1 Corinthians 7:29
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
1 Corinthians 7:29 in other translations
| BSB | What I am saying, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; |
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| WEB | But I say this, brothers: the time is short. From now on, both those who have wives may be as though they had none; |
| ASV | But this I say, brethren, the time is shortened, that henceforth both those that have wives may be as though they had none; |
| YLT | And this I say, brethren, the time henceforth is having been shortened--that both those having wives may be as not having; |
| DARBY | But this I say, brethren, the time is straitened. For the rest, that they who have wives, be as not having any: |
| BBE | But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not; |
| Webster | But this I say, brethren, The time is short. It remaineth, that both they that have wives, be as though they had none; |
What does 1 Corinthians 7:29 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain
Barnes' Notes
The time is short. The time is contracted, drawn into a narrow space, (συνεσταλμενος.) The word which is here used is commonly applied to the act of furling a sail, i.e., reducing it into a narrow compass; and is then applied to anything that is reduced within narrow limits. Perhaps there was a reference here to the fact that the time was contracted, or made short, by their impending persecutions and trials. But it is always equally true that time is short. It will soon glide away, and come to a close. The idea of the apostle here is, that the plans of life should all be formed in view of this truth, THAT TIME IS SHORT. No plan should be adopted which does not contemplate this; no engagement of life made when it will not be appropriate to think of it; no connexion entered into when the thought, "time is short," would be an unwelcome intruder. See 1Pet 4:7, 2Pet 3:8,9.
It remaineth. τολοιπον. The remainder is; or this is a consequence from this consideration of the shortness of time.
Both they that have wives, etc. This does not mean that they are to treat them with unkindness or neglect, or fail in the duties of love and fidelity. It is to be taken in a general sense, that they were to live above the world; that they were not to be unduly attached to them; that they were to be ready to part with them; and that they should not suffer attachment to them to interfere with any duty which they owed to God. They were in a world of trial; and they were exposed to persecution; and as Christians they were bound to live entirely to God; and they ought not, therefore, to allow attachment to earthly friends to alienate their affections from God, or to interfere with their Christian duty. In one word, they ought to be just as faithful to God, and just as pious, in every respect, as if they had no wife and no earthly friend. Such a consecration to God is difficult, but not impossible. Our earthly attachments and cares draw away our affections from God, but they need not do it. Instead of being the occasion of alienating our affections from God, they should be, and they might be, the means of binding us more firmly and entirely to him and his cause. But alas! how many professing Christians live for their wives and children only, and not for God in these relations! How many suffer these earthly objects of attachment to alienate their minds from God, rather than make them the occasion of uniting them more tenderly to him and his cause!
(a) "time is short" 1Pet 4:7, 2Pet 3:8,9
Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians 7:25-35
Considering the distress of those times, the unmarried state was best. Notwithstanding, the apostle does not condemn marriage. How opposite are those to the apostle Paul who forbid many to marry, and entangle them with vows to remain single, whether they ought to do so or not! He exhorts all Christians to holy indifference toward the world. As to relations; they must not set their hearts on the comforts of the…
1 Corinthians 7:29 in the original Greek
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Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for 1 Corinthians 7:29
- 1 John 2:17
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
- Romans 13:11-12
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
- 1 Corinthians 7:31
And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
- James 4:13-16
Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
- Hebrews 13:13-14
Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
- 1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
- 2 Peter 3:8-9
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
- 1 Peter 1:24
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
- Psalms 103:15-16
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7-8
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
- Psalms 39:4-7
Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- 1 Corinthians 7:28
But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.
- 1 Corinthians 7:29
But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;
- 1 Corinthians 7:30
And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
1 Corinthians 7:29 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | Esto empero digo, hermanos, que el tiempo es corto: lo que resta es, que los que tienen mujeres sean como los que no las tienen; |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | Or je dis ceci, frères: le temps est difficile: au reste, c’est pour que ceux mêmes qui ont une femme soient comme n’en ayant pas; |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | Dieses aber sage ich, Brüder: Die Zeit ist gedrängt. Übrigens daß auch die, welche Weiber haben, seien, als hätten sie keine, |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | Hoc itaque dico, fratres: tempus breve est: reliquum est, ut et qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint: |