Weaver1has's Blog

9^th July 2020

²⁵ Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy. ²⁶ I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.  NASB

Paul Continues to give advice on people who can get married.  In the space of verses 25 and 26 he mentions virgins and men. In the middle of this thought he mentions in the ‘present distress’.

How can we interpret this?

We can begin by saying there is a tension in this text and here I agree with Barrett.  The tension is;

1. We can interpret it in the light of verse 29 to do with the end times and Christ coming soon… verse 29 sounds a bit like Matthew 22:²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
2. We can interpret it in light of verse 36 where he carries on talking about virgins. Verse 36: ³⁶ But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry.

I personally think verse 29 is more likely and Paul is thinking about the end times.  In retrospect even though the end times haven’t come yet, this hope of ours is a rock that Jesus is certainly coming back again.  We can also remember 1 Corinthians 15 that one day in Christ we will have a resurrection and will reign with him forever and all the responsibilities that this will entail.

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