1 Corinthians 7:32

But I would have you without carefulness,.... This is another reason, by which the apostle confirms the advice he gives to virgins to remain such, because the married state is full of cares, whereas

But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But. Connect with 1 Corinthians 7:31.

But I would have you without carefulness; the reason why I have advised (during the present distressed estate of the church) a single rather than a married life, for those to whom God hath given the gift of continency, is, that those who are Christians might live as free from such cares as divide and distract men’ s and women’ s minds, as they possibly can. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: the single person that hath a spiritual heart, disposed to pious performances, being free from other distractions and cares, caused by worldly occasions, will spend all his thoughts about his duty toward God, and how to please him.

32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: Ver. 32. Without carefulness] That unavoidably attendeth the marriage state, Genesis 30:30; 1 Timothy 5:8.

(32) But I would have you.—These words seem to take up again the form of expression in 1 Corinthians 7:28. I would spare you trouble; I also wish to have you free from anxious care. That is my reason for so advising you. And here the Apostle returns to the subject immediately under consideration, and shows here what he has been saying bears upon it. This element of anxious care must be borne in mind in considering the desirability or otherwise of marriage. There are some important variations in the readings of these verses (1 Corinthians 7:32-34) in the Greek MSS. The emendations required in the Greek text, from which the Authorised version is translated, are, I think, as follows:—Omit the full-stop after 1 Corinthians 7:33, connecting it with 1 Corinthians 7:34 by the insertion of the word “and.” Insert “and” in 1 Corinthians 7:34 before “a wife,” and the word “unmarried” after a wife.” The whole passage will then stand thus (rendering the Greek verb as it is in 1 Corinthians 1:13, “divided,” and, not, as in the English version here, “a difference between”): The unmarried man careth for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But the married man careth for the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and is divided in his interests (i.e., distracted). Also the wife that is unmarried (i.e., a widow, or divorced), and the unmarried virgin (i.e., the maid who is free from any contract of marriage), cares for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit. But she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.The whole force of the passage is that married persons have, in the fulfilment of their obligations to each other, an additional interest and concern from which the unmarried are free. It must ever be distinctly borne in mind that this advice was given solely under the impression that the end of all earthly things was impending, and that the great trial and desolation was beginning to darken over the world. The Apostle who wrote these words of warning himself expressly condemns those who applied them as involving general moral obligations, and not as suited merely to temporary requirements (1 Timothy 4:1; 1 Timothy 4:3). He had himself at this time a strong personal inclination for a celibate life; but still he could enjoy and show a preference for the companionship of those who were evidently otherwise minded—he abode and wrought with Aquila and Priscilla his wife, at Corinth (Acts 18:3). We can still imagine circumstances arising in individual cases to which the principle enforced by the Apostle would apply. A man might feel it his duty to devote his life to some missionary enterprise, in which marriage would hamper his movements and impede his usefulness. Such an exceptional case would hence only establish the general rule. “It may not be out of place to recall” (writes Stanley, in his Exposition of St.

Verse 32. Without carefulness.] Though all these things will shortly come to pass, yet do not be anxious about them. Every occurrence is under the direction and management of God. The wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder of it he shall restrain, and none can harm you if ye be followers of that which is good. We should all take the advice of the poet:- "With patient mind thy course of duty run; God nothing does, nor suffers to be done, But thou wouldst do thyself, couldst thou but see The end of all events as well as He." - BYROM. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord] He has nothing to do with a family, and therefore can give his whole time to the service of his Maker, having him alone to please.

32. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord] One great reason why the Apostle recommends celibacy is the freedom that it gives from anxiety about worldly matters, the opportunity it offers of “attending upon the Lord without distraction.” But the Apostle does not desire his advice to be a snare to entangle those who feel that they can serve God with less distraction in the married state. He leaves it to all to decide for themselves according to their sense of what is most desirable and becoming in their own case. The words translated here ‘care,’ ‘carefulness,’ have the idea, as in St Matthew 6:25; Matthew 6:27-28; Matthew 6:31; Matthew 6:34 (where our translation has ‘take thought’), of trouble, anxiety.

But I would have you - I would advise you to such a course of life as should leave you without carefulness My advice is regulated by that wish, and that wish guides me in giving it.

32. But—Rather, and, as he states a wish in accordance with the previous context. You—This pronoun is emphatic.