Περὶ δὲ ὧν ἐγράψατέ μοι]: "Καλὸν > ἀνθρώπῳ γυναικὸς
2I;ilim.p» °¢ . x s 1.2 4 κ a) x ε οι με μὴ ἅπτεσθαι: 2. διὰ δὲ τὰς πορνείας” ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ
Xviil. 8; Gen. ii. 18. xx. 6; Prov. vi. 29.
10m. pot NBC 17, 46, am. fu.*, Tert.
b In this connection, Mt. xix. 5, 10 (Gen. ii. 24). d See v.1; Mt. xv. 19; Mk. vii. 21.
c In this sense, N.T. 4.J.; Gen,
So crit. edd.
2 anv πορνειαν: G, vg. syrutr., Tert., Ambrst.
P. does not need to state; it was τίµιον αἷμα (1 Pet. i. 18 f.; Eph. i. 7, Matt. xx. 28, Rev. v. 9). “Ayopalw, to purchase, syn. with (ἀπο)λντρόομαι, to ransom (i. 30, Fit. ii. 14): the latter points to the means of redemption, the former to the proprietorship which it creates (cf. περιεποιήσατο, Acts xx. 28); both ideas meet in Eph. i. r4. The gen. of price, τιµῆς, indicates the value at which God vates His purchase.—Sofacare δὴ κ.τ.λ.: “‘ Now glorify Godin your body ”—sc. by a chaste life (contrast Rom. li. 23). δή (rare in N.T.; hk. ᾖ. in P.), kindred to the temporal ἤδη, makes the command peremptory, breaking off discussion (¢f. Acts xiii. 2). ἐν, iv, not with, your body— the temple wherein each man serves as priest; here the vads, in Rom. xii. 2 the Ovoia.—kai ἐν τ. wvevparte κ.τ.λ., of the T.R., is a Syrian gloss, added as if to complete the sense; cf. vil. 34.
§ 20. MARRIAGE OR CELIBACY? Vil. 1-9. At this point the Ap. takes up the questions addressed to him by the Cor. Church (see Introd., chap. Π.). Inreplying to Paul’s previous letter, they had asked for clearer instructions to regulate their intercourse with men living in heathen sins (v.); this request led up to the in- quiries respecting the desirability of marriage, respecting the duties of mar- ried Christians, and the lawfulness of divorce for a Christian married to a heathen, with which ch. vii. is occupied. The headings of vv. 1, 25, chh. viii., xi., xvi., indicate various matters on which the Cor. had consulted their Ap. The local impress and temporary aim of the directions here given on the subject of marriage must be borne in mind; other- wise Paul’s treatment will appear to be narrow and unsympathetic, and out of keeping with the exalted sense of its spiritual import disclosed in Eph. v. Indeed, ch. xi. 3-15 of this Ep. show that P. had larger conception on the relations of man and woman than are here un- folded. The obscurity of expression attaching to several passages betrays the writer's embarrassment; .this was due partly to the low moral sensibility of the
Cor., and partly to the uncertain con- tinuance of the existing order of life (26-31), which weighed with the Ap. at the time of writing and led him to discourage the formation of domestic ties. In later Epistles, when the present economy had opened out into a larger perspective, the ethics of marriage and the Christian household are worthily de- veloped (see Col. and Eph.).
Ver. 1. Περὶ δὲ ὧν ἐγράψατε: “* Now about the things on which you wrote (to me) ”'.---Περὶ ὧν = περὶ τούτων περὶ ὧν (not ἅ); cf. the constructions of rel. pron. in ver. 39, x. 30; see Wr., p. 198.— δὲ metabatikon leads to a new topic, in orderly transition from the last: ‘“‘ Now I proceed to deal with the matters of your letter to me”; the questions proposed about marriage are discussed on the ground prepared by the teaching of chh. v.and vi. They form a part of the wide social conflict between Christian and Pagan life at Corinth: see Introd. to Div. II. P. answers at once, affirmatively, the question of principle put to him: “It is right (καλόν, honourable, morally befitting —pulchrum, conveniens, Bg.; see note on v. 6) for one (ἀνθρώπῳ, homini: not ἀνδρί, man distinctively, viro) not to touch a woman” (to live in strict celi- Όαςγ).---καλὸν contradicts the οὐ καλὸν ἀνθρώπῳ present in the minds of some of the questioners, influenced by the sen- suous atmosphere of Cor. Paul is not disparaging marriage, as though he meant καλλίον μὴ ἅπτ., but defending celibacy against those who thought it inhuman.