1 Corinthians 7:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What does "due goodwill" mean? The wife does not have authority over her own body, but is both servant and mistress of her husband.

If you withdraw from the service owed, you offend God. If you wish to withdraw, do so only with your husband's permission, even if only for a short time.

Therefore he calls this matter a debt, to show that neither spouse has authority over himself, but that they are servants of one another.

Thus, when you see that a prostitute tempts you, say: my body does not belong to me, but to my wife. Let the wife say the same to those attempting to violate her chastity: my body does not belong to me, but to my husband.

He now proves that love for one another is truly a necessary debt. For spouses, he says, do not have authority over their own bodies. The wife is both the servant and the mistress of her husband. She is a servant because she has no authority over her body, so as to give it to whomever she wishes, but her husband possesses it. She is a mistress because the husband's body is her body, and he has no authority to give it to prostitutes. In the same way, the husband is both servant and master of his wife.

This whole question concerns those living in the marital union, and whether they may dismiss their wives, which the Lord also forbade in the Gospel. Therefore the Apostle said, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman." But since one who has once married has no authority to abstain, except by the wife's consent, and cannot divorce her if she has not sinned, he is obliged to render her what is due. He joined himself to her voluntarily, so that he may be compelled to render her what is due.

Thus, it is permissible to marry, but it is better to abstain, for marriage imposes bonds. Do you wish to know what these bonds are?

"The married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband" (Rom 7:2).

Thus it has been shown that marriage is a bond by which a woman is bound and crushed. The sweetness of mutual love is good, but servitude is greater than it.

"For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does" (1 Cor 7:4). Lest it seem to you that this servitude belongs not to marriage itself but to the sex, he adds further:

Since the law of marriage made them one flesh, the Apostle rightly called the wife's body the husband's, and likewise the husband's body under the wife's authority. But here he first pronounced the law to the wives, because women more often than husbands are accustomed to love continence.

"By the very reason for permitting marriage, he urges the married also to continence" (Saint Chrysostom).

Those who are married must not withdraw from one another (1 Cor 7:3-7).

"Let the husband render to his wife due goodwill," that is, conjugal fidelity, according to Theodoret, "and likewise the wife to the husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does.

According to Blessed Theodoret, "the Apostle first declares the law to wives, concerning bodily dependence on the husband, because wives more often than husbands are accustomed to love continence."

"Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does" (1 Cor 7:3-4).

In giving spouses counsel concerning married life together, the Apostle first commands them to be guided by the mutual debt of marriage. They must neither exceed nor destroy it, but strengthen it by growing love.

This love begins with affection and passes into readiness to sacrifice everything for the beloved person. From this the Apostle's further counsel is understandable.

He counsels such mutual devotion between spouses that neither spouse has authority over himself, but each is servant to the other.

From this Saint John Chrysostom drew the following counsel: "When you see that a prostitute tempts you, say: my body does not belong to me, but to my wife. Let the wife say the same."

"Since the law of marriage has made them one flesh, the Apostle rightly called the wife's body belonging to the husband, and likewise the husband's body under the authority of the wife.

But here he first spoke the law to wives, because wives more often than husbands are accustomed to love continence" (Theodoret).

"The wife, he says, does not have authority over her own body, but is both servant and mistress of her husband. He says the same to the husband, showing that neither spouse has authority over himself, but that they are servants of one another.

Therefore, when you see that a prostitute tempts you, say: my body does not belong to me, but to my wife. Let the wife say the same when someone attempts to violate her chastity: my body does not belong to me, but to my husband.