1 Corinthians 7:6

7:6 I say this as a concession, not as a command.

1 Corinthians 7:19

7:19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Instead, keeping God’s commandments is what counts.

1 Corinthians 7:25

Remaining Unmarried

7:25 With regard to the question about people who have never married, ¹  I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be trustworthy.

1 Corinthians 14:37

14:37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.

1 Corinthians 7:10

7:10 To the married I give this command – not I, but the Lord ²  – a wife should not divorce a husband

1 Corinthians 9:14

9:14 In the same way the Lord commanded those who proclaim the gospel to receive their living by the gospel.

1 Corinthians 14:38

14:38 If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

1 Corinthians 14:34

14:34 the women ³  should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. ⁴  Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says.

1 Corinthians 7:12

7:12 To the rest I say – I, not the Lord ⁵  – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her.

[7:25]  ¹ 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.

[7:10]  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).

[14:34]  ¹ tn The word for “woman” and “wife” is the same in Greek. Because of the reference to husbands in v. 35, the word may be translated “wives” here. But in passages governing conduct in church meetings like this (cf. 11:2-16; 1 Tim 2:9-15) the general meaning “women” is more likely.

[14:34]  ² sn For they are not permitted to speak. In light of 11:2-16, which gives permission for women to pray or prophesy in the church meetings, the silence commanded here seems not to involve the absolute prohibition of a woman addressing the assembly. Therefore (1) some take be silent to mean not taking an authoritative teaching role as 1 Tim 2 indicates, but (2) the better suggestion is to relate it to the preceding regulations about evaluating the prophets (v. 29). Here Paul would be indicating that the women should not speak up during such an evaluation, since such questioning would be in violation of the submission to male leadership that the OT calls for (the law, e.g., Gen 2:18).

[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.