What does Paul mean when he says those who marry will have worldly troubles in the flesh?

Explanation:

Paul says that those who are married will have pressure [θλῖψιν] in the flesh. The noun θλῖψις means something like pressure, distress, trouble, or tribulation. So what does it mean that married people will have pressure/distress in the flesh? Paul explains what he means in 1 Corinthians 7:32–34.⁵ There he says that the unmarried man is anxious about one thing only, how to please the Lord (1 Corinthians 7:32). The married man, on the other hand, is anxious about how to please his spouse (1 Corinthians 7:33–34). This means that the married person has two anxieties, how to please the Lord and one’s spouse. In other words, the pressure in the flesh that married people deal with is the daily maintenance of the marriage relationship.

Counterargument:

It’s hard to see that Paul could have the daily pressures of marriage in mind when he says that married people will have distress in the flesh. We know from Genesis 2:20–24 that marriage was instituted by God. So why should an institution that was implemented by God be avoided due to undue distress in the flesh? Isn’t it fitting for a Christian to endure suffering and distress for the sake of a loved one?

Response to counterargument:

We have to be careful to understand Paul’s words in context. Paul specifically states that marriage is no sin (1 Corinthians 7:28), so there is no moral component to Paul’s advice.⁶ Rather, Paul shares his preference, which is to remain single, but his reason is not that there is anything inherently wrong with marriage.⁷ Rather, Paul’s motivation is pastoral.⁸ Paul reminds the Corinthians who are thinking about marriage that married people have pressure in the flesh that single people do not. Given the present distress (1 Corinthians 7:26), those who are called to singleness can spare themselves from the pressures of marriage by remaining single. Still, if one marries, it is no sin.

Explanation:

Paul says that married people will endure pressure in the flesh, and says he wants to spare the Corinthians from this (1 Corinthians 7:28). We can understand what Paul means that married people will have pressures in the flesh by noting that he addresses single people.⁹ Paul explains that unmarried people do well to remain married, especially in light of the present distress. Why should single people remain unmarried? Paul explains that married people will have pressure in the flesh, while single people can avoid this. In other words, married people face the daily challenge of maintaining their marriage relationship, while single people avoid these challenges altogether.

Counterargument:

When Paul says that married people will have pressure in the flesh, the term in the flesh could be used adjectivally to modify pressure. If this is the case, we could translate Paul’s phrase as bodily affliction.¹⁰ So what sort of bodily affliction does a married couple endure? The only possible candidate is sexual passion.¹¹ In other words, married people will have to endure the bodily affliction of sexual passion, while single people will not. Thus, Paul does not have in mind the pressures that come with the daily maintenance of a relationship. Rather, he has in mind the passion of sexual desire.

Response to counterargument:

There are three problems with this view. First, it is not clear that we should take the flesh adjectivally. In fact, given that the noun pressure is in the accusative case in the Greek and the flesh is in the dative case, we should not expect the flesh to modify pressure.

Second, it is hard to see why Paul would characterize sexual desires as afflictions in the flesh. Paul explicitly teaches that one is not to abstain from sexual relations in marriage, because when married people abstain, this can lead to sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 7:2–5). The implication here is that in a healthy marriage, sexual desires do not grow to the point that they become a bodily affliction, because there is an outlet for sexual desires in the marriage relationship.

Third, Paul himself points out that those single people who cannot control their passion should get married. Paul’s advice implies that if sexual passion is a bodily affliction, it is an affliction for unmarried people who have no outlet to express their sexual desire. Married people, on the other hand, have a healthy outlet.

Possible weaknesses:

The only problem with this view is that elsewhere, Paul talks about the sanctifying effect of marriage (Ephesians 5:25–33). Further, we know that through marriage, children are born, which fulfills God’s command to be fruitful and multiply. Thus, it’s difficult to see why Paul would dissuade anyone from marriage due to the pressures of maintaining the relationship.

Explanation:

Paul knows that married people will endure physical hardship, and so he reminds the Corinthians of this in order to spare them the pain. While Paul is not specific as to what sort of hardship he has in mind, we can narrow our options to the types of physical hardship that only married people endure. The most likely candidate is childbearing.¹⁵ For childbearing is a serious physical hardship that only married women endure. In fact, Scripture speaks to the physical hardship of childbearing. The consequence of Eve’s sin of eating from the forbidden tree is that her pain in childbearing would multiply (Genesis 3:16). Paul reminds the single women in Corinth that they could be spared such physical hardship if they remain single.

Counterargument:

There are two problems with this view. First, if Paul’s concern is over the pain of childbearing, then marriage is only a problem for the woman, but Paul addresses both men and women in 1 Corinthians 7:28. He writes that if one marries, one has not sinned, and that if a woman marries, she has not sinned. Clearly, he has both men and women in mind. Of course, if he has both men and women in mind, then whatever affliction in the flesh Paul warns will result from marriage, cannot be childbearing, for men suffer no physical pain when a child is born.

Second, childbearing is a momentary pain that produces long-lasting joy. While marriage itself is a lifelong commitment that involves many years of companionship. It is hard to see why the momentary pain of childbearing would be enough to relinquish the entire marriage enterprise. More likely, Paul has some enduring affliction in mind. And since marriage does not result in any enduring physical affliction, Paul likely has in mind the general pressure of maintaining a relationship.

Explanation:

Paul says that people who marry will have affliction in the flesh [τῇ σαρκὶ]. The term σάρξ can mean bodily flesh. For example, in 2 Corinthians 7:5 Paul writes that when they came to Macedonia their bodies had no rest. Thus, whatever Paul means that married people will have affliction in the flesh, he likely means physical affliction in the body. Physical affliction could include sexual passions, childbearing or something else.¹⁶

Counterargument:

The problem with this argument is that the Greek term σάρξ (flesh) is used in a variety of contexts to denote many different things. For example, it can refer to the material that covers bones, the human body, ancestral connections, or the outward side of life.¹⁷ Paul’s own usage exhibits the flexibility of the term, as he uses it to refer to the sinful nature (Romans 7:5; Romans 8:3), lineage (Romans 1:3), and the physical body (Romans 2:28). Thus, in order to understand Paul’s usage, we have to look at the context of 1 Corinthians 7:28. When we do, we see that Paul has something like physical sphere in mind.¹⁸ In other words, married people will have afflictions that concern the matters of this life. And since the time is drawing short (1 Corinthians 7:28), one might be wise to forego things such as marriage.

Possible weaknesses:

The weakness of this view is that there is no clear connection between marriage and physical affliction. This means that if there are other ways to understand the meaning of the grammar based on the context, one should explore these other ways.