What Did Paul Command in 1 Corinthians 7?

First Corinthians 7 is a long chapter covering a range of questions about marriage, celibacy, widowhood, and the believing spouse in a mixed marriage. Paul addresses different groups in sequence, and the instructions he gives to each group are not interchangeable. Reading a command directed at one group as if it applies to another is how most of the misreading happens.

This article works through the chapter in order, identifies who Paul is addressing in each section, and states plainly what he commands.

Verses 1-7: The General Principle

Paul opens by acknowledging that it is good for a man not to touch a woman, meaning celibacy is a valid and honorable state. But he immediately qualifies this: to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Marriage is the appropriate context for sexual expression, and both parties in a marriage owe each other the conjugal debt. Neither has authority over their own body in the sexual sense; that authority belongs to the spouse. Paul presents celibacy as a gift not everyone has, and marriage as the proper alternative for those who do not have it.

Verses 10-11: The Command to the Married Wife

Verses 10 and 11 are the most important verses in the chapter for the question of divorce. Paul writes: And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.

Several things demand attention here. First, Paul attributes this command not to himself but to the Lord. He is not offering pastoral advice. He is transmitting a command of Jesus of Nazareth. Second, the command is directed at the wife. She is told not to depart. Third, if she does depart despite the command, she is given two options only: remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. Remarriage is not offered as a third option. It is not mentioned at all as a possibility open to her. Fourth, the husband is told not to put away his wife. This is the same prohibition Jesus gave.

The command to the wife is absolute on the question of remarriage. If she departs, she must remain unmarried or return. That instruction has no expiration date in the text. It does not dissolve when the departure becomes permanent, when the husband moves on, or when years have passed. It holds for as long as her husband lives, as Paul makes explicit in verses 39 and later in Romans 7.

Verses 12-16: The Believing Spouse in a Mixed Marriage

Paul shifts to a different situation: a believer married to an unbeliever. This is not the same situation as verses 10 and 11, and the instructions are different. If the unbelieving spouse is willing to stay, the believer should not leave. If the unbelieving spouse departs, the believer is not bound in such cases. The phrase not bound here has generated enormous debate. Some read it as permission to remarry. Others read it as permission to let the unbeliever go without fighting to preserve the marriage.

The context favors the second reading. The entire chapter is addressed to believers inside the Corinthian church dealing with specific pressures of that cultural moment. The phrase not bound in verse 15 speaks to the believer's obligation to prevent the departure, not to their freedom after it. Paul has already stated in verses 10 and 11 what the options are for a wife who departs. He does not contradict that instruction six verses later.

Verses 39-40: The Widow

Paul closes the chapter with instructions for widows: The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. The binding is explicit. The release is death. Nothing else in this chapter offers a different mechanism for release from the marriage bond.

What Paul Did Not Say

Paul did not say that a wife who departs may remarry if the marriage was unhappy enough. He did not say that a civil divorce decree releases her from the covenant. He did not say that the passage of time, the behavior of the husband, or the approval of a pastor changes what he commanded. He said she must remain unmarried or be reconciled. That is the command. The church's job is not to find a way around it. The church's job is to teach it accurately and help people navigate its weight honestly.