[B-Greek] 1 Cor 7:27: "loosed" (was "No subject")

Carl W. Conrad cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
Tue Aug 3 04:07:26 EDT 2004


At 6:37 PM -0700 8/2/04, Paul Battjes wrote:
>I am seeking clarification of the greek word for "loosed" used in 1 Cor.
>7:27.   Does it have 2 meanings used in the same verse.  Does the 2nd
>usage refer to divorcees or singles who have never married or widows.?
>
>Thanks for you help.
>
>Paul Battjes
>Canada

This question is tangential to B-Greek's proper scope since it is more a
translation question rather than a question concerning the Greek text of
the passage in question; but it can be answered in B-Greek terms. First,
let's cite the Greek text:

	DEDESAI GUNAIKI, MH ZHTEI LUSIN; LELUSAI APO GUNAIKOS, MH ZHTEI
GUNAIKA.

The key verbal notions here are DEW and LUW in the sense of a binding
attachment, what we would call marriage. Quite literally, it's: "You are
attached to a woman: don't seek dissolution; you're unattached to a woman:
don't seek a woman."

My own simple version of this would be: "If you're attached to a woman,
don't look for a dissolution ; if you're unattached, don't look for an
attachment."

KJV, which you have evidently consulted, has for this: "27 Are you married?
Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don't get married." This is not quite
literal, but it's hard to misunderstand and should, I think, be clear to
anyone who grasps that key verbal notion of attachment and non-attachment.
The verbs DEDESAI and LELUSAI are 2 sg. perfect middle-passive forms
indicating the hypothetical present state of a person addressed by the
advice-giver (obviously Paul here, but he's offering a generalized advice
in a generalized second-person form): DEDESAI GUNAIKI means, in effect,
"you stand in a legally binding attachment to a wife"; LELUSAI APO GUNAIKOS
means, in effect, "you stand in a state of freedom from attachment to a
wife." LUSIN in the first advice means "disattachment" or "divorce."
LELUSAI APO GUNAIKOS could be understood in terms of one who HAS BEEN
DIVORCED FROM A WIFE, but I think it's really more general in focus,
indicating a person/man is currently in a state of disassociation from a
wife, whether divorced or never married.

Other modern versions express the sense perhaps more clearly than does the
KJV. NET reformulates the advice given by Paul as generalized hypothetical
cases: "The one bound to a wife should not seek divorce. The one released
from a wife should not seek marriage." Patterson's "Message" retains the
Greek text's second-person format but is crystal clear: "Are you married?
Stay married. Are you unmarried? Don't get married."
-- 

Carl W. Conrad
Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
cwconrad at artsci.wustl.edu
WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/



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