1 Corinthians 7:18

Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised Is any called in uncircumcision? Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised. NOT BECOME UNCIRCUMCISED - by surgical operation ( 1Ma 1:15 ). Such were called meshukim; recutiti. Some, in excess of anti-Jewish feeling, might be tempted to this. LET HIM NOT BE CIRCUMCISED - as the Judaizing Christians would have him (Acts 15:1; )....

18._Circumcised_, etc. As he had made mention of the _calling_, he takes occasion, from a particular instance, to make a digression for a little into a general exhortation, as he is wont to do in many instances; and, at the same time, he confirms, by different examples, what he had said respecting marriage. The sum is this, that in external things you must not rashly abandon the _calling _on which you have once entered by the will of God. And he begins with _circumcisions_, respecting which many at that time disputed. Now, he says that with God it makes no difference whether you are a Gentile or a Jew. Hence he exhorts every one to be contented with his condition. It must always be kept in view, that he treats only of lawful modes of life, which have God as their approver and author....

17-24 The rules of Christianity reach every condition; and in every state a man may live so as to be a credit to it. It is the duty of every Christian to be content with his lot, and to conduct himself in his rank and place as becomes a Christian. Our comfort and happiness depend on what we are to Christ, not what we are in the world. No man should think to make his faith or religion, an argument to break through any natural or civil obligations. He should quietly and contentedly abide in the condition in which he is placed by Divine Providence....

Verse 18. _IS ANY MAN CALLED BEING CIRCUMCISED?_] Is any man who was formerly a _Jew_ converted to Christianity? _LET HIM NOT BECOME CIRCUMCISED._] Let him not endeavour to abolish the sign of the old covenant, which he bears in his flesh. The Greek words μη επισπασθω, let him not _draw over_, are evidently an elliptical expression: the word την ακροβυστιαν, _the fore-skin_, being understood; which, indeed, is added by the _Armenian_ and the _Itala_, and several of the Latin _fathers_. It is a fact that it was possible by the assistance of _art_ to do this; and _Celsus_ himself prescribes the mode, _De Medic_. vii. 25. By frequent stretching, the circumcised skin could be again _so drawn over_, as to prevent the ancient sign of circumcision from appearing. Some in their zeal against Judaism endeavoured to abolish this sign of it in their flesh: it is most evidently against this that th...

IS ANY MAN CALLED? - Does anyone become a Christian? See the note at 1 Corinthians 1:26. BEING CIRCUMCISED - Being a native-born Jew, or having become a Jewish proselyte, and having submitted to the initiatory rite of the Jewish religion. LET HIM NOT BECOME UNCIRCUMCISED - This could not be literally done. But the apostle refers here to certain efforts which were made to remove the marks of circumcision which were often attempted by those who were ashamed of having been circumcised. The practice is often alluded to by Jewish writers, and is described by them; compare 1 Mac. 1 Corinthians 1:15. It is not decorous or proper here to show how this was done. The process is d

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 7:1 _Answers to the inquiries of the Corinthians respecting marriage._ 1 CORINTHIANS 7:1 _The_ _lawfulness of marriage, and its duties._ 1 CORINTHIANS 7:1 NOW CONCERNING. This refers to questions of the Corinthians. It is GOOD FOR A MAN NOT TO TOUCH A WOMAN. The word used is not _agathon, _good, but _kalon, _fair; "an excellent thing." In 1 Corinthians 7:26 he limits the word by the clause, "good for the p

IS ANY MAN CALLED BEING CIRCUMCISED?.... That is, if any man that is a Jew, who has been circumcised in his infancy, is called by the grace of God, as there were many in those days, and many of them in the church at Corinth: LET HIM NOT BECOME UNCIRCUMCISED; or "draw on" the foreskin; as some did in the times of Antiochus, for fear of him, and to curry favour with him, who, it is said, 1 Maccab. 1:15, "made themselves uncircumcised", and forsook the holy covenant; and so did Menelaus, and the sons of Tobias, as Josephus reports b; and there were many, in the days of Ben Cozba, who became uncircumcised by force, משוכין, they had their foreskins drawn on by the Gentiles against their wills, and when he came to reign were circumcised again c; for, according to the Jews, circumcision must be repeated, and not only four or five times d, but a hundred times, if a man becomes so often uncircu...

4. CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP OF MAN AND WOMAN CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Single and the Married Life. (1 Corinthians 7:1)._ 2. Separation and Divorce. (1 Corinthians 7:10). 3. Abiding in the Different Callings. (1 Corinthians 7:17). 4. The Unmarried and Married in Contrast. (1 Corinthians 7:25). It is evident from the first verse that the Corinthians had inquired of the Apostle about marriage and the relationship of man and woman. It was an important question in a city of the character of Corinth, so full of immorality. This chapter answers their questi

He now passes on to special classes. First, those who are unmarried or have lost their partners. It would be best for them to follow Paul's example and remain as they are. But if they have not the gift of continence, it would be better to marry than to be inflamed with illicit desire. The married must abide in the married state, as Jesus Himself commands. If the wife should leave her husband, she must refrain from contracting a new union, or, if she feels she must have a man to live with, she must make it up with her husband. Similarly, the husband must not desert the wife. So much for the case where both are Christians. But for the cases where one is a heathen, no command of Jesus can be quoted. If the heathen is willing to continue the relationship, the Christian is not to dissolve it. It was natural for a Christian to feel that the continuance of the relation involved defilement and m...

COMPLETE ASCETICISM (1 Corinthians 7:1-2)...