Let Not the Wife Depart 1 Corinthians 7:10

According to Paul the apostle, if the unmarried “cannot contain, let them marry” because “it is better to marry than to burn”, and in chapter seven and verse ten of First Corinthians, Paul told the married church members “let not the wife depart from her husband” where we read:

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

The verse begins, “And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, ...” Paul began with the words, “And unto the married” which refers to “to the ones who have taken a husband or wife in marriage” “I command” which means “Paul transmitted a message along from one to another, declared, ordered or charged”, “yet not I” or “not actually Paul”, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “the Lord” or “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”. Paul is going to share “the Lord's” “command” to the church members who are married in Corinth.

The verse continues, “... Let not the wife depart from her husband:” Paul added the word, “Let not” which means “Do not allow or permit” “the wife” or “the married woman”“depart” which means “separate, part, put asunder, divorce or go away from” “from her husband” or “separated from the woman's married man”. Paul exhorted the “wife” not to “put asunder, divorce or go away from” their “husband”.

When we think through these words from Paul, we see the “Lord's command” concerning a wife “divorcing” her husband. Jesus was approached about the idea of divorce and answered, “For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they two shall be one flesh: so then they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” (Mark 10:5-10) If we are married, we must do all we are able to keep the “Lord's command”, and if we have exhausted all other options, let us rely upon the help and grace of God to obey and do what is pleasing to Him.

Next time Paul tells the church members concerning a wife, “if she depart, let her remain unmarried”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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