancing the authority on both sides.
  5. 1 Coríntios 7:5Paul treats the body within marriage as something belonging equally to both spouses. He allows agreed-upon pauses for prayer, but warns they should not be long, so as not to open the door to temptation.
  6. 1 Coríntios 7:6Paul makes clear that permitting agreed-upon pauses for prayer (v. 5) is his suggestion, not a binding command — the first sign in the letter that he distinguishes his personal advice from a commandment of the Lord.
  7. 1 Coríntios 7:7Paul wishes everyone could live single as he does, but he recognizes that this is a specific gift from God, not something to impose on everyone — each person receives a different calling.
  8. 1 Coríntios 7:8To the unmarried and widows, Paul gives his personal opinion: it would be good to remain unmarried, as he does — but this is advice, not a fixed rule for everyone.
  9. 1 Coríntios 7:9If a person cannot manage sexual self-control well, Paul recommends marriage, because it is better to marry than to be consumed by repressed desire.
  10. 1 Coríntios 7:10Here Paul marks the distinction that guides the whole chapter: on not separating from one’s spouse, he cites a direct command from Jesus Himself, not his own opinion.
  11. 1 Coríntios 7:11The Lord’s command continues: if separation has already happened, the person should remain unmarried or be reconciled — divorce followed by remarriage is not the solution recommended here.
  12. 1 Coríntios 7:12Paul now switches to speaking “I, not the Lord” — a case Jesus did not address directly: a mixed marriage with an unbelieving spouse. If the unbeliever is willing to keep living with the believer, the believer should not separate.
  13. 1 Coríntios 7:13He repeats the same instruction for the reverse case, of a believing woman married to an unbelieving husband who is willing to continue the marriage.
  14. 1 Coríntios 7:14“Sanctified” here does not mean “saved,” but something like “set apart,” within the protection of the Christian family. Paul reassures those married to an unbelieving spouse: the union and the children are not made “unclean” because of it.
  15. 1 Coríntios 7:15But if it is the unbelieving spouse who wants to separate, the believer is set free — God called the church to live in peace, not bound to a marriage the other party no longer wants to keep.
  16. 1 Coríntios 7:16He explains why he does not insist on staying in a marriage the unbeliever wants to end: there is no guarantee that staying will lead the spouse to conversion, so that is no reason to hold anyone against their will.
  17. 1 Coríntios 7:17A general rule closing this section: each person should live according to the situation in which God called them, without trying to force sudden changes. Paul says he teaches this in every church.
  18. 1 Coríntios 7:18The first example of this rule: circumcision. Whoever was called by Christ already circumcised need not try to “undo” it; whoever was uncircumcised need not be circumcised now.
  19. 1 Coríntios 7:19“Circumcision” was the ritual cutting that marked a man as a Jew under the covenant with Abraham. Paul says that for a Christian, that has stopped being what matters — what counts is keeping the commandments of God, whether the person is circumcised or not.
  20. 1 Coríntios 7:20He sums up the principle: let each one remain in the condition, in the calling, they were in when God reached them — there is no need to change social or religious status to be truly Christian.
  21. 1 Coríntios 7:21Paul is writing in a society where slavery was common and legal. He does not order anyone here to free their slaves, but he tells the Christian slave himself not to be troubled by his condition, though he should take advantage of freedom if it becomes available.
  22. 1 Coríntios 7:22A second example: slavery, common in Roman society. A slave called by Christ is spiritually free before the Lord; a free man called by Christ spiritually becomes Christ’s servant.
  23. 1 Coríntios 7:23He reinforces the point: believers “are bought with a price” (the death of Christ), so they should not become slaves to human standards of status or to other people’s opinions.
  24. 1 Coríntios 7:24He repeats the chapter’s refrain: each one should remain before God in the condition in which they were called, without being troubled trying to change social category in order to be more spiritual.
  25. 1 Coríntios 7:25On “virgins” (unmarried young women, or engaged couples not yet married), Paul admits he has no commandment from the Lord — he gives only his personal judgment, as someone the Lord has made trustworthy.
  26. 1 Coríntios 7:26His opinion, considering the “present distress” (a likely coming crisis or persecution), is that staying as one is, without marrying, is good for that specific time.
  27. 1 Coríntios 7:27He advises case by case: whoever is already married should not seek to be released; whoever is free of marriage should not seek a wife — each situation left as it is for now.
  28. 1 Coríntios 7:28But he makes clear that marrying is not a sin — whoever marries has done nothing wrong; they will only face the practical troubles of married life, which Paul wants to spare them.
  29. 1 Coríntios 7:29He explains the urgency of the advice: the time is short (given the expectation of persecution or Christ’s return), so even married people should live without clinging too tightly to this world’s priorities.
  30. 1 Coríntios 7:30He continues the list of “as though not”: living through life’s emotions and possessions — sorrow, joy, property — without letting them take over, because none of it is permanent.
  31. 1 Coríntios 7:31He closes the reasoning: use the things of this world without clinging to them, because the present form of this world is passing away — this is no time to hold on to structures that will not last.
  32. 1 Coríntios 7:32Paul wants to spare the Corinthians excessive worry: the unmarried person can focus all their attention on pleasing the Lord, without the divided concerns marriage naturally brings.
  33. 1 Coríntios 7:33The married person, on the other hand, must also care about the things of this world, especially pleasing their spouse — this is not a flaw, it is the practical reality of marriage.
  34. 1 Coríntios 7:34The same logic applies to women: the unmarried woman can devote body and mind entirely to being holy for the Lord, while the married woman divides her attention with caring to please her husband.
  35. 1 Coríntios 7:35Paul clarifies his intent: he is not trying to trap anyone under a rule, only pointing to the more practical path for living with less distraction and more devotion to the Lord.
  36. 1 Coríntios 7:36The Greek text here is ambiguous, which is why this passage generates debate: it may speak of a father deciding whether to give his virgin daughter in marriage, or of a man deciding whether to marry his fiancée. Translators choose different interpretations, but the central idea is the same — it is no sin either to marry or to remain single.
  37. 1 Coríntios 7:37It speaks of the case of someone who decides, with their own conviction and without outside pressure, to remain single (keeping “his virgin”) — a good decision, made in freedom and with a clear purpose.
  38. 1 Coríntios 7:38He sums up the chapter’s dilemma in one line: marrying is not wrong, it is good; but not marrying, under the circumstances Paul described, is even better for those who can live that way.
  39. 1 Coríntios 7:39He shifts the subject to widowhood: a married woman is bound by the marriage law as long as her husband lives; once he dies, she is free to marry again, as long as it is to another believer (“in the Lord”).
  40. 1 Coríntios 7:40He closes the chapter repeating his personal opinion: she would be happier remaining a widow without remarrying — but Paul makes clear this is his own judgment, even though he trusts the Spirit of God guides him.

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