15. After that the same
Apostle adds, and says, “Thou art bound to a wife, seek not
loosening: thou art loosed from a wife, seek not a wife.”2050
Of these
two, that, which be set first, pertains unto command, against which
it is not
lawful to do. For it is not
lawful to put away a
wife,
save because of
fornication,
2051
as the
Lord Himself saith in the
Gospel. But that, which he added, “Thou art loosed from a
wife,
seek not a
wife,” is a sentence of
counsel, not of command;
therefore it is
lawful to do, but it is better not to do. Lastly,
he added straightway, “Both if thou shalt have taken a
wife, thou
hast not
sinned; and, if a
virgin shall have been
married, she
sinneth not.”
2052
But, after
that former saying of his, “Thou art bound to a
wife,
seek not
loosening,” he added not, did he, “And if thou shalt have
loosed, thou hast not
sinned?” For he had already said above,
“But to these, who are in
marriage, I command, not I, but the
Lord, that the
wife depart not from her
husband: but, if she shall
have departed, that she remain
unmarried, or be
reconciled unto her
own
husband;” for it may come to pass that she depart, not
through any fault of her own, but of her
husband. Then he saith,
“And let not the man put away his
wife,” which, nevertheless,
he set down of command of the
Lord: nor did he then add, And, if he
shall have put her away, he sinneth not. For this is a command, not
to obey which is
sin: not a
counsel, which if you shall be
unwilling to use, you will obtain less good, not do any
ill. On
this account, after he had said, “Thou art loosed from a
wife,
seek not a
wife;” because he was not giving command, in order
that there be not
evil done, but was giving
counsel, in order that
there be done what is better: straightway he added, “Both, if
thou shall have taken a wife, thou hast not sinned; and, if a
virgin shall have been married, she sinneth not.”
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