(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
commandment
ἐπιταγήν.epitagēn
G2003
an injunction or decree · noun — accusative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Corinthians 8:8 I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
1 Corinthians 7:25 Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful…
1 Corinthians 7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put…
2 Corinthians 11:17 That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 7:1-9
The apostle comes now, as a faithful and skilful casuist, to answer some cases of conscience which the Corinthians had proposed to him. Those were things whereof they wrote to him, Co1 7:1. As the lips of ministers should keep knowledge, so the people should ask the law at their mouths. The apostle was as ready to resolve as they were to propose their doubts. In the former chapter, he warns them to avoid fornication; here he gives some directions about marriage, the remedy God had appointed for it. He tells them in general,
I. That it was good, in that juncture of time at least, to abstain from marriage altogether: It is good for a man not to touch a woman (not to take her to wife), by good…
by permission . . . not of commandment--not by God's permission to me to say it: but, "by way of permission to you, not as a commandment." "This" refers to the directions, Co1 7:2-5.
Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 7:6
I speak this by permission, etc. - It was a constant custom of the more conscientious rabbins, to make a difference between the things which they enjoined on their own judgment, and those which they built on the authority of the law. Thus Rabbi Tancum: "The washing of hands before meat is in our own power; washing after meat is commanded." In relation to this point Dr. Lightfoot produces some examples from the Jewish writers: "The man is commanded concerning begetting and multiplying, but not the woman. And when does the man come under this command? From the age of sixteen or seventeen years; but, if he exceeds twenty years without marrying, behold he violates and renders an affirmative prec…
But I speak this by permission,.... Referring either to what he had said before, though not to all; not to 1 Corinthians 7:2 that for the avoiding of fornication, every man should make use of his own wife, and every woman of her own husband; since this is not by permission, but by command, Genesis 2:24 that carnal copulation should be between one man and one woman in a married state; nor to 1 Corinthians 7:3 for that married persons ought to render due benevolence to, and not defraud each other, having a power over each other's bodies, is a precept, and not a permission, Exodus 21:10 but to 1 Corinthians 7:5 their parting for a time, and coming together again: it is not an absolute command o…
The Church Fathers
No one should be forced to do something unlawful on the ground that he is forbidden to do what is lawful. It is up to each person to discern which path to follow.
Add to this the fact that the apostle, with regard to widows and the unmarried, advises them to remain permanently in that state, when he says, "But I desire all to persevere in (imitation of) my example: " but touching marrying "in the Lord," he no longer advises, but plainly bids.
"But this I say by way of permission, not of commandment. For I would that all men were even as I myself; in a state of continence." This he doth in many places when he is advising about difficult matters; he brings forward himself, and says, "Be ye imitators of me." "Howbeit each man hath his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that." Thus since he had heavily charged them saying, "for your incontinence," he again comforteth them by the words, "each one hath his own gift of God;" not declaring that towards that virtue there is no need of zeal on our part, but, as I was saying before, to comfort them. For if it be a "gift," and man contributes nothing thereunto, how sayest thou, "But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I: but if they have not continency let them marry?" Do you see the strong sense of Paul how he both signifies that continence is better, and yet puts no force on the person who cannot attain to it; fearing lest some offence arise?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Revelation of Christ — The second advent of Christ. Three different Greek words are used by the apostles to express this, (1) apokalupsis (1 Cor. 1;7; 2 Thess. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13); (2) parousia (Matt. 24:3, 27; 1 Thess.…
Continence · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Stoicism · .Celibacy — .Celibacy
Wife · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
1 Corinthians 7:6-9
6. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.
6. Hoc autem dico secundum veniam, non secundum praeceptum.
7. For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
7. Optarim enim, omnes homines esse sicut me: sed unusquisque proprium donum habet ex Deo, alius sic, alius autem sic.
8. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
8. Dico autem inconiugatis et viduis: bonum ipsis est, si maneant ut ego.
9. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
9. Si autem non continent, matrimonium…
