1 Corinthians 7:35

Contextual Overview

²⁵ Now I write about people who are not married. I have no command from the Lord about this, but I give my opinion. And I can be trusted, because the Lord has given me mercy. ²⁵ Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. ²⁵ As concernynge virgins I have no comaundment of the lorde: yet geve I counsell as one that hath obtayned mercye of the lorde to be faythfull. ²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no mitzvah from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy. ²⁵ Now concerning virgins, although I do not have any command from the Lord, I will give you my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.1 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Corinthians 8:8,10; 2 Corinthians 8:8,10, 1 Timothy 1:12,16;">[xr] ²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I am offering direction as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁵ Now I write about people who are not married. I have no command from the Lord about this; I give my opinion. But I can be trusted, because the Lord has shown me mercy. ²⁵ Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy. ²⁵ Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy from the Lord to be faithful. ²⁵ Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

not: This is an allusion to the Retiarius among the Romans, who carried a small casting net, rete which he endeavoured to throw over his adversary's head. 1 Corinthians 7:2, 1 Corinthians 7:5-9, 1 Corinthians 7:28, 1 Corinthians 7:36, Matthew 19:12

comely: 1 Corinthians 7:36, Ephesians 5:3, Philippians 4:8, 1 Timothy 1:10, Titus 2:3

and that: 1 Corinthians 7:33, 1 Corinthians 7:34, Luke 8:14, Luke 10:40-42, Luke 21:34

Reciprocal: Exodus 10:7 - snare Matthew 19:11 - General 1 Corinthians 7:8 - General 1 Corinthians 7:26 - that 1 Corinthians 7:40 - she

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And this I speak for your own profit,.... The apostle suggests, that in giving the advice he did to unmarried persons to abide single, he had nothing else in view than their temporal and spiritual advantage; that they might be better able to meet and grapple with persecution for the sake of the Gospel; that they might be more free from the cares and encumbrances of life, and more at liberty to serve the Lord; whereby not only his glory, but their spiritual good, might be promoted; not that he thought that marriage was unlawful, or that the single life was a more honest, and a more chaste way of living, or that it was absolutely necessary, and an incumbent duty upon them to remain single, nor would he be so understood: all that he had said was by way of advice; he had very faithfully laid before them the advantages and disadvantages of both states, and now leaves them to their full liberty to do as they pleased to take his advice, or not:

not that I may cast a snare on you; as fowlers on birds: had he enjoined virginity as necessary, and insisted upon it, that it was absolutely their duty to live a single life; this would have been laying an obligation upon them, and an ensnaring and entangling of them: hereby some might have engaged in a single life, who had not the gift of continence, and so might have been drawn into the sin of fornication, or into unnatural lust, and such impurities as would be very scandalous unto, and highly reflect upon, the Gospel of Christ. But the apostle delivered himself on the subject with no such view, and in such a manner as is plain he meant not to ensnare any:

but for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction: all he aimed at, by advising them to a single life, was that they might more orderly and constantly, and without distraction of mind, through the cares of the world, wait upon the Lord, and serve him; which, in his opinion, was choosing the good part with Mary; whilst others, like Martha, were troubled, divided, and distracted with many things.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For your own profit - That you may avail yourselves of all your advantages and privileges, and pursue such a course as shall tend most to advance your personal piety and salvation.

Not that I may cast a snare upon you - The word rendered “snare” (βρόχον brochon) means a cord, a rope, a bond; and the sense is, that Paul would not BinD them by any rule which God had not made; or that he would not restrain them from that which is lawful, and which the welfare of society usually requires. Paul means, that his object in his advice was their welfare; it was not by any means to bind, fetter, or restrain them from any course which would be for their real happiness, but to promote their real and permanent advantage. The idea which is here presented by the word “snare,” is usually conveyed by the use of the word “yoke” Matthew 11:29; Acts 15:10; Galatians 5:1, and sometimes by the word “burden;” Matthew 23:4; Acts 15:28.

But for that which is comely - (εὔσχημον euschēmon). Decorous, fit, proper, noble. For that which is best Fitted to your present condition, and which, on the whole, will be best, and most for your own advantage. There would be a fitness and propriety in their pursuing the course which he recommended.

That ye may attend on the Lord - That you may engage in religious duties and serve God.

Without distraction - Without being drawn away ἀπερισπάστως aperispastōs; without care, interruption, and anxiety. That you may be free to engage with undivided interest in the service of the Lord.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 35. This I speak for your own profit — The advices belong to yourselves alone, because of the peculiar circumstances in which you are placed. Nothing spoken here was ever designed to be of general application; it concerned the Church at Corinth alone, or Churches in similar circumstances.

Not that I may cast a snare upon you — Ουχ ἱνα βροχον ὑμιν επιβαλω - Here is a manifest allusion to the Retiarius among the Romans, who carried a small casting net, which he endeavoured to throw over the head of his adversary and thus entangle him. Or to a similar custom among the Persians, who made use of a noose called the [Arabic] camand; which they employed in the same way. One of these lies before me; it is a strong silken cord, one end of which is a loop to be held in the hand, and the rest is in the form of a common snare or noose, which, catching hold of any thing, tightens in proportion as it is pulled by the hand that holds the loop.

The apostle, therefore, intimates that what he says was not intended absolutely to bind them, but to show them the propriety of following an advice which in the present case would be helpful to them in their religious connections, that they might attend upon the Lord without distraction, which they could not do in times of persecution, when, in addition to their own personal safety, they had a wife and children to care for.

For that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction,] The original αλλα προς το ευσχημον και ευπροσεδρον τῳ Κυριῳ απερισπαστως, of which our version is only a paraphrase, is thus translated by Bishop Pearson: But for the sake of decency, and of attending more easily upon the Lord without distraction. This is much more literal than ours.