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of her husband, and the husband for that of his wife. What miserable work has been made in the peace of families by a wife or a husband pretending to be wiser than the apostle, and too holy and spiritual to keep the commandments of God!

Verse 4. The wife hath not power, &c.] Her person belongs to her husband; her husband's person belongs to her: neither of them has any authority to refuse what the other has a matrimonial right to demand. The woman that would act so is either a knave or a fool. It would be trifling to attribute her conduct to any other cause than weakness or folly. She does not love her husband; or she loves some one else better than her husband; or she makes pretensions to a fancied sanctity unsupported by scrip

Not to touch a woman] гvvaikos μn anтεσ0αι The learned reader need not be informed in what sense àñτоμаι is used among the Greeks, and tangere among the Latins. For examples Wetstein may be consulted. Verse 2. To avoid fornication] Aia Tas Topνelaç verto, propter exercendam libidinem, vel ut libidinem licite exercere liceat. Probo hanc notionem ex Hebræo, ibi zanah, est libidinem exercere, Hos. iv. 10: For they shall eat and not have enough; they shall commit whoredom, libidinem exercebunt, and shall not increase. Here the prophet certainly does not speak of whoredom in our sense of the word; for the persons he mentions expected to have children, which cannot be said of those who are addicted to improper connexions: the prophet speaks concerning married persons, whom he threatens with a privation of chil-ture or common sense. dren, notwithstanding libidinem exercebant in order to have numerous families.-See Schoettgen. The following verse shows that this is the apostle's meaning. Let every man have his own wife] Let every man have one woman, his own; and every woman one her own. Here, plurality of wives and husbands is most strictly forbidden; and they are commanded to marry for the purpose of procreating children.

man,

In the Jewish constitutions there are some things not only curious, but useful, respecting marriage. "There are four causes which induce men to marry: 1. Impure desire; 2. To get riches; 3. To become honourable; 4. For the glory of God. Those who marry through the first motive beget wicked and rebellious children. Those who marry for the sake of riches have the curse of leaving them to others. Those who marry for the sake of aggrandizing their family, their families shall be diminished. Those who marry to promote the glory of God, their children shall be holy, and by them shall the true church be increased."

Verse 5. Defraud ye not one the other] What ye owe thus to each other never refuse paying, unless by mutual consent; and let that be only for a certain time, when prudence dictates the temporary separation, or when some extraordinary spiritual occasion may render it mutually agreeable, in order that ye may fast and pray, and derive the greatest possible benefit from these duties by being enabled to wait on the Lord without distraction.

That Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.} It is most evident that the separations permitted by the apostle, for he enjoins none, are only for a season, on extraordinary occasions; and that the persons may come together again, lest Satan, taking advantage of their matrimonial abstinence, might tempt either party to illicit commerce.

There are a multitude of rules prescribed in such cases by the rabbins, and indeed even by heathen writers; for this was a matter in which common sense could always judge; and under the direction of experience, heathens, as well as those favoured with divine revelation, could see what was proper in all such cases.

Verse 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence] Ty opeλopevny evvoar Though our version is no translation of the original, yet few per- Incontinence, Expaσia, want of strength to regulate sons are at a loss for the meaning, and the context is one's desires or appetites; from a, negative, and sufficiently plain. Some have rendered the words, кparoc, strength. It is remarkable that the apostle not unaptly, the matrimonial debt, or conjugal duty-supposes that even this temporary continence might that which a wife owes to her husband, and the husband to his wife; and which they must take care mutually to render, else alienation of affection will be the infallible consequence, and this in numberless instances has led to adulterous connexions. In such cases the wife has to blame herself for the infidelity

produce incontinence; and universal observation confirms the supposition.

Verse 6. I speak this by permission, &c.] It was a constant custom of the more conscientious rabbins, to make a difference between the things which they enjoined on their own judgment, and those which

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7 For I would that all men | widows, It is good for them

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were even as I myself. But if they abide even as I: every man hath his proper 9 But, if they cannot congift of God, one after this man- tain, let them marry; for it is ner, and another after that. better to marry than to burn.

