SEV Biblia, Chapter 7:3
El marido pague a la mujer la debida benevolencia; y asimismo la mujer al marido.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 7:3
Verse 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence] thn ofeilomenhn eunoian? Though our version is no translation of the original, yet few persons are at a loss for the meaning, and the context is sufficiently plain. Some have rendered the words, not unaptly, the matrimonial debt, or conjugal duty-that which a wife owes to her husband, and the husband to his wife; and which they must take care mutually to render, else alienation of affection will be the infallible consequence, and this in numberless instances has led to adulterous connections. In such cases the wife has to blame herself for the infidelity of her husband, and the husband for that of his wife. What miserable work has been made in the peace of families by a wife or a husband pretending to be wiser than the apostle, and too holy and spiritual to keep the commandments of God!
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 3. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence , etc.] The Syriac version renders it, byjttmd abwj , due love; and so the Arabic; and may include all the offices of love, tenderness, humanity, care, provision, and protection, which are to be performed by the husband to his wife; though it seems chiefly, if not solely, here to respect what is called, htn[ , ( Exodus 21:10) her marriage duty, as distinct from food and raiment to be allowed her; and what is meant by it the Jewish doctors will tell us: one says f91 , it is hjmh ymt , the use of the marriage bed; and, says another f92 , hyl[ abl , it is to lie with her, according to the way of all the earth. And so the phrase here, due benevolence, is an euphemism, and designs the act of coition; which as it is an act of love and affection, a sign of mutual benevolence, so of justice; it is a due debt from divine ordination, and the matrimonial contract. The Jewish doctors have fixed and settled various canons concerning the performance, of this conjugal debt: and the apostle may not be altogether without some view to the rules and customs which obtained in his own nation. And, likewise also the wife unto the husband ; she is not to refuse the use of the bed when required, unless there is some just impediment, otherwise she comes under the name of tdrwm , a rebellious wife; concerning whom, and her punishment, the Jews give the following rules: a woman that restrains her husband from the use of the bed, is called rebellious; and when they ask her why she rebels, if she says, because it is loathsome to me, and I cannot lie with him; then they oblige him to put her away directly, without her dowry; and she may not take any thing of her husbands, not even her shoe strings, nor her hair lace; but what her husband did not give her she may take, and go away: and if she rebels against her husband, on purpose to afflict him, and she does to him so or so, and despises him, they send to her from the sanhedrim, and say to her, know thou, that if thou continuest in thy rebellion, thou shalt not prosper? and after that they publish her in the synagogues and schools four weeks, one after another, and say, such an one has rebelled against her husband; and after the publication, they send and say to her, if thou continuest in thy rebellion, thou wilt lose thy dowry; and they appoint her twelve months, and she has no sustenance from her husband all that time; and she goes out at the end of twelve months without her dowry, and returns everything that is her husbands. This account, with a little variation, is also given by Maimonides f95 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-9 - The apostle tells the Corinthians that it was good, in that juncture of time, for Christians to keep themselves single. Yet he says tha marriage, and the comforts of that state, are settled by Divine wisdom Though none may break the law of God, yet that perfect rule leaves me at liberty to serve him in the way most suited to their powers an circumstances, of which others often are very unfit judges. All mus determine for themselves, seeking counsel from God how they ought to act.
Greek Textus Receptus
τη 3588 T-DSF γυναικι 1135 N-DSF ο 3588 T-NSM ανηρ 435 N-NSM την 3588 T-ASF οφειλομενην 3784 5746 V-PPP-ASF ευνοιαν 2133 N-ASF αποδιδοτω 591 5720 V-PAM-3S ομοιως 3668 ADV δε 1161 CONJ και 2532 CONJ η 3588 T-NSF γυνη 1135 N-NSF τω 3588 T-DSM ανδρι 435 N-DSM
Robertson's NT Word Studies
7:3 {Render the due} (ten ofeilen apodidotw). Marriage is not simply not wrong, but for many a duty. Both husband and wife have a mutual obligation to the other. " this dictum defends marital intercourse against rigorists, as that of ver. #1 commends celibacy against sensualists" (Findlay).
