Read the passage and its setting
1 Corinthians 7:36–40, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Corinthians 7:36–40
A Disputed Marriage Case Ends with Freedom and Judgment
The Main Point
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
What Is Happening Here?
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
What Came Before—and What Comes Next?
Paul's counsel seeks undistracted devotion and explicitly refuses to cast a snare.
Chapter 8 opens the next 'now concerning' topic: food offered to idols and the relation of knowledge to love.
Follow the Letter's Movement
See why this section appears here and how the author's movement leads to its meaning.
Why Is This Passage Here?
The chapter ends by holding marriage and singleness as responsible goods while marking uncertainty and freedom.
Follow the Movement
One option permits marriage when conduct and necessity point that way.
Another permits remaining unmarried when the decision is settled and unforced.
Paul compares the choices without naming marriage sin.
Marriage binds while a spouse lives.
A widow is free to remarry in the Lord.
Paul offers a happiness judgment and claims Spirit-guided discernment.
What Is the Author Saying?
Why This Interpretation Fits
Movement 1
One option permits marriage when conduct and necessity point that way.
Movement 2
Another permits remaining unmarried when the decision is settled and unforced.
Movement 3
Paul compares the choices without naming marriage sin.
Movement 4
Marriage binds while a spouse lives.
Movement 5
A widow is free to remarry in the Lord.
Movement 6
Paul offers a happiness judgment and claims Spirit-guided discernment.
Understand the Meaning and Its Boundaries
Clarify the words that matter and keep the conclusion no broader than the passage allows.
Words That Matter
virgin / unmarried woman
παρθένον · parthenon
The relationship may be a man's fiancée, daughter, ward, or his own celibate state; the ambiguity materially changes the scenario.
What the Passage Is Not Saying
Reading 1 Corinthians 7:36–40 inside the whole Corinthian letter explicitly rules out these coercive, harmful, or context-breaking uses:
The passage does not give a father, guardian, pastor, or fiancé ownership of a woman's marriage decision or sexuality.
Paul's comparative judgment does not make marriage sinful or singleness compulsory.
'Only in the Lord' does not authorize forced marriage, discrimination, or church control over a widow's property and agency.
Context check: Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
What Remains True Today
Marriage and singleness require free, responsible judgment; spiritual counsel must name its limits and protect agency.
Respond and Remember
Let the meaning shape life carefully, then practice explaining the section in context.
How This Should Shape Us
Why these applications follow
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
Marriage and singleness require free, responsible judgment; spiritual counsel must name its limits and protect agency.
How should this shape us today?
Present the major scenario options, require the adult parties' free consent, and refuse any policy built on a disputed possessive phrase alone.
A Concrete Example
Present the major scenario options, require the adult parties' free consent, and refuse any policy built on a disputed possessive phrase alone.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Corinthians 7:36–40 in your own words. Include its place in 1 Corinthians, the unit's logic, one material uncertainty, and one use the context rules out.
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Go Deeper
The main explanation above stands on its own. Open these optional sections for fuller language, history, disagreements, and source locations.
Read it sentence by sentenceEach line inside the larger movement
Movement 1
One option permits marriage when conduct and necessity point that way.
Movement 2
Another permits remaining unmarried when the decision is settled and unforced.
Movement 3
Paul compares the choices without naming marriage sin.
Movement 4
Marriage binds while a spouse lives.
Movement 5
A widow is free to remarry in the Lord.
Movement 6
Paul offers a happiness judgment and claims Spirit-guided discernment.
Original-language wording and grammarTechnical detail appears only where it helps
virgin / unmarried woman
The relationship may be a man's fiancée, daughter, ward, or his own celibate state; the ambiguity materially changes the scenario.
How certain? probableWhat the first readers would have understoodRelevant history and culture
Corinthian setting and reconstruction limits
Marriages could be arranged by fathers or guardians, but betrothal and ascetic partnership readings also exist. KJV 'giveth in marriage' favors a guardian reading; many modern translations favor a man and his fiancée.
