1 Corinthians 7:8
New International Version
Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.

New Living Translation
So I say to those who aren’t married and to widows—it’s better to stay unmarried, just as I am.

English Standard Version
To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am.

Berean Standard Bible
Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am.

Berean Literal Bible
Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they should remain as even I.

King James Bible
I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

New King James Version
But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am;

New American Standard Bible
But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

NASB 1995
But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

NASB 1977
But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

Legacy Standard Bible
But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.

Amplified Bible
But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, [that as a practical matter] it is good if they remain [single and entirely devoted to the Lord] as I am.

Christian Standard Bible
I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I say to the unmarried and to widows: It is good for them if they remain as I am.

American Standard Version
But I say to the unmarried and to widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But I say to those who do not have a wife and to widows, that it benefits them if they should remain as I am.

Contemporary English Version
My advice for the unmarried and for widows is that it is acceptable for them to remain single, just as I am.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But I say to the unmarried, and to the widows: It is good for them if they so continue, even as I.

English Revised Version
But I say to the unmarried and to widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I say to those who are not married, especially to widows: It is good for you to stay single like me.

Good News Translation
Now, to the unmarried and to the widows I say that it would be better for you to continue to live alone as I do.

International Standard Version
I say to those who are unmarried, especially to widows: It is good for them to remain like me.

Literal Standard Version
And I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they may remain even as I [am];

Majority Standard Bible
Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am.

New American Bible
Now to the unmarried and to widows I say: it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do,

NET Bible
To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am.

New Revised Standard Version
To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am.

New Heart English Bible
But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.

Webster's Bible Translation
I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they remain even as I.

Weymouth New Testament
But I tell the unmarried, and women who are widows, that it is well for them to remain as I am.

World English Bible
But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.

Young's Literal Translation
And I say to the unmarried and to the widows: it is good for them if they may remain even as I am;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Principles of Marriage
7I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. 8Now to the unmarried and widows I say this: It is good for them to remain unmarried, as I am. 9But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.…

Cross References
1 Corinthians 7:1
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good to abstain from sexual relations.

1 Corinthians 7:7
I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

1 Corinthians 7:26
Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is.

1 Corinthians 9:5
Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Cephas?


Treasury of Scripture

I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

1 Corinthians 7:26,27,32,34,35
I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be…

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1 Corinthians 7
1. He discusses marriage;
4. showing it to be a remedy against sinful desires,
10. and that the bond thereof ought not lightly to be dissolved.
20. Every man must be content with his vocation.
25. Virginity wherefore to be embraced;
35. and for what respects we may either marry, or abstain from marrying.














(8) I say therefore.--Better, Now what I say is, . . . Widows are here joined with those who have not been married, otherwise discussion might have arisen as to whether the Apostle had intended his advice for them also. It has been curiously conjectured (by Luther amongst others), from the passage where St. Paul recommends widows to "abide even as I." that the Apostle was himself a widower. This, however, requires the word "unmarried" to be restricted to widowers, which is quite inadmissible; and even if such were admissible, the deduction from it that St. Paul was a widower could scarcely be considered logical. The almost universal tradition of the early Church was that St. Paul was never married, and unless we can imagine his having been married, and his wife dead before the stoning of St. Stephen which is scarcely possible (Acts 7:58), the truth of that tradition is evident. (See Philippians 4:3.) "Even as I;" that is, unmarried.

Verse 8. -To the unmarried; including widowers. In my 'Life of St. Paul,' 1:75-82, I have given my reasons for believing that St. Paul was a widower. It is good for them. It is an expedient, honourable, and morally "beautiful thing," but, as he so distinctly points out further on, there might be a "better" even to the "good." Even as I. In the unmarried state, whether as one who had never married, or, as I infer from various circumstances, as a widower (so too Clemens of Alexandria, Grotius, Luther, Ewald, etc.); see my 'Life of St. Paul,' 1:169). Tertullian and Jerome (both of them biassed witnesses, and with no certain support of tradition) say that St. Paul was never married.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Now
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

to the
τοῖς (tois)
Article - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

unmarried
ἀγάμοις (agamois)
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 22: Unmarried, of a person not in a state of wedlock, whether he or she has formerly been married or not. Unmarried.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

widows
χήραις (chērais)
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 5503: Feminine of a presumed derivative apparently from the base of chasma through the idea of deficiency; a widow, literally or figuratively.

I say [this]:
Λέγω (Legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

[It is] good
καλὸν (kalon)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 2570: Properly, beautiful, but chiefly good, i.e. Valuable or virtuous.

for them
αὐτοῖς (autois)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

to remain [unmarried],
μείνωσιν (meinōsin)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Plural
Strong's 3306: To remain, abide, stay, wait; with acc: I wait for, await. A primary verb; to stay.

as
ὡς (hōs)
Adverb
Strong's 5613: Probably adverb of comparative from hos; which how, i.e. In that manner.

I am.
κἀγώ (kagō)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 1st Person Singular
Strong's 2504: To also, I too, but I. From kai and ego; so also the dative case kamoi, and accusative case kame and I, me.


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NT Letters: 1 Corinthians 7:8 But I say to the unmarried (1 Cor. 1C iC 1Cor i cor icor)
1 Corinthians 7:7
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