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1 Corinthians 7:39

The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

KJV

γυνὴ δέδεται ἐφ’ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς· ἐὰν δὲ κοιμηθῇ ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι, μόνον ἐν κυρίῳ.

Greek NT

Mulier alligata est legi quanto tempore vir ejus vivit, quod si dormierit vir ejus, liberata est : cui vult nubat, tantum in Domino.

Vulgate

A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

ASV

A woman is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth: but if her husband die, she is at liberty. Let her marry to whom she will: only in the Lord.

Douay-Rheims

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In the original Greek

20 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
γαμέω
gameo
verb · 28×
γυνή
gune
noun · 219×
δέ
de
conjunction · 2781×
δέω
deo
verb · 43×
εἰμί
eimi
verb · 2461×
ζάω
zao
verb · 140×
θέλω
thelo
verb · 208×
κοιμάω
koimao
verb · 18×
κύριος
kurios
noun · 717×
μόνον
monon
adverb · 66×
χρόνος
chronos
noun · 54×
ἀνήρ
aner
noun · 216×
ἐάν
ean
conditional · 333×
ἐλεύθερος
eleutheros
adjective · 23×
ἐν
en
preposition · 2743×
ἐπί
epi
preposition · 888×
o
article · 19778×
ὅς
os
relative_pronoun · 1404×
ὅσος
osos
correlative · 108×

Textual variants

2 variant units attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

notable
SBLGNT: δέδεται | WH/Treg/NIV: δέδεται | RP: + νόμῳ
  • δέδεταιSBLGNT
  • δέδεταιWestcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • + νόμῳRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus
notable
SBLGNT: δὲ | WH/Treg/NIV: δὲ | RP: + καί
  • δὲSBLGNT
  • δὲWestcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • + καίRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Historic Christian voices

6 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§1602Sacred Scripture begins with the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God and concludes with a vision of "the wedding-feast of the Lamb."85 Scripture speaks throughout of marriage and its "mystery," its institution and the meaning God has given it, its origin and its end, its various realizations throughout the history of salvation, the difficulties arising fr…
1. The Power of Harmony in Relation to Prayer. Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them. Matthew 18:19 The word symphony is strictly applied to the harmonies of sounds in music. And there are indeed among musical sounds some accordant and others discordant. But the Evangelic Scripture is fam…

Cross-references

  • 1Cor 7:10 — And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
  • 1Cor 7:15 — But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
  • 1Cor 9:5 — Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
  • 1Tim 5:11 — But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry;
  • 2Cor 6:14 — Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
  • 2Cor 6:14 — Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
  • Gen 24:3 — And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
  • Mal 2:11 — Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the LORD which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange
  • Matt 19:9 — And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
  • Rom 7:2 — For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
  • Rom 7:2 — For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.