What Does 1 Corinthians 7:26 Mean in the King James?
I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.
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
What is good here is shaped by the pressure of the present, not turned into a rule for every life.
THE MEANING
This verse treats goodness as responsive to real conditions: while pressure is present, remaining as you are can be good. The counsel speaks to this moment, not as a rule that one life state is always superior. The same passage says marriage is not sin, leaving room for different circumstances.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that one life state is always holier: this verse calls one state good under present pressure, while the same passage says marriage is not sin.
THE ROOT
ἀνάγκην
anankēn
GROWS FROM
ἀναγκ-
anank-
Constraint, compulsion, necessity.
The word can name pressure that constrains or compels, not only a feeling of distress. The verse’s counsel is shaped by a necessity pressing on the present; that pressure matters without becoming a rule for every season.
ALSO GROWS
anankazō: Compel, constrain.
ἀναγκάζω
This verb makes the force in the shared word family visible: necessity can press on a choice.
anankaios: Necessary, indispensable.
ἀναγκαῖος
This branch shows the same family reaching what circumstances make necessary.
ἐνεστῶσαν
enestōsan
GROWS FROM
ἐνίστημι
enistēmi
Stand in; be present or at hand.
The form comes from a verb meaning to stand in or be present. The distress is what is here or pressing near, so the verse ties its counsel to the condition actually in place.
ALSO GROWS
enistēmi: Stand in; be present or at hand.
ἐνίστημι
This verb gives the present condition its sense of immediacy.
enestōs: Present, current.
ἐνεστώς
This related form names what stands as present, echoing the verse’s time-bound counsel.
THE PATTERN
A choice can be good for the pressure of a particular season without becoming a universal rule.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you.THE THREAD
Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.The same Greek word ἀνάγκη (anankē, constraint or necessity) appears here as “necessity.” Together, the verses distinguish a choice made under pressure from one made without compulsion, where the person has power over their own will.
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