8 I say, therefore, to the unmarried and

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10 And unto the married I command, yet

d Ver. 1, 26. -e 1 Tim. v. 14. f See ver. 12, 25, 40.

they built on the authority of the law. Thus Rabbi Tancum: "The washing of hands before meat is in our own power; washing after meat is commanded." In relation to this point Dr. Lightfoot produces some examples from the Jewish writers: "The man is commanded concerning begetting and multiplying, but not the woman. And when does the man come under this command? From the age of sixteen or prenteen years; but, if he exceeds twenty years without marrying, behold he violates and renders an affirmative precept vain. The Gemara says: It is forbidden a man to be without a wife; because it is written, It is not good for man to be alone. And whosoever gives not himself to generation and multi-no more than Virgil means so when he says, Æn. iv. plying is all one with a murderer: he is as though be diminished from the image of God, &c." We Thay understand the apostle here as saying that the directions already given were from his own judgment, and not from any divine inspiration; and we may take it for granted that where he does not make this observation he is writing under the immediate affla-phraseology of this place, is related by Dr. Lightfoot, tes of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 9. But, if they cannot contain] If they find it inconvenient and uncomfortable to continue as widowers and widows, let them re-marry.

It is better to marry than to burn.] Bishop Pearce translates the original thus: For it is better to marry than to be made uneasy. Пvpovedat, says he, “signifies primarily to burn; but in a metaphorical sense, to be troubled, vexed, or made uneasy. So in 2 Cor. xi. 29: Who is offended and I burn not, kai ove εyw πvρovμai, and I am not troubled. So in Terence, Uro hominem, is I vex him." It would be well to soften the sense of this word in reference to the subject of which the apostle speaks. He cannot mean burning with lust,

Verse 7. For I would that all men, &c.] He wished that all that were then in the church were, like himself, unmarried; but this was in reference to the necessities of the church, or what he calls, ver. 26, | the present distress: for it never could be his wish that marriage should cease among men, and that human beings should no longer be propagated upon earth; nor could he wish that the church of Christ should always be composed of single persons; this would have been equally absurd; but as the church was then in straits and difficulties, it was much better for its single members not to encumber themselves with domestic embarrassments.

Every man hath his proper gift of God] Continence is a state that cannot be acquired by human art or industry; a man has it from God, or not at all: and if he have it from God, he has it from him as the author of his nature; for where it does not exist naturally it never can exist, but either by miraculous interference, which should never be expected, or by chirurgical operation, which is a shocking abomination in the sight of God. See the note on Matt. xix. 12. Verse 8. The unmarried and widows] It is supposed that the apostle speaks here of men who had been married, in the word ayapot, but were now vidowers; as he does of women who had been married, in the word xnpai, but were now widows. And when he says og kayo, even as I, he means that he himself was a widower; for several of the ancients rank Paul among the married apostles.

ver. 68: Uritur infelix Dido, the unfortunate Dido is tormented; and in Eccl. ii. 68: Me tamen urit amor, love torments me. All this may be said with the strictest truth in such cases where the impure fire referred to above has no existence.

A curious story, which certainly casts light on the

from the tract Kiddushin, fol. 81. "Some captive women were brought to Nehardea, and disposed in the house and the upper room of Rabbi Amram. They took away the ladder [that the women might not get down, but stay there till they were ransomed]. As one of these captives passed by the window, the light of her great beauty shined into the house. Amram [captivated] set up the ladder; and when he was got to the middle of the steps [checked by his conscience] he stopped short, and with a loud voice cried out FIRE! FIRE! in the house of Amram! [This he did that, the neighbours flocking in, he might be obliged to desist from the evil affection which now prevailed in him.] The rabbins ran to him, and [sceing no fire] they said, Thou hast disgraced us. Το which he replied: It is better that ye be disgraced in the house of Amram in this world, than that ye be disgraced by me in the world to come. He then adjured that evil affection to go out of him, and it went out as a pillar of FIRE. Amram said: Thou art FIRE, and I am FLESH; yet for all that I have prevailed against thee.” From this story much instruction may be derived.

