New English Translation
1 Corinthians 7:23
23You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves 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.
- 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 called as a slave? Do not worry about it. But if indeed you are able to be free, make the most of the opportunity. 22For the one who was called in the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. In the same way, the one who was called as a free person is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. 24In whatever situation someone was called, brothers and sisters, let him remain in it with God. 25With regard to the question about people who have never married, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my opinion as one shown mercy by the Lord to be 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 at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
- Leviticus 25:42Since they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale.
- Acts 20:28Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son.
- 1 Peter 1:18You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold,
- 1 Peter 3:18Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.
- Revelation 5:9They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
- Matthew 23:8But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.
- Galatians 2:4Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves.
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries