I Corinthians 7

¹¹ But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. (The Holy Bible, I Cor. 7.11)

Remaining single is the only thing left after a woman is separated; however, if she has remained chaste she may join back with her husband. The husband must not send away his wife. This is still under the command of the Lord. As long as the marital bond of purity of one flesh has not been broken with defilement, the man has a life-time duty to keep his wife.

As to the command for the separated woman to remain “unmarried”, my transliteration—“a'gamos” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 11) —in the Greek, is very revealing, it is clear that the thought or act of remarriage (it is never valid) for her is not valid and that no marriage other than the one in question is acceptable to God.

The only times for acceptable divorce mentioned formerly in the Old Testament that I know of were for some found form of impurity, uncleanness (Dt. 23:14) or defilement. However, in the New Testament, divorce is explicitly proper for fornication (Mt. 19:9): then a man is allowed to put away a woman for the reason of fornication/premarital sex, which would void (Dt. 22:21) a biblical marriage (according to the law) to begin with. Annulment is the remedy.

The marriage bond of purity and institution of one flesh has been the same since Adam and Eve. The Lord Jesus Christ himself referred to it as an example. It is pure wherein the woman has a one-man cognizance and for a life time; it must not be broken. Polygamy allowed the man to have more than a one-woman cognizance but the allowance of multiple wives expired at the one-wife rule (v. 27) of the New Testament.

I want to go into this a little bit. Let’s look at the verses from the critical edition, Koine Greek text, NA26, 1 Cor. 10-11:

¹⁰Τοῖς δὲ γεγαμηκόσιν παραγγέλλω, οὐκ ἐγὼ ἀλλὰ ὁ κύριος, γυναῖκα ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς μὴ χωρισθῆναι,- ¹¹ἐὰν δὲ καὶ χωρισθῇ, μενέτω ἄγαμος ἢ τῷ ἀνδρὶ καταλλαγήτω,- καὶ ἄνδρα γυναῖκα μὴ ἀφιέναι. (Black, vv. 1 Cor. 10-11)

Paul is strongly giving instructions to "those who have been married,"—“γεγαμηκόσιν” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 10), which I would transliterate as “ge-ga-may-ko'-seen” and translate as though they continue to exist as being married—the verb is a perfect participle. In my paraphrastic form, he says the message is not from himself, “but from the Lord”—“οὐκ ἐγὼ ἀλλὰ ὁ κύριος” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 10): “the wife from the husband is not to be separated”—“γυναῖκα ἀπὸ ἀνδρὸς μὴ χωρισθῆναι” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 10), and if she be separated, let her either “abide unmarried”—“μενέτω ἄγαμος” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 11) or “be joined back with the husband”—“τῷ ἀνδρὶ καταλλαγήτω….” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 11)

Thus, in case of a separation among the mates there are two choices:

(1) the woman must live separated without marrying anyone else: “μενέτω ἄγαμος” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 11), or

(2) she may be reconciled to her husband: my paraphrastic translation, “be joined back with the husband”—“τῷ ἀνδρὶ καταλλαγήτω….” (Black, v. 1 Cor. 11) However, there is a danger in separation, because if the woman subsequently commits adultery, then according to Dt. 24:4 (KJV) she would forfeit her opportunity of reconciliation to her husband due to defilement. Thus, she would have to remain alone at least as long as her husband is alive.

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Works Cited

Black, Matthew, et al. The Greek New Testament. United Bible Societies, 1997, p. 1 Co 7:10–11.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (1995). (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version., 1 Co 7:11). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.