What Does 1 Corinthians 7:12 Mean?
But to the rest I speak, not the Lord. If any brother has a wife who is among those who do not trust, and she is pleased to settle in the house with him, let him not let her go.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.THE KEY
“Put her away” translates ἀφίημι (aphiēmi, let go), the same verb used for forgiving a debt, so this verse holds marital release and release of a debt in one word-family.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to a marriage where one partner does not share the other’s trust, yet willingly stays. Their difference does not erase her willingness to share a home, and he is told not to release her from the marriage while she wants to remain.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A difference in belief by itself means a willing spouse should be sent away.
THE ROOT
ἀφίημι
aphiēmi
GROWS FROM
ἵημι (hiēmi), in ἀπό (apo, away) + ἵημι
ἵημι (hiēmi) means to send or let go; with ἀπό (apo, away), the verb carries the sense of sending away, leaving, or releasing.
The verb ἀφίημι (aphiēmi, let go or leave) also appears in the language of forgiveness. The same word-family can describe releasing a spouse from a marriage or releasing a debt; here, he is told not to let her go while she is willing to stay.
ALSO GROWS
aphiēmi: Let go, leave, or forgive.
ἀφίημι
This is the verb translated “put her away” here and “forgive” in Matthew 6:12, joining marital release and release of a debt in one word-family.
aphesis: Release or remission.
ἄφεσις
This noun makes the release sense explicit and is used for the remission of debts or wrongdoing.
ἄπιστος
apistos
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust or reliance; this word-family also describes what is firm and trustworthy.
“who is among those who do not trust” in this verse is apistos. ἄπιστος (apistos, without trust or unbelieving) begins with ἀ- (a-, without), placing absence of trust at the word’s center. The sentence pairs that absence with her willingness to dwell with him, keeping belief and willingness to remain distinct.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust, reliance.
πίστις
This is the trust at the center of the word-family, rendered “faith” in many English translations.
pistos: Firm, steady, trustworthy.
πιστός
The same family connects trust with what is reliable or steady.
συνευδοκεῖ
syneudokei
GROWS FROM
δοκέω (dokeō), with σύν (syn, with) and εὖ (eu, well)
The δοκέω (dokeō) family carries the sense of thinking or regarding; εὐδοκέω (eudokeō) means to approve or be pleased, and σύν (syn, with) adds agreement with another.
“pleased to dwell” in this verse is syneudokei. συνευδοκεῖ (syneudokei, consents or is willing) states her own approval of dwelling with him. The verse places that consent beside her lack of shared trust, making the two facts distinct.
ALSO GROWS
eudokeō: Approve, be pleased.
εὐδοκέω
This word-family helps show that “pleased” here carries the sense of willing approval.
syneudokeō: Agree with or consent to something together.
συνευδοκέω
This is the verb used for her willingness to dwell with him.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats marriage as a joined life while directly recognizing whether a spouse remains or departs.
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother, and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has yoked together, let no one pull apart.But if the one who does not trust puts space between, let him go. A brother or a sister is not enslaved in such cases, for God has called us to wholeness.THE THREAD
And release our debts, as we also release our debtors.“Forgive” here translates the same Greek verb-family ἀφίημι (aphiēmi, let go or release) used for “put her away.” The shared word opens a connection between releasing a debt and releasing a spouse, while this verse says not to release her when she is willing to remain.
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