Verse 10. I command, yet not I, but the Lord] I do not give my own private opinion or judgment in this case; for the Lord Jesus commands that man shall not put asunder them whom God hath joined, Matt. v. 32, xix. 6. And God has said the same, Gen. ii. 24. The following extracts will prove that the law among the Jews was very loose relative to the firmness of the marriage bond:

A woman might put away or depart from her hus

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13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanc- 1 Pet. iii. 1, 2.

a Mal. ii. 14, 16. Matt. v. 32. xix. 6, 9. Mark x. 11, 12. | Luke xvi. 18.——b Ver. 6. –

band by giving this simple reason to the elders, who would give the following certificate. "In day of- week, of year, A., daughter of B., put away before us and said: My mother, or my brethren, deceived me, and wedded me or betrothed me, when I was a very young maid, to C., son of D.; but I now reveal my mind before you, that I will not have him." Sometimes they parted with mutual consent, and this also was considered legal, as was also the marriage of the separated parties to others. Witness the following story: A good man had a good wife; but because they had no children, they mutually put away each other. The good man married a bad (a heathen) wife, and she made him bad (a heathen); the good woman married a bad (a heathen) husband, and she made him good."

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Divorces were easily obtained among them, and they considered them the dissolving of the marriage bond; and, in consequence of these, the parties might remarry with others. This was contrary to the original institution of marriage, and is opposed both by our Lord and the apostle.

Verse 11. But, and if she depart] He puts the case as probable, because it was frequent, but lays it under restrictions.

Let her remain unmarried] She departs at her own peril; but she must not marry another: she must either continue unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband.

And let not the husband put away his wife.] Divorces cannot be allowed but in the case of fornication: an act of this kind dissolves the marriage vow; but nothing else can. It is a fact that, among the Jews, the wife had just as much right to put away her husband as the husband had to put away his wife. As divorces were granted, it was right that each should have an equal power; for this served as a mutual check.

Verse 12. But to the rest speak 1, not the Lord] As if he had said: For what I have already spoken I have the testimony of the Lord by Moses, and of my own Lord and Master, Christ; but for the directions which I am now about to give there is no written testimony, and I deliver them now for the first time. These words do not intimate that the apostle was not now under the influences of the divine Spirit; but, that there was nothing in the sacred writings which bore directly on this point.

If any brother] A Christian man, have a wife that believeth not, i. e. who is a heathen, not yet converted to the Christian faith, and she be pleased to dwell

with him, notwithstanding his turning Christian since their marriage, let him not put her away because she still continues in her heathen superstition.

Converted from hea

Verse 13. And the woman] thenism to the Christian faith; which hath a husband, who still abides in heathenism; if he be pleased to dwell with her, notwithstanding she has become a Christian since their marriage; let her not leave him because he still continues a heathen.

Verse 14. The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife] Or rather, is to be reputed as sanctified on account of his wife; she being a Christian woman, and he, though a heathen, being by marriage one flesh with her: her sanctity, as far as it refers to outward things, may be considered as imputed to him so as to render their connexion not unlawful. The case is the same when the wife is a heathen and the husband a Christian. The word sanctification here is to be applied much more to the Christian state than to any moral change in the persons; for ȧyıı, saints, is a common term for Christians-those who were baptized into the faith of Christ; and as its corresponding term wp kedoshim signified all the Jews who were in the covenant of God by circumcision, the heathens in question were considered to be in this holy state by means of their connexion with those who were by their Christian profession saints.

Else were your children unclean] If this kind of relative sanctification were not allowed, the children of these persons could not be received into the Christian church, nor enjoy any rights or privileges as Christians; but the church of God never scrupled to admit such children as members, just as well as she did those who had sprung from parents both of whom were Christians.

The Jews considered a child as born out of holiness whose parents were not proselytes at the time of the birth, though afterwards they became proselytes. On the other hand, they considered the children of heathens born in holiness, provided the parents became proselytes before the birth. All the children of the heathens were reputed unclean by the Jews; and all their own children holy.-See Dr. Lightfoot. This shows clearly what the apostle's meaning is.

If we consider the apostle as speaking of the children of heathens, we shall get a remarkable comment on this passage from Tertullian, who, in his treatise De Carne Christi, chaps. 37, 39, gives us a melancholy account of the height to which superstition and idolatry had arrived in his time among the Romans.

