ea filia ejus — si concepta fuerit et nata in sanctitate, est ut filia Israelita per omnia. See Wetstein in loc. To be born in holiness (i. e. within the church) was necessary in order to the child being regarded as an Israelite. So Christian chil- dren are not made holy by baptism, but they are baptized be- cause they are holy.
15. Bat 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.
The command in the preceding verse was founded on the assumption, that the unbelieving party consented to remain in the marriage relation. If the unbeliever refused thus to remain, the believer was then free^^he believer was not to repudiate the mibelieving husband or wife ; but if the unbe- liever broke up the marriage, the Christian partner was there- by liberated from the contract. This is the interpretation which Protestants have almost universally given to this verse. It is a passage of great importance, because it is the founda- • tion of the Protestant doctrine that wilful desertion is a legiti- I mate ground of divorce. And such is certainly the natural ) sense of the passage. The question before the apostle was, \ ' What is to be done in the case of these mixed marriages ? ' ,His answer is, ' Let not the believer put away the unbeliever, for Christ has forbidden a man to put away his wife for any •cause except that of adultery. Matt. 5, 32. But if the unbe- liever breaks up the marriage, the believer is no longer bound.' There is no conflict here between Christ's command and Paul's instructions. Both say, a man cannot put away his wife (nor I of course a wife her husband) on account of difference of re- I ligion, or for any other reason but the one above specified. \ The apostle only adds that if the beUeving party be, without just cause, put away, he or she is free.
A brother or sister is not in bondage {ov ScSovXcorai, equiva- lent to ov ScSerat, v. 39), i. e. is not bound ; if the unbeliever consent to remain, the believer is boimd ; if the unbeliever will not consent, the believer is not bound. In the one case the marriage contract binds him ; in the other case it does not bind him. This seems to be the simple meaning of the passage. Others understand the apostle as saying that the believer is not bound to continue the marriage — that is, is under no obligation to live with a partner who is unwilling to