English Standard Version
1 Corinthians 7:23
23You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
1 Corinthians 7:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
- New International Version (NIV)You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
- New Living Translation (NLT)God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world.
Context of 1 Corinthians 7:23
21Were you a bondservant when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) 22For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. 24So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. 25Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 71 Corinthians 7:23 word by word
τιμῆς ἠγοράσθητε· μὴ γίνεσθε δοῦλοι ἀνθρώπων.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 7:23
- 1 Corinthians 6:20for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
- Leviticus 25:42For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves.
- Acts 20:28Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
- 1 Peter 1:18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
- 1 Peter 3:18For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,
- Revelation 5:9And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
- Matthew 23:8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.
- Galatians 2:4Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 7:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Ye are bought with a price - As truly as your bodies have become the property of your masters, in consequence of his paying down a price for you; so sure you are now the Lord's property, in consequence of your being purchased by the blood of Christ. Some render this verse interrogatively: Are ye bought with a price from your slavery? Do not again become slaves of men. Never sell yourselves; prefer and retain your liberty now that ye have acquired it. In…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Ye are bought with a price - Though you are slaves to people, yet you have been purchased for God by the blood of His Son; see the note at 1 Corinthians 6:20. You are, therefore, in his sight of inestimable worth, and are bound to be His. Be not ye the servants of men - That is, “Do not regard yourselves as the slaves of men. Even in your humble relation of life, even as servants under the laws of the land, regard yourselves as the servants of God, as…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 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…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 21-23Slavery shows the general idea mentioned in 1 Corinthians 7:17, 20, 24. Slavery was common in the Greco-Roman world, and many Christian converts were slaves serving wealthy families. According to Paul, like circumcision, being a slave is not very important for a Christian. Even as a slave, a Christian is spiritually free from sin, death, and the law (see Romans 6:14; 7:4–6; 8:2). As a free person, the believer is still a servant of Christ (see Ephesians…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. be not ye--Greek, "become not ye." Paul here changes from "thou" (1Co 7:21) to "ye." Ye all are "bought" with the blood of Christ, whatever be your earthly state (1Co 6:20). "Become not servants to men," either externally, or spiritually; the former sense applying to the free alone: the latter to Christian freemen and slaves alike, that they should not be servile adherents to their party leaders at Corinth (1Co 3:21, 22; Mt 23:8-10; 2Co 11:20); nor…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 7:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries