But if any one think that he behaves unseemly to his virginity, if he be beyond the flower of his age, and so it must be, let him do what he will, he does not sin let them marry.
Paul has just urged undivided devotion to the Lord, and now he turns to the person for whom staying single has become a strain. Two questions follow: who is "his betrothed," and does marrying mean settling for less?
The ESV says "his betrothed"; other translations read "his virgin." Commentators differ on who is meant. One reading takes the whole passage as a man's decision about himself. The verses that follow keep pressing on his own will and his own heart:
Here it is not a question of a man's daughter but of his own state... The strong emphasis on the heart's purpose — for instance, "one's own will" and "one's own heart" — fits perfectly if the question is one's own virginity. But how would it fit a daughter's? Applied to her they sound arbitrary and inconsiderate beyond measure.
The other reading keeps a father in view, and draws a warning out of it for anyone with authority over a young person's future:
Let the Christian father have due respect for the affections of his child. He should indeed commend the higher path to her. But he must not turn a privilege into a punishment by forcing her into a celibacy she does not want. It would be less fitting to be a discontented virgin than a rejoicing bride... A parent should never use his authority in a way that provokes a just anger in the child... If her affections are engaged to another, that is a necessity he ought to yield to. His virgin must not be his victim.
The ESV reads "if his passions are strong." Another translation points to age instead. That wording is not about being too old to marry. It marks the point where youthful impulse is past and a settled judgment is possible:
Verse 36 is more correctly given in Mr. Darby's New Translation. It reads: "if he be beyond the flower of his age, and so it must be... he does not sin: let them marry." When the fleeting beauty of youth is past, and one is old enough to know what he is doing, he may think it more fitting and becoming for him to be married. To marry is then certainly not sin.
"It is no sin" is the heart of the verse. Paul leaves the choice open on purpose:
In speaking this way the Apostle has our profit in view. He has no wish to set a snare for us. He does not want us caught in the delusion of being monks or nuns. That delusion has led to so much corruption in a large part of professing Christendom. He leaves all free to marry.
The danger comes when people turn a rare exception into a rule:
There is a spiritual energy that lifts the person who receives it above ordinary conditions. But God's institution, here marriage, stays just the same... Marriage is the rule God has laid down. As an exception, the Holy Spirit can and does raise this one or that above the need of marriage. It was a question of God's gift; so that he who marries does well, and he who does not marry does better. The world-church shows the contrast to this holy wisdom. It turns the exception of grace into a rule.
Marrying is no sin, but Paul goes on to the man who can hold the other path. What marks him is inward steadiness:
If he stood firm, and had power over his own will, that was the better way. If he married, he still did well. If he did not marry, it was better.
Paul writes "let him do as he wishes." So no one can settle this by copying another person's path:
1 Corinthians 7:32-34 teaches that the unmarried are the most free from care, but verse 7 just as clearly teaches that "every man has his own proper gift of God." Each one must know for himself what his proper gift is. It is one thing to say, "Follow Paul's example," and quite another to have the "proper gift" to do it. It is a fatal mistake for anyone to expect to walk in a path for which God has not given him a call or the spiritual power.
- Reading — Commentators differ. Some take "his betrothed" as the man's own single state. Others read it as a father deciding for his daughter. Both readings land on the same practical outcome — let them marry.
- Timing — "Beyond the flower of his age" marks the moment when youthful impulse has passed. The person is now old enough to know what he is doing.
- Freedom — "It is no sin" leaves the choice open. Vows of enforced celibacy turn a gift into a snare and have bred corruption.
- Firmness — The better path belongs only to the one who stands firm and has power over his own will.
- Gift — Each has his own gift from God. Copying another person's calling without the power for it is a fatal mistake.
But he who stands firm in his heart, having no need, but has authority over his own will, and has judged this in his heart to keep his own virginity, he does well.
Paul closes his answers about marriage with a man who has settled the matter in his own heart and stays single. But who is the "virgin" here — a daughter in his care, or his own unmarried state? Commentators differ.
One reading takes the man to be deciding about himself. The verse keeps saying "his own heart" and "his own will," which fits a choice about his own single life.
Here there is no question of a man's daughter but of his own state. The Lord deserves to have us wholly devoted to Himself… The great emphasis given to the heart's purpose (for instance, "one's own will" and "one's own heart") suits perfectly if it is a question of one's own virginity, but how a daughter's? Applied to a daughter, they sound arbitrary and inconsiderate beyond measure.
Others read the verse as a father deciding about a daughter in his care. From that reading comes a warning to fathers.
But arbitrary decisions that rest only on the sacrifice of another's happiness never please God. So let the Christian father have real respect for his child's affections. He should indeed commend the higher path to her. But he must not turn a privilege into a punishment by condemning her to a single life she does not want. … He would do better to keep her unmarried than to give her, if his own will were the only one sacrificed; but his virgin must not be his victim.
The word behind "firmly established" points to inner stability. It appears in only two other places.
The Greek word hedraios (from hedra, "a seat or sitting") carries the thought of being stable, firm, within. Besides Colossians 1:23 it occurs only in 1 Corinthians 7:37, "he that stands firm in his heart," and in 1 Corinthians 15:58, "my beloved brothers, be firm."
One writer roots that steadiness in the affections, not in effort.
Steadfastness does not come from our own effort; it springs from the affections being right with God.
The verse stacks three conditions: firmness, no necessity, and control over his own will. One writer sees in them the man Jesus described as making himself a eunuch for the kingdom.
But one might stand with firmness of faith, having no necessity for marriage, having control over his own will, and purposing that he will maintain his virginity. This is the case of one making himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake (Matthew 19:12). If it is not too common, it is still blessedly commendable.
This path rests on a gift, and not everyone is given it.
1 Corinthians 7:32-34 teaches that the unmarried are the most free from care, but verse 7 just as clearly teaches that "every man has his own proper gift of God." Each one must know for himself what his proper gift is. It is one thing to say "Follow Paul's example," and quite another thing to have the "proper gift" to do it. It is a fatal mistake for anyone to expect to walk in a path for which God has not given him a call or given him the spiritual power.
One writer takes "virgin" here to cover unmarried people of either sex. He weighs the single state by whether it leaves a person free for the Lord.
It seems clear enough that in this passage the word "virgin" covers the unmarried of either sex. The Apostle's teaching can be summed up like this. Marriage is good, as is every divine institution; it is wholly right and permissible. Yet to stay unmarried is better, if it is kept up so as to leave a person more wholly at the Lord's disposal for His interests. If such people do not give the Lord their "undivided devotion," their single life may only become a snare to them.
The same writer warns about what happens when this choice is forced on people.
The unmarried state has its advantages where grace gives the right inward condition. That condition would surely fit suitable outward circumstances and lead to the kind of life and service we see in the apostle himself. But this is not given to all. It is not of man's will but of divine grace. Make it a law, and the grace is destroyed. A swift harvest of sin, shame, and misery then proclaims the wisdom of God's ways and the folly of Christendom.
- Gift, first. This path rests on "his own proper gift of God." Admiring Paul's example is not the same as having the power to follow it.
- Gift, then firmness. The word for standing firm means inward stability. That steadiness comes from affections right with God, not from effort.
- Gift, then freedom. He is under no necessity and has his desire under control. He is not straining against himself, and so he does well.
- Gift, then purpose. Staying single is better only when it leaves a person wholly at the Lord's disposal. Without that aim it can become a snare.
- Never a law. Commentators differ over whose choice this is — the man's own, or a father's for his daughter. They agree on the limit: make it a rule, and the grace is destroyed.