SEV Biblia, Chapter 7:35
Esto, sin embargo, digo para vuestro provecho; no para echaros lazo, sino para lo honorable, y para que sin impedimento os sirvis al Seor.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 7:35
Verse 35. This I speak for your own profit] The advices belong to yourselves alone, because of the peculiar circumstances in which you are placed. Nothing spoken here was ever designed to be of general application; it concerned the Church at Corinth alone, or Churches in similar circumstances. Not that I may cast a snare upon you] ouc ina brocon umin epibalw-Here is a manifest allusion to the Retiarius among the Romans, who carried a small casting net, which he endeavoured to throw over the head of his adversary and thus entangle him. Or to a similar custom among the Persians, who made use of a noose called the (Arabic) camand; which they employed in the same way. One of these lies before me; it is a strong silken cord, one end of which is a loop to be held in the hand, and the rest is in the form of a common snare or noose, which, catching hold of any thing, tightens in proportion as it is pulled by the hand that holds the loop.
The apostle, therefore, intimates that what he says was not intended absolutely to bind them, but to show them the propriety of following an advice which in the present case would be helpful to them in their religious connections, that they might attend upon the Lord without distraction, which they could not do in times of persecution, when, in addition to their own personal safety, they had a wife and children to care for.
For that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction,] The original alla prov to euschmon kai euprosedron tw kuriw aperispastwv, of which our version is only a paraphrase, is thus translated by Bishop Pearson: But for the sake of decency, and of attending more easily upon the Lord without distraction. This is much more literal than ours.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 35. And this I speak for your own profit , etc.] The apostle suggests, that in giving the advice he did to unmarried persons to abide single, he had nothing else in view than their temporal and spiritual advantage; that they might be better able to meet and grapple with persecution for the sake of the Gospel; that they might be more free from the cares and encumbrances of life, and more at liberty to serve the Lord; whereby not only his glory, but their spiritual good, might be promoted; not that he thought that marriage was unlawful, or that the single life was a more honest, and a more chaste way of living, or that it was absolutely necessary, and an incumbent duty upon them to remain single, nor would he be so understood: all that he had said was by way of advice; he had very faithfully laid before them the advantages and disadvantages of both states, and now leaves them to their full liberty to do as they pleased to take his advice, or not: not that I may cast a snare on you ; as fowlers on birds: had he enjoined virginity as necessary, and insisted upon it, that it was absolutely their duty to live a single life; this would have been laying an obligation upon them, and an ensnaring and entangling of them: hereby some might have engaged in a single life, who had not the gift of continence, and so might have been drawn into the sin of fornication, or into unnatural lust, and such impurities as would be very scandalous unto, and highly reflect upon, the Gospel of Christ. But the apostle delivered himself on the subject with no such view, and in such a manner as is plain he meant not to ensnare any: but for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction : all he aimed at, by advising them to a single life, was that they might more orderly and constantly, and without distraction of mind, through the cares of the world, wait upon the Lord, and serve him; which, in his opinion, was choosing the good part with Mary; whilst others, like Martha, were troubled, divided, and distracted with many things.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 25-35 - Considering the distress of those times, the unmarried state was best Notwithstanding, the apostle does not condemn marriage. How opposit are those to the apostle Paul who forbid many to marry, and entangl 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 state As to afflictions; they must not indulge the sorrow of the world: eve in sorrow the heart may be joyful. As to worldly enjoyments; here is not their rest. As to worldly employment; those that prosper in trade and increase in wealth, should hold their possessions as though the held them not. As to all worldly concerns; they must keep the world ou of their hearts, that they may not abuse it when they have it in their hands. All worldly things are show; nothing solid. All will be quickl gone. Wise concern about worldly interests is a duty; but to be full of care, to have anxious and perplexing care, is a sin. By this maxim the apostle solves the case whether it were advisable to marry. Tha condition of life is best for every man, which is best for his soul and keeps him most clear of the cares and snares of the world. Let u reflect on the advantages and snares of our own condition in life; tha we may improve the one, and escape as far as possible all injury from the other. And whatever cares press upon the mind, let time still be kept for the things of the Lord.
Greek Textus Receptus
τουτο 5124 D-ASN δε 1161 CONJ προς 4314 PREP το 3588 T-ASN υμων 5216 P-2GP αυτων 846 P-GPM συμφερον 4851 5723 V-PAP-ASN λεγω 3004 5719 V-PAI-1S ουχ 3756 PRT-N ινα 2443 CONJ βροχον 1029 N-ASM υμιν 5213 P-2DP επιβαλω 1911 5632 V-2AAS-1S αλλα 235 CONJ προς 4314 PREP το 3588 T-ASN ευσχημον 2158 A-ASN και 2532 CONJ ευπροσεδρον 2145 A-ASN τω 3588 T-DSM κυριω 2962 N-DSM απερισπαστως 563 ADV
Vincent's NT Word Studies
35. Snare (brocon). Lit., a noose or slip-knot for hanging or strangling. Thus Homer of Jocasta: "She went to Hades having suspended a noose on high from the lofty roof" ("Odyssey," 11, 278). Sophocles, of Antigone:"We descried her hanging by the neck, slung by a thread-wrought halter of fine linen" ("Antigone," 1222). Also a snare for birds; the meshes of a net. That ye may attend (prov - euparedron). Only here in the New Testament. From euj well, paredrov setting beside. That ye may attend is a kind of circumlocution. The Greek reads literally: for that which is seemly and for that which is assiduous. Assiduous conveys the sense of the word as nearly as possible, since etymologically it means sitting close at. One is reminded of Mary at Bethany sitting at Jesus' feet, Luke x. 39.
Without distraction (aperispastwv) See on Luke x. 40. The same word compounded here with aj not, is used of Martha's being cumbered or distracted with much serving.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
7:35 {For your own profit} (pros to humwn autwn sumforon). Old adjective, advantageous, with neuter article here as substantive, from verb sumferw. In N.T. here only and #10:33. Note reflexive plural form humwn autwn. {Not that I may cast a snare upon you} (ouc hina brocon humin epibalw). brocon is a noose or slip-knot used for lassoing animals, old word, only here in N.T. Papyri have an example "hanged by a noose." epibalw is second aorist active subjunctive of epiballw, old verb to cast upon. Paul does not wish to capture the Corinthians by lasso and compel them to do what they do not wish about getting married. {For that which is seemly} (pros to euscemon). Old adjective (eu, well, scemwn, shapely, comely, from scema, figure). For the purpose of decorum. {Attend upon the Lord} (euparedron). Adjective construed with pros to, before, late word (Hesychius) from eu, well, and paredros, sitting beside, "for the good position beside the Lord" (associative instrumental case of kuriwi). Cf. Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus (#Lu 10:39). {Without distraction} (aperispastws). Late adverb (Polybius, Plutarch, LXX) from the adjective aperispastos (common in the papyri) from a privative and perispaw, to draw around (#Lu 10:40).
