1 Corinthians 7 · Verse 33

1 Corinthians 7:33

But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
1 Corinthians 7:33, King James Version

1 Corinthians 7:33 in other translations

BSBBut the married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife,
WEBbut he who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife.
ASVbut he that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
YLTand the married is anxious for the things of the world, how he shall please the wife.
DARBYbut he that has married cares for the things of the world, how he shall please his wife.
BBEBut the married man gives his attention to the things of this world, how he may give pleasure to his wife.
WebsterBut he that is married, is anxious for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

What does 1 Corinthians 7:33 mean?

Barnes' Notes
Verse 33. Careth for the things that are of the world. Is under a necessity of giving attention to the things of the world; or cannot give his undivided attention and interest to the things of religion. This would be especially true in times of persecution.

How he mast please his wife. How he may gratify her; how he may accommodate himself to her temper and wishes, to make her happy. The apostle here plainly intimates that there would be danger that the man would be so anxious to gratify his wife, as to interfere with his direct religious duties. This may be done in many ways.

(1.) The affections may be taken off from the Lord, and bestowed upon the wife. She may become the object of even improper attachment, and may take the place of God in the affections.

(2.) The time may be taken up in devotion to her, which should be given to secret prayer, and to the duties of religion.

(3.) She may demand his society and attention when he ought to be engaged in doing good to others, and endeavouring to advance the kingdom of Christ.

(4.) She may be gay and fashionable, and may lead him into improper expenses, into a style of living that may be unsuitable for a Christian, and into society where his piety will be injured, and his devotion to God lessened; or,

(5.) she may have erroneous opinions on the doctrines and duties of religion; and a desire to please her may lead him insensibly to modify his views, and to adopt more lax opinions, and to pursue a more lax course of life in his religious duties. Many a husband has thus been injured by a gay, thoughtless, and imprudent wife; and though that wife may be a Christian, yet her course may be such as shall greatly retard his growth in grace, and mar the beauty of his piety.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 33 But he that is married - He has a family to provide for, and his wife to please, as well as to fulfill his duty to God, and attend to the concerns of his own soul. The single man has nothing to attend to but what concerns his own salvation: the married man has all this to attend to, and besides to provide for his wife and family, and take care of their eternal interests also. The single man has very little trouble comparatively; the married man has a great deal. The single man is an atom in society; the married man is a small community in himself. The former is the centre of his own existence, and lives for himself alone; the latter is diffused abroad, makes a much more important part of the body social, and provides both for its support and continuance. The single man lives for and does good to himself only; the married man lives both for himself and the public. Both the state and the Church of Christ are dependent on the married man, as from him under God the one has subjects, the other members; while the single man is but an individual in either, and by and by will cease from both, and having no posterity is lost to the public for ever. The married man, therefore, far from being in a state of inferiority to the single man, is beyond him out of the limits of comparison. He can do all the good the other can do, though perhaps sometimes in a different way; and he can do ten thousand goods that the other cannot possibly do. And therefore both himself and his state are to be preferred infinitely before those of the other. Nor could the apostle have meant any thing less; only for the present distress he gave his opinion that it was best for those who were single to continue so. And who does not see the propriety of the advice?

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…

Read the full comment on 1 Corinthians 7:25-35 →

1 Corinthians 7:33 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὁhothe [one]G3588
δὲdehoweverG1161
γαμήσαςgamēsashaving been marriedG1060
μεριμνᾷmerimnahe cares forG3309
τὰtathe [things]G3588
τοῦtouof theG3588
κόσμου,kosmouworld,G2889
πῶςpōshowG4459
ἀρέσῃaresēhe may pleaseG700
τῇtēatheG3588
γυναικί,gunaikiwife,G1135

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Corinthians 7:33

  • 1 Peter 3:7

    Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.

  • Colossians 3:19

    Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

  • 1 Timothy 5:8

    But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

  • Ephesians 5:25-33

    Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. …

  • Luke 12:22

    And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

  • 1 Samuel 1:4-8

    And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the Lord had shut up her womb. And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. …

  • 1 Corinthians 7:3

    Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

  • Nehemiah 5:1-5

    And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth. There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king’s tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
careth.
Ne 5:1-5; Lu 12:22; 1Th 4:11,12; 1Ti 5:8
how.
3; 1Sa 1:4-8; Eph 5:25-33; Col 3:19; 1Pe 3:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Corinthians 7:32

    But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

  • 1 Corinthians 7:33

    But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

  • 1 Corinthians 7:34

    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.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 7

1 Corinthians 7:33 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Empero el que se casó tiene cuidado de las cosas que son del mundo, cómo ha de agradar á su mujer.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		mais celui qui s’est marié a le cœur occupé des choses du monde, comment il plaira à sa femme.
German
Elberfelder 1871		der Verheiratete aber ist für die Dinge der Welt besorgt, wie er dem Weibe gefallen möge.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Qui autem cum uxore est, sollicitus est quæ sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est.