What Does 1 Corinthians 7:6 Mean?

But I say this as a yielding, and not as a command.

1 Corinthians 7:6 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

THE KEY

The verse marks this as a concession, keeping an allowance from being mistaken for a command.

THE MEANING

Here the speaker offers an allowance within the matter under discussion; the words do not carry the force of a command. The distinction lets you hear the scope of the statement without turning every allowance into an obligation.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the belief that every allowance in a spiritual discussion binds everyone as a rule.

THE ROOT

συγγνώμην

syngnōmēn

GROWS FROM

⁨σύν⁩ + ⁨γνώμη⁩ (syn + gnōmē; “with” + “judgment, opinion”)

Concession or allowance, expressed through a word built from “with” and “judgment, opinion.”

“yielding” in this verse is syngnōmēn. This is a considered allowance, not an order laid over the reader. The same judgment word appears in 1 Corinthians 7:25, where it is explicitly set beside “commandment.”

ALSO GROWS

gnōmē: judgment, opinion, or purpose

γνώμη

This is the base within ⁨συγγνώμη⁩ (syngnōmē, concession), linking the allowance to a judgment rather than a command.

ginōskō: know, recognize

γινώσκω

It belongs to the related knowing word family; the concession carries the sense of considered recognition.

ἐπιταγήν

epitagēn

GROWS FROM

⁨τάσσω⁩ (tassō), in ⁨ἐπιτάσσω⁩ (epitassō)

The word belongs to a family meaning to arrange, assign, or order; ⁨ἐπιταγή⁩ (epitagē) means a command or order.

“commandment” in this verse is epitagēn. The verse sets a considered allowance against the force of an order. English can make both sound like instructions, but the Greek gives them different weight.

ALSO GROWS

tassō: arrange, assign, or order

τάσσω

This is the base verb in the command word’s family, showing its force of putting something in order.

tagma: an assigned order, rank, or formation

τάγμα

This related word names an arranged order, echoing the commandment’s sense of something set in place.

THE PATTERN

An allowance makes room for a situation without carrying the force of a command.

Now concerning the virgins, I have no command of the Lord, yet I offer my judgment as one who has been shown faithful love by the Lord to be steady.

1 Corinthians 7:25 · SDVThe verse distinguishes a judgment offered by the speaker from a commandment of the Lord.

I do not speak by command, but through the eagerness of others, testing the genuineness of your love.

2 Corinthians 8:8 · SDVThe speaker names what is being said as something other than a commandment.

He said to them, Because of the stiffness of your hearts, Moses allowed you to send away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

Matthew 19:8 · SDVA permitted action is distinguished from what was present from the beginning.

THE THREAD

Now concerning the virgins, I have no command of the Lord, yet I offer my judgment as one who has been shown faithful love by the Lord to be steady.

1 Corinthians 7:25 · SDV

Here the word translated “judgment” is ⁨γνώμη⁩ (gnōmē, judgment), the base within ⁨συγγνώμη⁩ (syngnōmē, concession). The verse makes the distinction plain: a judgment can be offered without being a commandment.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us