Pass the flower of her age (7 tzrépaxuos). Rev., correctly, be past. Beyond the bloom of life. Plato fixes the point at twenty years (‘“ Republic,” 460). Diogenes Laertius says: “ An undowered maiden is a heavy burden to a father after she has outrun the flower of her age” (“ Lycon,” v., 65).
Let them marry. Evidently there was assumed to be an- other in the case beside the father and the virgin.
37. Necessity (dvayxnv). Either outward or moral con- straint. See on ver. 26, and note on Luke xiv. 18.
Power over his own will (éfovctay mepi tod iSlov Jerrjua- tos). The A. V. is ambiguous, and might be understood to imply self-control. The meaning is rather: és free to act as he pleases. Rev., as touching his own will. The repetition of Ais own emphasizes the fact that the disposal of the daughter lay wholly in the parent’s power. Among the Greeks and Romans the choice of a wife was rarely grounded upon affect- ion. In many cases the father chose for his son a wife whom the latter had never seen, or compelled him to marry for the sake of checking his extravagances. Thus Terence pictures a father meeting his son in the forum, and saying, “ You are to be married to-day, get ready” (“ Andria,” i., 5). Nor was the con- sent of a woman generally thought necessary. She was obliged to submit to the wishes of her parents, and perhaps to receive a stranger. Thus Hermione says: “My marriage is my father’s care: it is not for me to decide about that” (Euripides, “ An- jromache,” 987). Under the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensa-
Cx. VII] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, 225
tions, the father’s power over the children in the matter of marriage was paramount, and their consent was not required. After the Exile the parents could betroth their children, while minors, at their pleasure; but when they became of age their consent was required, and if betrothed during minority, they had afterward the right of insisting upon divorce.
39. Be dead (xowund9). Lit., have fallen asleep. See on Acts vii. 60; 2 Pet. iii. 4; compare Rom. vii. 2, where the usual word for die, dro$dvy is used. In that passage Paul is discussing the abstract question. Here the inference is more personal, which is perhaps the reason for his using the more tender expression.
40. Happier (uaxapwwrépa). More blessed is preferable. The word has a higher meaning than happy. See on Matt. Vv. o:5
“* Such, if on high their thoughts are set, Nor in the stream the source forget, If prompt to quit the bliss they know, Following the Lamb where’er He go, By purest pleasure unbeguiled To idolize or wife or child: Such wedded souls our God shall own For faultless virgins round His throne.” KEBLE, ‘‘ Christian Year,”’ Wednesday before Easter.