Passage

1 Corinthians 7.15

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

13. And the woman that hath an unbelieving husband, and he is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband. 14. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

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

For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O husband, whether thou shalt save thy wife? 17. Only, as the Lord hath distributed to each man, as God hath called each, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all the churches. (1 Corinthians 7:13-17, ASV)

WEB

13. The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband. 14. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

15. Yet if the unbeliever departs, let there be separation. The brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us in peace.

For how do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 17. Only, as the Lord has distributed to each man, as God has called each, so let him walk. So I command in all the assemblies. (1 Corinthians 7:13-17, WEB)

KJV

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 sanctified by the husband: else 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. ^{to peace: Gr. in peace}

For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? ^{how: Gr. what} 17. But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. (1 Corinthians 7:13-17, KJV)

YLT

13. and a woman who hath a husband unbelieving, and he is pleased to dwell with her, let her not send him away; 14. for the unbelieving husband hath been sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife hath been sanctified in the husband; otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.

15. And, if the unbelieving doth separate himself, let him separate himself: the brother or the sister is not under servitude in such [cases], and in peace hath God called us;

for what, hast thou known, O wife, whether the husband thou shalt save? or what, hast thou known, O husband, whether the wife thou shalt save? 17. if not, as God did distribute to each, as the Lord hath called each, so let him walk; and thus in all the assemblies do I direct: (1 Corinthians 7:13-17, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: the church at Corinth, a mixed Jew-and-Gentile congregation in a wealthy Roman colony, fractured over teachers, status, sexual ethics, and the limits of freedom
Location: composed in Ephesus, addressed to Corinth
Time period: c. AD 55-56

Theological reading

But if the unbelieving departeth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases. This is the text behind what later canon law called the Pauline privilege, and it is the only ground for separation Paul adds to the teaching of Jesus he has just cited in verses 10 and 11.

The interpretive weight falls on not under bondage (ou dedoulotai). The narrow reading is that the believer is released from the obligation to preserve the marriage but not free to remarry. The wider reading, taken by most Protestant traditions, is that release from the marriage bond includes freedom to remarry, since a bond one is no longer under is not a bond. The verb Paul chooses is not the one he uses in verse 39 for being bound to a living husband, which cuts both ways in the argument and is why the question has never been settled by lexicography alone. See Divorce.

The stated purpose clause is easy to miss: God hath called us in peace. Paul's controlling concern in the mixed-marriage section is not the construction of a rule but the removal of a fear. The Corinthians appear to have worried that remaining married to a pagan defiled them; Paul answers that the sanctity runs the other way, that the believing spouse consecrates rather than being contaminated, and that if the unbeliever insists on leaving, the believer is not obliged to fight for a household God has not commanded them to hold together by force.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD

Quoted in

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.