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were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

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16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

Mal, ii. 15. Rom. xii. 18. xiv. 19. Ch. xiv. 33. Hebr. 14. Gr. in peace.d 1 Pet. iii. 1.- --e Gr. what. Ch. iv. 17. 2 Cor. xi. 28..--51 Mac. i. 15.- h Acts xv.

"A child," says he, "from its very conception, was dedicated to the idols and demons they worshipped. While pregnant, the mother had her body swathed round with bandages, prepared with idolatrous rites. The embryo they conceived to be under the inspection of the goddess Alemona, who nourished it in the Womb. Nona and Decima took care that it should be born in the ninth or tenth month. Partula ad- | justed every thing relative to the labour; and Lucina ushered it into the light. During the week preceding the birth a table was spread for Juno; and on the last day certain persons were called together to mark the moment on which the Parca, or Fates, had fixed its destiny. The first step the child set on the earth was consecrated to the goddess Statina; and, finally, some of the hair was cut off, or the whole bead shaven, and the hair offered to some god or goddess through some public or private motive of devotion." He adds that "no child among the heathens was born in a state of purity; and it is not to be wondered at," says he, "that demons possess them from their youth, seeing they were thus early dedicated to their service." In reference to this, he thinks, St. Paul speaks in the verse before us: The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife-else were your children unclean; but now are they holy; i. e. "As the parents were converted to the Christian faith, the child comes into the world without these impure and unhallowed rites; and is from its infancy consecrated to the true God."

their heathen partners.

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17 But as God hath distributed to every man, the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

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18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

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19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of

1, 5, 19, 24, 28. Gal. v. 2.-- Gal. v. 6. vi, 15 —— John xv. 14. 1 John ii. 3. iii. 24.

injured. But I have known instances where even a marriage after seven years' absence has been very unfortunate; the husband returning at the end of ten or twelve years, and to his utter distress finding his wife married to another man, and with issue of that marriage! There can be no safety in this case, unless there be absolute certainty of the death of the party in question.

God hath called us to peace.] The refractory and disagreeing party should not be compelled to fulfil such matrimonial engagements as would produce continual jarring and discord. At the same time each should take care that he give no cause for disagreements and separations, for the author of the Christian religion is the author of peace, and has called us to it.

Verse 16. For what knowest thou, O wife] You that are Christians, and who have heathen partners, do not give them up because they are such, for you may become the means of saving them unto eternal life. Bear your cross, and look up to God, and he may give your unbelieving husband or wife to your prayers.

Verse 17. But as God hath distributed to every man, &c.] Let every man fulfil the duties of the state to which God in the course of his providence has called him.

So ordain I in all churches.] I do not lay on you a burden which others are not called to bear: this is the general rule which, by the authority of God, I impose on every Christian society.

Verse 15. But if the unbelieving depart] Whether husband or wife: if such obstinately depart and utterly refuse all cohabitation, a brother or a sister-a Christian man or woman, is not under bondage to any particular laws, so as to be prevented from remarrying. Such, probably, the law stood then; but it is ot so now for the marriage can only be dissolved by death, or by the ecclesiastical court. Even forni-ETOTаσow, let him not draw over, are evidently an tion or adultery does not dissolve the marriage conthat; nor will the obstinate separation of any of the partes, however long continued, give the party abanCoed authority to remarry. If the person have been beyond sea, and not heard of for seven years, it is presumed he may be dead; and marriage has been connived at in such cases. If there be no person to plain, it may be presumed that there is none

Verse 18. Is any man called being circumcised?] | Is any man who was formerly a Jew converted to Christianity?

Let him not become uncircumcised.] Let him not endeavour to abolish the sign of the old covenant, which he bears in his flesh. The Greek words un

elliptical expression: the word τŋy arpoßvoriav, the fore-skin, being understood; which, indeed, is added by the Armenian and the Itala, and several of the Latin Fathers. It is a fact that it was possible by the assistance of art to do this; and Celsus himself prescribes the mode, De Medic. vii. 25. By frequent stretching, the circumcised skin could be again so drawn over, as to prevent the ancient sign of circum

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the commandments of God. I also he that is called, being free, 20 Let every man abide in is Christ's servant.

the same calling wherein he was called.

