Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband. The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife. Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
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1 Corinthians 7:3-5 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband. The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife. Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Parallel Translations
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Let the husband give his wife the affection owed her, and likewise also the wife her husband.
The wife doesn’t have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise also the husband doesn’t have authority over his own body, but the wife.
Don’t deprive one another, unless it is by consent for a season, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer, and may be together again, that Satan doesn’t tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
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Let the man geve vnto the wyfe due benevolence. Lykwyse also the wyfe vnto the man.
The wyfe hath not power over her awne body: but the husbande. And lykewyse the man hath not power over his awne body: but the wyfe.
Withdrawe not youre selves one from another excepte it be with consent for a tyme for to geve youre selves to fastynge and prayer. And afterwarde come agayne to the same thynge lest Satan tempt you for youre incontinencye.
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Let the husband giue vnto the wife due beneuolence, and likewise also the wife vnto the husband.
The wife hath not the power of her owne bodie, but ye husband: and likewise also the husband hath not ye power of his own body, but the wife.
Defraude not one another, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may giue your selues to fasting and praier, and againe come together that Satan tempt you not for your incontinecie.
Cross-references (13)
- 1 Peter 3:7 (v3) You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as also…
- Exodus 21:10 (v3) If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.
- Exodus 19:15 (v5) He said to the people, “Be ready by the third day. Don’t have sexual relations with a woman.”
- Hosea 3:3 (v4) I said to her, “You shall stay with me many days. You shall not play the prostitute, and you shall not be with any other man. I will also…
- Joel 2:16 (v5) Gather the people. Sanctify the assembly. Assemble the elders. Gather the children, and those who nurse from breasts. Let the bridegroom go…
Show all 13 cross-references
- Matthew 19:9 (v4) I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when…
- 1 Samuel 21:4-5 (v5) The priest answered David, and said, “I have no common bread, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from…
- Zechariah 12:12-14 (v5) The land will mourn, every family apart; the family of David’s house apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart,…
- Mark 10:11-12 (v4) He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife, and marries another, commits adultery against her. If a woman herself divorces her husband,…
- Zechariah 7:3 (v5) and to speak to the priests of the house of Yahweh of Armies, and to the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month, separating…
- Matthew 4:10 (v5) Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’ ”
- Matthew 19:11 (v5) But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but those to whom it is given.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:5 (v5) For this cause I also, when I couldn’t stand it any longer, sent that I might know your faith, for fear that by any means the tempter had…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 3. The husband to the wife. He now prescribes…
3. The husband to the wife. He now prescribes the rules to be observed in the marriage connection, or he teaches what is the duty of husband and wife. And in the first place he lays down a general doctrine as to mutual benevolence — that the husband love his wife, and the wife her husband; for as to the interpretation which others give to the expression due benevolence — duty of marriage — I do not know how far it is suitable. The reason that inclines them to this view is, that it is immediately added, The husband has not power of his own body, etc.; but it will suit better to regard that as an inference drawn from the preceding statement. Husband and wife, therefore, are bound to mutual benevolence: hence it follows, that they have, neither the one nor the other, the power of their own body. But it may be asked, why the Apostle here puts them upon a level, instead of requiring from the wife obedience and subjection. I answer, that it was not his intention to treat of all their duties, but simply of the mutual obligation as to the marriage bed. In other things, therefore, husband and wife differ, both as to duty and as to authority in this respect the condition of both is alike — as to the maintaining of conjugal fidelity. For this reason, also, polygamy (τολυγαμία) is again condemned; for if this is an invariable condition of marriage, that the husband surrenders the power of his own body, and gives it up to his wife, how could he afterwards connect himself with another, as if he were free?
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Secondly, he showeth that the parties married, must with…
Secondly, he showeth that the parties married, must with singular affection entirely love one the other.
This word (due) containeth all kind of benevolence, though he speak more of one sort than of the other, in that that followeth.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3 Let the husband render unto the wife due…
3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
Ver. 3. Let the husband, &c.] Let them be chaste between themselves, and beware both of excess and defect. Chastity is a man’s honour, 1Th 4:5. And modesty is the best preserver of nuptial chastity. Marriage as well as meats must be sanctified by the word and prayer. God must be sent for to bless this physic to the soul. Raging lust is a great enemy to conjugal love.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv3–5 The word translated due benevolence, signifieth due goodwill or…
The word translated due benevolence, signifieth due goodwill or kindness, but from 1Co 7:5, it appeareth what the apostle meaneth: Moses, Exo 21:10, calleth it, the duty of marriage; both of them using a modest term in expressing the conjugal act, as we shall observe the Scripture always doing, when there is occasion to mention what men of profane hearts are ready to make a scoff at. The apostle maketh this the mutual duty both of husband and wife, under due circumstances, therefore useth the word render, which implieth the thing required to be an act of justice.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v3 Observe here, 1. That matrimonial conversation, or the husband’s…
Observe here, 1. That matrimonial conversation, or the husband’s and wife’s performing towards each other all the duties of marriage which they promised, is an act of justice, which they owe to one another: this is intimated in the word render, and consequently to deny the same is injustice and fraud: Defraud not one another. Marriage takes away from persons that power which they had over themselves and their own bodies, and transfers it in some sort to the person they are married to.
