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| Q: | I was reading an article on the internet that infered that 1 Corinthians 7:15 could not be an allowance by God for scriptural divorce, because first of all it goes against other clear scripture that states the only scriptural grounds for divorce is adultery, and secondly that the word used for bound in the greek language is being sinfully misused by those who allow divorce for desertion, since the author claims that the word that is used in the Greek is speaking to the spiritual condition of the person. I found this article hard to follow because of the references to the technicalities of translating. Would you please comment especialy on their translation of 1 Corinthians 7:15, and how they are either correct or incorrect in their interpretation? | ||||||
| A: | This passage is not a difficult passage to understand. Some people want to impose their own interpretation on it by setting this passage against others in Scripture or by giving a different meaning to words in this passage. But if one interprets this passage in the context in which it is placed by Paul (especially comparing v15 with vv12 and 13), it's meaning is clear. If a person's unbelieving marriage partner leaves the marriage bond, a person is no longer bound in marriage to that person. Think of two married persons as two links that are joined together. The marriage binds the two of them together as one (Mk 10:7-8). If one marriage partner joins himself or herself by adultery to a person other than his/her marriage partner, the link with his/her marriage partner has been broken (Mk 10:11-12). The two are no longer one because the one marriage partner has joined himself to a third person. 1 Co 7:15 says that if a person breaks the link by having nothing to do with (the Greek says "depart, separate from") his/her marriage partner, the link is also broken (whether or not that person has joined himself/herself to another person). | ||||||
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