21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise

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cision from appearing. Some in their zeal against Judaism endeavoured to abolish this sign of it in their flesh it is most evidently against this that the apostle speaks. Many false Jews made use of this practice, that they might pass through heathen countries | unobserved; otherwise, in frequenting the baths, they would have been detected.

Let him not be circumcised.] Let no man who, being a Gentile, has been converted to the Christian faith, submit to circumcision as something necessary to his salvation.

Verse 19. Circumcision is nothing] Circumcision itself, though commanded of God, is nothing of itself, it being only a sign of the justification which should be afterwards received by faith. At present, neither it nor its opposite either hinders or furthers the work of grace; and keeping the commandments of God, from his love shed abroad in a believing heart, is the sum and substance of religion.

Verse 20. Let every man abide in the same calling] As both the circumcised and uncircumcised, in Christ, have the same advantages, and to their believing the same facilities; so any situation of life is equally friendly to the salvation of the soul, if a man be faithful to the grace he has received. Therefore, in all situations a Christian should be content, for all things work together for good to him who loves God. Verse 21. Art thou called being a servant?] Aovλog ekλnons, Art thou converted to Christ while thou art a slave-the property of another person, and bought with his money? care not for it-this will not injure thy Christian condition: but if thou canst obtain thy liberty, use it rather-prefer this state for the sake of freedom, and the temporal advantages connected with it.

Verse 22. For he that is called] The man who, being a slave, is converted to the Christian faith, is the Lord's freeman; his condition as a slave does not vitiate any of the privileges to which he is entitled as a Christian: on the other hand, all free men, who receive the grace of Christ, must consider themselves the slaves of the Lord, i. e. his real property, to be employed and disposed of according to his godly wisdom, who, notwithstanding their state of subjection, will find the service of their Master to be perfect freedom.

Verse 23. Ye are bought with a price] As truly as your bodies have become the property of your masters, in consequence of his paying down a price

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23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

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for you; so sure you are now the Lord's property, in consequence of your being purchased by the blood of Christ.

Some render this verse interrogatively: Are ye bought with a price from your slavery? Do not again become slaves of men. Never sell yourselves; prefer and retain your liberty, now that ye have acquired it.

us.

In these verses the apostle shows that the Christian religion does not abolish our civil connexions; in reference to them, where it finds us, there it leaves In whatever relation we stood before our embracing Christianity, there we stand still; our secular condition being no farther changed than as it may be affected by the amelioration of our moral character. But slavery, and all buying and selling of the bodies and souls of men, no matter what colour or complexion, is a high offence against the holy and just God, and a gross and unprincipled attack on the liberty and rights of our fellow-creatures.

Verse 24. Let every man-abide with God.] Let him live to God in whatsoever station he is placed by Providence. If he be a slave, God will be with him even in his slavery, if he be faithful to the grace which he has received. It is very likely that some of the slaves at Corinth, who had been converted to Christianity, had been led to think that their Christian privileges absolved them from the necessity of continuing slaves; or, at least, brought them on a level with their Christian masters. A spirit of this kind might have soon led to confusion and insubordination, and brought scandals into the church. It was therefore a very proper subject for the apostle to interfere in; and to his authority, the persons concerned would doubtless respectfully bow.

Verse 25. Now concerning virgins] This was another subject on which the church at Corinth had asked the advice of the apostle. The word #apłɛvos, virgin, we take to signify a pure, unmarried young woman; but it is evident that the word in this place means young unmarried persons of either sex, as appears from verses 26, 27, 32-34, and from Rev. xiv. 4. The word Tap0evos, virgin, is frequently applied to men as well as to women. See Suidas, under the word Aßeλ oùтog πapDevoç kai dikalos inoxe, He (Abel) was a virgin, and a righteous man. In ver. 36 the word is supposed to mean the state of virginity or celibacy, and very probable reasons are assigned for it; and it is evident that persons of either sex in a state of celibacy are the persons intended.

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