Yet observe, 2. That persons in a married state may, and in some cases ought, (namely, for religious ends and purposes,) by mutual consent to abstain from a conjugal duty for some time: Defraud not one another, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer.
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Observe, 3. The apostle lays no obligation upon any single persons to take upon them a vow for a single life, nor doth he direct married persons to those perpetual divorces from the marriage-bed, which the papists practise, under pretence of religion: for the apostle admits of no perpetual separation between husband and wife, upon any pretence whatever: no, not that they may give themselves to prayer and fasting; but only permits it for a time, upon condition that they come together again. So far was this holy man from laying a snare upon the consciences of any persons, either in a single or married state.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence,....…
Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence,.... The Syriac version renders it, , "due love"; and so the Arabic; and may include all the offices of love, tenderness, humanity, care, provision, and protection, which are to be performed by the husband to his wife; though it seems chiefly, if not solely, here to respect what is called, Exo 21:10 "her marriage duty", as distinct from food and raiment to be allowed her; and what is meant by it the Jewish doctors will tell us: one says (t), it is , "the use of the marriage bed"; and, says another (u), , "it is to lie with her", according to the way of all the earth. And so the phrase here, "due benevolence", is an euphemism, and designs the act of coition; which as it is an act of love and affection, a sign of mutual benevolence, so of justice; it is a due debt from divine ordination, and the matrimonial contract. The Jewish doctors have fixed and settled various canons (w) concerning the performance, of this conjugal debt: and the apostle may not be altogether without some view to the rules and customs which obtained in his own nation.
And, likewise also the wife unto the husband; she is not to refuse the use of the bed when required, unless there is some just impediment, otherwise she comes under the name of a "rebellious wife"; concerning whom, and her punishment, the Jews (x) give the following rules:
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"a woman that restrains her husband from the use of the bed, is called rebellious; and when they ask her why she rebels, if she says, because it is loathsome to me, and I cannot lie with him; then they oblige him to put her away directly, without her dowry; and she may not take any thing of her husband's, not even her shoe strings, nor her hair lace; but what her husband did not give her she may take, and go away: and if she rebels against her husband, on purpose to afflict him, and she does to him so or so, and despises him, they send to her from the sanhedrim, and say to her, know thou, that if thou continuest in thy rebellion, thou shalt not prosper? and after that they publish her in the synagogues and schools four weeks, one after another, and say, such an one has rebelled against her husband; and after the publication, they send and say to her, if thou continuest in thy rebellion, thou wilt lose thy dowry; and they appoint her twelve months, and she has no sustenance from her husband all that time; and she goes out at the end of twelve months without her dowry, and returns everything that is her husband's.''
This account, with a little variation, is also given by Maimonides (y).
(t) Mosis Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, praecept. neg. 81. Sol. Jarchi in Exod. xxi. 10. (u) Maimon. Hilch. Isbot, c. 12. sect. 2. Vid. Aben Ezra in Exod. xxi. 10. (w) Vid. Misn. Cetubot, c. 5. sect. 6. & Mikvaot, c. 8. sect. 3. (x) Mosis Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, pr. neg. 81. (y) Hilch. Ishot, c. 14. sect. 8, 9, 10. Vid. Misn. Cetubot, c. 5. sect. 7. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Let not married persons fancy that there is any…
Let not married persons fancy that there is any perfection in living with each other, as if they were unmarried. The debt - This ancient reading seems far more natural than the common one.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Verse 3. Let the husband render unto the wife…
Verse 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence] την οφειλομενην ευνοιαν. Though our version is no translation of the original, yet few persons are at a loss for the meaning, and the context is sufficiently plain. Some have rendered the words, not unaptly, the matrimonial debt, or conjugal duty-that which a wife owes to her husband, and the husband to his wife; and which they must take care mutually to render, else alienation of affection will be the infallible consequence, and this in numberless instances has led to adulterous connections. In such cases the wife has to blame herself for the infidelity of her husband, and the husband for that of his wife. What miserable work has been made in the peace of families by a wife or a husband pretending to be wiser than the apostle, and too holy and spiritual to keep the commandments of God!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 5 1Co 7:3-4. Let the husband — Where this relation…
