TEXT.

14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us, by his own power.

15 Know ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

16 What, know ye not, that he, which is joined to an harlot, is one body? For two (saith he) shall be one flesh.

PARAPHRASE.

belly and food shall be destroyed. The body is for our Lord Christ, to be a member of him, as our Lord Christ has taken a body', that he might partake of our nature, 14 and be our head. So that, as God has already raised him up, and given him all power, so he will raise us up likewise, who are his members, to 'the partaking in the nature of his glorious body, and the power he is vested 15 with in it. Know ye not, ye who are so knowing, that our bodies are the members of Christ? Will ye, then, take the members of Christ, and make them the mem16 bers of an harlot? What! know ye not, that he who is joined to an harlot, is one body with her? For two,

NOTES.

"And the Lord for the body;" see Heb. ii. 5-18.

14 Aid Tns duránews aule, «To his power." The context and design of St. Paul in this place strongly incline one to take dia here to signify, as it does 2 Pet. i. 3, to, and not, by. St. Paul is here making out to the corinthian converts, that they have a power to judge. He tells them, that they shall judge the world, ver. 2, and that they shall judge angels, much more than things of this life, ver. 3. And for their not judging he blames them, and tells them, it is a lessening to them, not to exercise this power, ver. 7. And for it he gives a reason in this verse, viz. That Christ is raised up into the power of God, and so shall they be. Unless it be taken in this sense, this verse seems to stand alone here. For what connexion has the mention of the resurrection, in the ordinary sense of this verse, with what the apostle is saying here, but raising us up with bodies to be members of his glorious body, and to partake in his power, in judging the world? This adds a great honour and dignity to our bodies, and is a reason why we should not debase them into the members of an harlot. These words also give a reason of his saying, "He would not be brought "under the power of any thing," ver. 12, viz. "Shall I, whose body is a "member of Christ, and shall be raised to the power he has now in heaven,

suffer my body to be a member, and under the power of an harlot? That I "will never do, let fornication in itself be ever so lawful." If this be not the meaning of St. Paul here, I desire to know to what purpose it is, that he so ex pressly declares, that the belly and meat should be destroyed, and does so manifestly put an opposition between the body and belly? ver. 13.

TEXT.

17 But he, that is joined unto the Lord, is one spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doth, is without the body but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body.

19 What! know ye not, that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

PARAPHRASE.

17 saith God, shall be united into one flesh. But he, who is joined to the Lord, is one with him, by that one Spirit, that unites the members to the head, which is a nearer and stricter union, whereby what indignity is done to 18 the one, equally affects the other. Flee fornication: all other sins, that a man commits, debase only the soul; but are in that respect, as if they were done out of the body; the body is not debased, suffers no loss of its dignity by them: but he, who committeth fornication, sinneth against the end, for which his body was made, degrading his body from the dignity and honour it was designed to; making that the member of an harlot, 19 which was made to be a member of Christ. What! know ye not', that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, that is in you, which body you have from God, 20 and so it is not your own, to bestow on harlots? Besides, ye are bought with a price, viz. the precious blood of Christ; and therefore, are not at your own disposal: but are bound to glorify God with both body and soul. For both body and soul are from him, and are God's.

NOTE.

19 t This question, "Know ye not?" is repeated six times in this one chapter, which may seem to carry with it a just reproach to the corinthians, who had got a new and better instructor than himself, in whom they so much gloried, and may not unfitly be thought to set on his irony, ch. iv. 10, where he tells them, they are wise.

SECT. III.

CHAP. VII. 1–40.

CONTENTS.

THE chief business of the foregoing chapters, we have seen to be the lessening the false apostle's credit, and the extinguishing that faction. What follows is in answer to some questions they had proposed to St. Paul. This section contains conjugal matters, wherein he dissuades from marriage those, who have the gift of continence. But, marriage being appointed as a remedy against fornication, those, who cannot forbear, should marry, and render to each other due benevolence. Next, he teaches that converts ought not to forsake their unconverted mates, insomuch as christianity changes nothing in men's civil estate, but leaves them under the same obligations they were tied by before. And, last of all, he gives directions about marrying, or not marrying, their daughters.

TEXT.

1 NOW concerning the things, whereof ye wrote unto me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman.

2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise, also, the wife unto the husband.

1

PARAPHRASE.

CONCERNING those things that

those things that ye have writ to me about, I answer, it is most convenient not to have to do 2 with a woman. But because every one cannot forbear, therefore, they that cannot contain should, both men and women, each have their own peculiar husband and wife, 3 to avoid fornication. And those that are married, for the same reason, are to regulate themselves by the disposition and exigency of their respective mates; and, therefore, let the husband render to the wife that bene

TEXT.

4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise, also, the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

5 Defraud you not one the other, except it be with consent, for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer: and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. 6 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. 7 For I would that all men were, even as I myself: but every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

PARAPHRASE.

volence, which is her due; and so, likewise, the wife to 4 the husband, " vice versa.' For the wife has not the power or dominion over her own body, to refuse the husband, when he desires; but this power and right to her body is in the husband. And, on the other side, the husband has not the power and dominion over his own body, to refuse his wife, when she shows an inclination; but this power and right to his body, when she has occasion, 5 is in the wife. Do not, in this matter, be wanting, one to another, unless it be by mutual consent, for a short time, that you may wholly attend to acts of devotion, when ye fast, upon some solemn occasion: and when this time of solemn devotion is over, return to your former freedom, and conjugal society, lest the devil taking advantage of your inability to contain, should tempt you to 6 a violation of your marriage-bed. As to marrying in

general, I wish that you were all unmarried, as I am; but this I say to you, by way of advice, not of command. 7 Every one has from God his own proper gift, some one way, and some another, whereby he must govern himself,

NOTES.

3 a Eva, "Benevolence," signifies here that complaisance and compliance, which every married couple ought to have for each other, when either of them shows an inclination to conjugal enjoyments

4 The woman (who in all other rights is inferiour) has here the same power given her over the man's body, that the man has over her's. The reason whereof is plain; because if she had not her man, when she had need of him, as well as the man his woman, when he had need of her, marriage would be no remedy against fornication,

TEXT.

8 I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them, if they abide, even as I.

9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

10 And unto the married I command; yet not I, but the Lord; let not the wife depart from her husband:

11 But, and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord, If any brother hath a wife, that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

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.

PARAPHRASE.

8 To the unmarried and widows, I say it as my opinion, that it is best for them to remain unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they have not the gift of continency, let them

marry, for the inconveniences of marriage are to be pre10 ferred to the flames of lust. But to the married, I say not by way of counsel from myself, but of command from the Lord, that a woman should not leave her hus11 band: But, if she has separated herself from him, let her return, and be reconciled to him again; or, at least, let her remain unmarried: and let not the husband put 12 away his wife. But, as to others, it is my advice, not a commandment from the Lord, That, if a christian man hath an heathen wife, that is content to live with him, let him not break company with her, and dissolve the 13 marriage. And, if a christian woman hath an heathen husband, that is content to live with her, let her not break company with him, and dissolve the marriage. 14 You need have no scruple concerning this matter, for

NOTE.

12 and 13 Airw, the greek word in the original, signifying "put away," being directed here, in these two verses, both to the man and the woman, seems to intimate the same power, and the same act of dismissing in both; and, there, fore, ought in both places to be translated alike.