1 Corinthians 7:12

7:12 To the rest I say – I, not the Lord ¹  – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her.

1 Corinthians 7:25

Remaining Unmarried

7:25 With regard to the question about people who have never married, ²  I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy.

1 Corinthians 7:2

7:2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with ³  his own wife and each woman with ⁴  her own husband.

Colossians 1:8

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁵  in him.

[7:12]  ¹ sn I, not the Lord. Here and in v. 10 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 12-16, Paul deals with a situation about which the Lord gave no instruction in his earthly ministry.

[7:25]  ² tn Grk “virgins.” There are three main views as to which group of people is referred to by the word παρθένος (parqenos) here, and the stance taken here directly impacts one’s understanding of vv. 36-38. (1) The term could refer to virgin women who were not married. The central issue would then be whether or not their fathers should give them in marriage to eligible men. (This is the view which has been widely held throughout the history of the Church.) (2) A minority understand the term to refer to men and women who are married but who have chosen to live together without sexual relations. This position might have been possible in the Corinthian church, but there is no solid evidence to support it. (3) The view adopted by many modern commentators (see, e.g., Fee, Conzelmann, Barrett) is that the term refers to young, engaged women who were under the influence of various groups within the Corinthian church not to go through with their marriages. The central issue would then be whether the young men and women should continue with their plans and finalize their marriages. For further discussion, see G. D. Fee, First Corinthians (NICNT), 325-28.

[7:2]  ³ tn Grk “each man should have his own wife.” “Have” in this context means “have marital relations with” (see the following verse). The verb ἐχέτω (ecetw, “have”) occurs twice in the Greek text, but has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. This verb occurs 8 times in the LXX (Exod 2:1; Deut 28:30; 2 Chr 11:21; 1 Esd 9:12, 18; Tob 3:8; Isa 13:16; 54:1) with the meaning “have sexual relations with,” and 9 times elsewhere in the NT with the same meaning (Matt 20:23; 22:28; Mark 6:18; 12:33; Luke 20:28; John 4:18 [twice]; 1 Cor 5:1; 7:29).

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “should have.” For explanation of the translation, see the note on “have relations with” earlier in this verse.

[1:17]  ⁵ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.