1 Corinthians 7:10

7:10 To the married I give this command – not I, but the Lord ¹  – a wife should not divorce a husband

1 Corinthians 7:15

7:15 But if the unbeliever wants a divorce, let it take place. In these circumstances the brother or sister is not bound. ²  God has called you in peace.

Romans 7:2-3

7:2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if her ³  husband dies, she is released from the law of the marriage. ⁴  7:3 So then, ⁵  if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her ⁶  husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress.

[7:10]  ¹ sn Not I, but the Lord. Here and in v. 12 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 10-11, Paul reports the Lord’s own teaching about divorce (cf. Mark 10:5-12).

[7:15]  ² sn Interpreters differ over the implication of the statement the brother or sister is not bound. One view is that the believer is “not bound to continue the marriage,” i.e., not so slavishly tied to the instruction about not divorcing (cf. vv. 10-11) that he or she refuses to face reality when the unbelieving spouse is unwilling to continue the relationship. In this view divorce is allowable under these circumstances, but not remarriage (v. 11 still applies: remain unmarried or be reconciled). The other view is that the believer is “not bound in regard to marriage,” i.e., free to remain single or to remarry. The argument for this view is the conceptual parallel with vv. 39-40, where a wife is said to be “bound” (a different word in Greek, but the same concept) as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies, she is “free” to marry as she wishes, only in the Lord. If the parallel holds, then not bound in v. 15 also means “free to marry another.”

[7:2]  ³ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “husband.”

[7:3]  ⁵ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[7:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).