1 Corinthians Chapter 7, Verse 34
From BibleWiki
34: μεμερισται η γυνη και η παρθενος η αγαμος μεριμνα τα του κυριου ινα η αγια και σωματι και πνευματι η δε γαμησασα μεριμνα τα του κοσμου πως αρεσει τω ανδρι
34: There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The
unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she
may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is
married careth for the things of the world, how she may please
her husband.
34: And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of
the Lord: that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that
is married thinketh on the things of the world: how she may please her
husband.
Between a wife and a virgin. Between a woman that is married and one that is unmarried. The apostle says, that a similar difference between the condition of her that is married and her that is unmarried takes place, which had been observed between the married and the unmarried man. The Greek word here (memeristai) may mean, is divided, and be rendered, "the wife and the virgin are divided in the same manner;" i.e., there is the same difference in their case as exists between the married and the unmarried man.
The unmarried woman, etc. Has more advantages for attending to the things of religion; has fewer temptations to neglect her proper duty to God.
Both in body and in spirit. Entirely holy; that she may be entirely devoted to God. Perhaps in her case the apostle mentions the "body," which he had not done in the case of the man, because her temptation would be principally in regard to that -- the danger of endeavouring to decorate and adorn her person to please her husband.
How she may please her husband. The apostle here intends, undoubtedly, to intimate that there were dangers to personal piety in the married life, which would not occur in a state of celibacy; and that the unmarried female would have greater opportunities for devotion and usefulness than if married. And he intimates that the married female would be in danger of losing her zeal, and marring her piety, by attention to her husband, and by a constant effort to please him.
