Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 7:1

"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote: It is good for a man not to touch a woman." — 1 Corinthians 7:1 (ASV)

Concerning the things about which you wrote to me.—Some members of the Church, having written to Saint Paul to ask his advice on matters about which there was a difference of opinion at Corinth, the Apostle now proceeds to answer these inquiries. His reply occupies the remainder of the Epistle (to 1 Corinthians 16:4). The subjects about which the Corinthians sought Saint Paul’s opinion are addressed in the following order:

1. Marriage, 1 Corinthians 7:0.
2. The Eating of Meat Offered to Idols, 1 Corinthians 8:1 to 1 Corinthians 11:1.
3. The Attire of Women in Public Worship, 1 Corinthians 11:2–16.
4. The Lord’s Supper, 1 Corinthians 11:17–34.
5. Spiritual Gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:1 to 1 Corinthians 14:40.
6. The Doctrine of the Resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:1–58.
7. The Collection for the Poor in Judea, 1 Corinthians 16:1–4.

In the consideration of each of these subjects, various collateral matters are introduced, and the great principles which guided the Apostle, and which should always guide the Church and individuals, are set forth. Many of the subjects were of purely local and temporary interest.

The particular combination of circumstances that for the moment made them important has ceased to exist and can never arise again. However, the principles on which the Apostle based his arguments, and which he enunciates as the ground of his decisions, are eternal. To apply the injunctions of the Apostle in these chapters with a rigid and unyielding literalism to the Church in all ages is to violate those very principles that guided Saint Paul in enunciating them, and to exalt the dead and death-bearing letter at the sacrifice of the living and life-giving spirit of the apostolic teaching.

As we proceed with our examination of Saint Paul’s reply to the Corinthians’ letter, we will have little real difficulty in distinguishing between those practical injunctions that were of local and temporary application, and the wider and larger truths that are of universal and lasting obligation. This is because the Apostle himself is always careful to point out when a command is based upon some particular necessity of the day, and when it arises from some unchanging Christian principle.

The first subject about which the Corinthians sought advice was marriage. From the opening words of Saint Paul’s reply, It is good for a man not to marry (such is the force of the word rendered touch, as seen in Genesis 20:6; Proverbs 6:29), it would seem that those who wrote for the Apostle’s advice were inclined to regard celibacy as preferable to the married state. So much so, indeed, that they had scruples about whether even those who had been married should not separate (1 Corinthians 7:3–5).

We may, therefore, conclude that the inquiry probably came from the Pauline party. It would be improbable that those who exalted some other teacher would have written to Saint Paul to ask his guidance on matters of controversy. The tone of the Apostle’s replies on such questions as marriage and food offered to idols (from which we can conjecture the line taken in the letter addressed to him) also leads to the same conclusion. It would be natural for the Pauline party to exaggerate unduly the importance of celibacy and to undervalue matrimony.

Saint Paul’s own example, and his strong preference for the unmarried state, would have easily come to be regarded by his followers as matters of moral importance, and not of merely temporary advantage and personal predilection. It is likely, also, as we know from other religious controversies, that the opposition of the Petrine party would drive the Pauline party into more extreme views. They would quote the example of their leader as a married man in opposition to the conduct of Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 9:5 and Matthew 8:14).

Good for a man.—We must not, on the one hand, force this statement into meaning that it is merely expedient. Nor, on the other hand, must we attach to it such great moral importance as to imply that the opposite is morally wrong (as Saint Jerome, ergo est malum tangere). The English word “good,” in its most general sense, accurately conveys the meaning. It is laid down as a proposition that, in Saint Paul’s opinion, it is a good thing to remain unmarried.

But that general proposition is immediately limited in its application by what follows. Saint Chrysostom paraphrases this and the following verse thus: “For if you inquire what is the excellent and greatly superior course, it is better not to have any connection whatever with a woman; but if, what is safe and helpful to your own infirmity, be connected by marriage.”