How certain? probableWhy translations sometimes differMaterial translation choices
KJV wording and material alternatives
KJV wording around "behaveth uncomely, his virgin, flower of her age, power over his own will, giveth in marriage, at liberty, and happier" is read with the Greek clause and the complete unit rather than treated as a modern technical label.
How certain? probableEarlier Scripture and inherited backgroundSupported quotations, allusions, and inherited ideas
Israel's Scriptures and Jewish background
Paul reasons from Israel's Scriptures and story where the verbal or conceptual connection is visible; the connection does not erase the passage's first-century Corinthian setting.
How certain? strongHow this connects with the rest of ScriptureThe passage's own meaning remains primary
Responsible canonical connections
Related biblical texts may clarify this unit after its own argument is established; they must not be used to bypass its limits or import a conclusion it does not state.
How certain? probableTextual variantsManuscript differences only when they affect meaning
Textual and grammatical care
No reported textual variant overturns the unit's central movement. The principal interpretive uncertainty is: The identity of the man and virgin is deeply disputed. The package does not decide between guardian, betrothed couple, or celibate-partner readings beyond noting that consent and no-sin permission constrain application.
How certain? probableWhere careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: The identity of the man and virgin is deeply disputed. The package does not decide between guardian, betrothed couple, or celibate-partner readings beyond noting that consent and no-sin permission constrain application.
How certain? probableTheology that emerges from this passageConclusions drawn after reading the complete section
Theological contribution
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
How certain? strongTheological contribution
This movement contributes to the letter's cross-shaped repair of a gifted but divided assembly: Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
How certain? strongCommon ways this passage gets misusedFair explanation, context check, and stronger reading
The passage does not give a father, guardian, pastor, or fiancé ownership of a woman's marriage decision or sexuality.
A vivid line can be detached from the complete argument and its power setting.
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
Marriage and singleness require free, responsible judgment; spiritual counsel must name its limits and protect agency.
The passage does not give a father, guardian, pastor, or fiancé ownership of a woman's marriage decision or sexuality.
Paul's comparative judgment does not make marriage sinful or singleness compulsory.
Readers may mistake an ancient practice or disputed reconstruction for an exhaustive modern rule.
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
Marriage and singleness require free, responsible judgment; spiritual counsel must name its limits and protect agency.
Paul's comparative judgment does not make marriage sinful or singleness compulsory.
'Only in the Lord' does not authorize forced marriage, discrimination, or church control over a widow's property and agency.
Certainty and control can be preferred to the text's stated limits.
Paul considers a difficult relational case and permits marriage without sin while also commending a freely settled decision not to marry; he then says a widow is free to marry in the Lord and offers his happiness judgment without disguising it as coercive certainty.
Marriage and singleness require free, responsible judgment; spiritual counsel must name its limits and protect agency.
'Only in the Lord' does not authorize forced marriage, discrimination, or church control over a widow's property and agency.
Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
1 Corinthians 7:36–40, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
SBLGNT official text file 1Cor.txt, 7:36–40
Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
NET Bible 1 Corinthians 7:36–40 print view with translator, study, and textual notes
Supports: Independent morphology and lexical-range cross-check for material Greek claims.
STEP Bible Data repository morphology and lexical records for 1 Corinthians 7:36–40
Supports: Whole-letter movement, Corinthian setting, bibliography, major alternatives, and verse-level interpretation.
Redmond, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, introduction and section on 7:36–40
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Corinthians 7:36–40, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file 1Cor.txt, 7:36–40
Open the 1 Corinthians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible - 1 Corinthians with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Corinthians 7:36–40 print view with translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET 1 Corinthians PDFLexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Independent morphology and lexical-range cross-check for material Greek claims.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository morphology and lexical records for 1 Corinthians 7:36–40
Open source ↗modern open commentary
1 Corinthians
Eric C. Redmond
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Whole-letter movement, Corinthian setting, bibliography, major alternatives, and verse-level interpretation.
Exact location: Redmond, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, introduction and section on 7:36–40
Open source ↗