What Does 1 Corinthians 7:15 Mean in the King James?
But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The one who leaves is released to leave, and the one left behind is not called to live enslaved to what has departed.
THE MEANING
When someone who does not share your trust leaves, this verse says to let the departure stand. You are not enslaved in this circumstance; God’s call is to peace, a wholeness that does not depend on forcing another person to stay.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that another person’s departure makes you responsible for holding the relationship together by force.
THE ROOT
δεδούλωται
dedoulōtai
GROWS FROM
δουλ-
doul-
To make or be subject as a slave; enslavement.
The verse uses the language of slavery: the one left behind is not made a slave by the other person’s departure. The word names a bond that has become bondage, making the release in “let him depart” part of the verse’s movement toward peace.
ALSO GROWS
doulos: slave, servant
δοῦλος
This noun makes the force of “bondage” concrete: it describes a person held in service.
douleuō: to serve as a slave, be enslaved
δουλεύω
This verb shows the root’s movement from a condition of slavery to living under its control.
εἰρήνη
eirēnē
GROWS FROM
εἰρην-
eirēn-
Peace, concord, wholeness.
God’s call is toward wholeness, not toward preserving a bond by coercion. The verse places that call beside release from enslavement, so peace here does not require pretending that the departure has not happened.
ALSO GROWS
eirēnopoieō: to make peace
εἰρηνοποιέω
The related verb shows peace as something brought about, not merely the absence of conflict.
eirēnopoios: peacemaker
εἰρηνοποιός
This related word keeps the focus on peace as a condition of wholeness between people.
THE PATTERN
Release from bondage makes room for peace that cannot be produced by force.
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.THE THREAD
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.“Bondage” in both verses comes from the Greek δουλ- (doul-) root, the language of slavery. Galatians names freedom from its yoke; 1 Corinthians says a person’s departure does not enslave the one left behind.
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