God’s Word Translation
1 Corinthians 7:23
23You were bought for a price. Don’t become anyone’s slaves.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.
- New King James Version (NKJV)You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
Context of 1 Corinthians 7:23
21Were you a slave when you were called? That shouldn’t bother you. However, if you have a chance to become free, take it. 22If the Lord called you when you were a slave, you are the Lord’s free person. In the same way, if you were free when you were called, you are Christ’s slave. You were bought for a price. Don’t become anyone’s slaves. 24Brothers and sisters, you should remain in whatever circumstances you were in when God called you. God is with you in those circumstances. 25Concerning virgins: Even though I don’t have any command from the Lord, I’ll give you my opinion. I’m a person to whom the Lord has shown mercy, so I can be trusted.
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 6:20You were bought for a price. So bring glory to God in the way you use your body.
- Leviticus 25:42They are my servants. I brought them out of Egypt. They must never be sold as slaves.
- Acts 20:28Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to be shepherds for God’s church which he acquired with his own blood.
- 1 Peter 1:18Realize that you weren’t set free from the worthless life handed down to you from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can be destroyed.
- 1 Peter 3:18This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit.
- Revelation 5:9Then they sang a new song, “You deserve to take the scroll and open the seals on it, because you were slaughtered. You bought people with your blood to be God’s own. They are from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
- Matthew 23:8But don’t make others call you Rabbi, because you have only one teacher, and you are all followers.
- Galatians 2:4False Christians were brought in. They slipped in as spies to learn about the freedom Christ Jesus gives us. They hoped to find a way to control us.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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