1Co 7:3-4. Let the husband — Where this relation is commenced; render unto the wife, Την οφειλομενην ευνοιαν, the due benevolence — That is, the conjugal duty, the duty resulting from the nature of the marriage- covenant. Or, let not married persons fancy that there is any perfection in living with each other as if they were unmarried. The wife hath not power over her own body — Namely, in this respect, but by the marriage- covenant hath transferred it to her husband. And likewise the husband hath not power over his own body; but it is, as it were, the property of the wife, their engagements being mutual; so that, on every occasion, conscience obliges them to remain appropriated to each other. “The right of the wife to her husband’s body, being here represented as precisely the same with the husband’s right to her body, it excludes the husband from simultaneous polygamy; otherwise the right of the husband to his wife’s body would not exclude her from being married to another, during her husband’s lifetime. Besides, the direction, (1Co 7:2,) let every woman have her own husband, plainly leads to the same conclusion. The right of the wife to her husband’s body is a perfect right, being founded on the ends of marriage, namely, the procreation of children, their proper education, and the prevention of fornication. But these ends would, in a great measure, be frustrated, if the wife had not an exclusive right to her husband’s person.” — Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Let the husband ... - “Let them not imagine…
Let the husband ... - “Let them not imagine that there is any virtue in bring separate from each other, as if they were in a state of celibacy” - “Doddridge.” They are bound to each other; in every way they are to evince kindness, and to seek to promote the happiness and purity of each other. There is a great deal of delicacy used here by Paul, and his expression is removed as far as possible from the grossness of pagan writers. His meaning is plain; but instead of using a word to express it which would be indelicate and offensive, he uses one which is not indelicate in the slightest degree. The word which he uses εὔνοιαν eunoian,” benevolence”) denotes kindness, good-will, affection of mind. And by the use of the word “due” ὀφειλομένην opheilomenēn, he reminds them of the sacredness of their vow, and of the fact that in person, property, and in every respect, they belong to each other. It was necessary to give this direction, for the contrary might have been regarded as proper by many who would have supposed there was special virtue and merit in living separate from each other; as facts have shown that many have imbibed such an idea - and it was not possible to give the rule with more delicacy than Paul has done. Many mss., however, instead of “due benevolence,” read ὀφειλὴν opheilēn, “a debt, or that which is owed;” and this reading has been adopted by Griesbach in the text. Homer, with a delicacy not unlike the apostle Paul, uses the word φιλότητα filotēta, “friendship,” to express the same idea.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v5 Ut vacetis orationi, Greek: ina scholazete te proseuche. St.…
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
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Ut vacetis orationi, Greek: ina scholazete te proseuche. St. John Chrysostom, Greek: ouk eipen aplos proseuchesthe.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv3–5 The duty of cohabitation on the part of the…
The duty of cohabitation on the part of the married.
due benevolence--The oldest manuscripts read simply, "her due"; that is, the conjugal cohabitation due by the marriage contract (compare Co1 7:4).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. Due benevolence—The best reading omits benevolence. Let each…
3. Due benevolence—The best reading omits benevolence. Let each party, instead of an ascetic abstinence, render to the other the conjugal due.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. due benevolence] The better supported reading is what…
3. due benevolence] The better supported reading is what is due, the debt.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3–5 (3) Let the husband render unto the wife due…
(3) Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence.—Rather, Let the husband render unto the wife her due—such being the reading of the better MSS. In this verse the Apostle answers the scruples of those who already were married and who doubted whether they should continue so.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Due benevolence. An euphemistic and needless modification by the…
Due benevolence. An euphemistic and needless modification by the copyists of the pure and simple expression of St. Paul, which, as shown by the best manuscripts, is "her duedebitum tori. St. Paul is evidently entering on these subjects, not out of any love for them; but because all kinds of extreme views immoral indifference and over scrupulous asceticism had claimed dominance among the Corinthians.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. Let the husband render unto the wife her…
3. Let the husband render unto the wife her due. The Revision is correct. Marriage is a state of mutual obligations. Each must yield to the other what those obligations require.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv3–5 3. “Let the husband give to the wife that…
3. “Let the husband give to the wife that which is due, and also likewise the wife to her husband.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv3–5 Let the husband render unto the wife her due:…
Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband .
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 5 sexual rights
sexual rights
Both husbands and wives are obligated to regularly sleep with their spouses. (See: Euphemism)
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likewise the wife to her husband
The words "should give" and "sexual rights" are understood from the previous phrase. AT: "likewise the wife should give to her husband his sexual rights" (See: Ellipsis)
translationWords
authority
body
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v3 7:3-4 Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, married…
7:3-4 Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, married Christians must always be considerate of the sexual needs of their spouses. Sexual intimacy is a mutual right for both spouses in a marriage and must not be withheld. Marriage includes yielding the authority over one’s body to one’s spouse, though such authority is clearly not to be abused.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.