An Exegesis of 1 Cor 7:14
Paul Heidmann
All Biblical quotes taken from the New American Standard Bible.
For the unbelieving husband is
sanctified through his wife and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing
husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy.
In
interpreting this passage, as with all passages, care must be taken to
faithfully apply all principles of Biblical hermeneutics. Both the local context and the whole of the
scriptures, must be taken into account; the original intent of the author must
be determined, as well as the meaning that the passage in question would have
had for the original recipients; and the greek must be analyzed.
While
this essay cannot completely cover all of these issues with regard to the above
passage, it will, nonetheless, attempt to provide an overview of these
principles applied to the passage in question.
Initially,
the immediate context of 1 Cor 7:14 must be analyzed. The seventh chapter of the book begins that
part of the epistle that deals with questions posed to the apostle by the
church in Corinth.[1] Unfortunately,
the letter to Paul from the Corinthians has been lost.[2] While access
to the exact questions that the Corinthians asked would certainly have shed
light on this text, some of the questions can be ascertained from the
text. This activity will provide
information on the intent and scope of the passage in question.
Initially,
Paul states that it is good, for the sake of preventing immoralities, that a
man should have a wife. Certainly, this
must have been an answer to the question "is it lawful for a man to take a
wife?" This question probably seems
obvious to twentieth century man, but it was not to the Corinthians. In Corinth, the church consisted of Jewish
Christians, who went so far as to say that not to marry was a sin, and gentile
Christians, who were influenced by greek philosophy, which advocated celibacy.[3] The apostle
responds with a balanced view.[4]
Another
probable question posed to the apostle was "should a believer continue in
marriage with an unbeliever?" This
question most likely came from Jews, who had in mind the Mosaic laws
prohibiting mixed marriages.[5]
At
this point, it will be profitable to examine the immediate context of 1 Cor
7:14. In verses 1-2, Paul states that
while it is good for a man not to marry, marriage is recommended for the
prevention of immorality.[6] It must be
emphasized here that the apostle is not recommending all should aspire to the
single life. Marriage is an institution
of God,[7] against which
the apostle would never argue.[8]
In
verses 3-5 we find advice to those who are married. Paul reminds the Corinthians of the commitments
of marriage. The mutual ownership of not
only property, but the very bodies is reinforced. This reminder was appropriate to the
Corinthians, who lived in a very individualistic society.[9]
Verse
6 is a difficult passage. Care must be
taken in interpreting this text. Here,
Paul states that he is saying these things as a concession, not as a command. The greek word used for concession here is suggnwmhn, which means to agree with.[10] Loosely then,
this passage could be translated "I say these these things because I agree
with them, not because they are commanded". Barnes asserts that this passage brackets the
past 5 verses as uninspired text.[11] This idea
finds support in verse 10, where the apostle directly clarifies that the
following text is from the Lord (as opposed to the previous text, which was
from Paul). The same construct is found
in 7:12, where Paul directly states that what is to follow is from him and not
from the Lord. Rushdooney points out that
Paul is here exercising his authority as an elder of the Corinthian church.[12] The passages
from Paul where binding on the Corinthians because of Paul's authority over
them.
In
verses 7-9, Paul is states that he wishes all were as he, able to remain
unmarried. Again, it cannot be the case
that the apostle is arguing against that which God has instituted. Rather he appears to be speaking to the
ability to control ones desires. That
is, Paul wishes that all had enough self-control to remain unmarried if the
circumstances warranted.
In
verses 10-13, we see Paul giving instruction to those who have unbelieving
spouses. This is no doubt an answer to a
question asked of Paul by the Corinthians in their letter concerning mixed
marriages. Paul here affirms the
sacredness of the marriage vow, and admonishes all who are married not to leave
their spouse.
This
brings us, at last, to the verse in question.
Verse 14 is most likely an answer to the following question: "Will being married to an unbeliever
make me unclean?" For a Christian
Jew, this would be a most natural question to ask. They had in mind the Mosaic law forbidding
mixed marriages. Paul responds in a
surprising way. The unbelieving spouse
is made clean by the believing spouse.
This is a departure from the Old Covenant, and serves as a reminder of
the greater power of the New Covenant.
The Old Covenant was not able to overcome the uncleanness of an
unbelieving spouse. The result was the
pollution of the Israelite.[13] Under the New
Covenant, the unbelieving spouse is sanctified by the believing spouse (the
clean overcomes the unclean).
But
what is meant by the "sanctification" of an unbeliever? The greek word used here is for
sanctification is hgiastai. This word is
a form of the word agiazw, meaning to separate from things profane and dedicate
to God, to consecrate. This same used by
the Septuagint to refer to external (or levitical) cleansing. It is in this sense that we must apply it
here. Since the unbelieving spouse
cannot be regenerate,[14] the cleansing
can only be external. The spouse is
cleansed for the sake of the believer, so the believer won't be polluted.
The
same greek word, in another form (agia), is used to
describe the children of such marriages as holy. Again, given the context, we must understand
this as an external cleansing only. The
children are consecrated for the sake of the believing spouse, so that the
believer will not be defiled.
The
context given to this passage by the verses preceding it and by the verses
following it (v. 15-16) is marital relations.
The context of this passage must limit its scope. The apostle did not intend this passage to
speak to salvific issues, only to marital issues. To force the meaning of words employed for
"holy" and "consecrated" to their salvific sense distorts
the text and ignores the context.
[14]This would contradict John 14:6, as well as many other passages.