douloo<\/em> refers to slavery. Marriage has never been described as a form of slavery in the Bible, so “bondage” is not referring to the marriage bond.<\/p>\nWhat Paul is saying is that if an unbeliever refuses to live with a believer, the believer is not a slave who must go with his or her spouse because of the marriage covenant. If the unbeliever refuses to stay, then the believer is to let the unbeliever leave. This isn’t a justification for remarriage. It would fall under the rule that Paul mentioned in I Corinthians 7:10-11. But a Christian doesn’t give up his beliefs, even for the sake of his marriage.<\/p>\n
That is why I said that the English Standard Version was clearer about what Paul said in Greek in this verse.<\/p>\n
Every translation has flaws, and the English Standard Version is no exception, but what you will find is that some people refuse to consider any translation that isn’t the one they currently accept simply because the other translations are different. That isn’t using good judgment. Overall the ESV is a pretty good translation. I think the New King James Version and the New American Standard Version Updated are slightly better translations, but I’m not against using the ESV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Why would someone not like the ESV? What is wrong with the ESV? I saw “Which Translation Should I Use?” concerning I Corinthians 7:15: “The ESV is the clearest that it is talking about slavery” I Corinthians 7:15 seems to be talking about marriage to me, not slavery. Answer: “But if the unbeliever departs, let him…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[167,317,728,64,311],"class_list":["post-27298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-divorce","tag-english-standard-version","tag-i-corinthians","tag-marriage","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-an-unbelieving-spouse-leaves-the-marriage-can-the-christian-remarry\/","url_meta":{"origin":27298,"position":0},"title":"If an unbelieving spouse leaves the marriage, can the Christian remarry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 23, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I guess my question is about \"wrongful marriages.'' If a Christian is married to an unbeliever\u00a0and the unbeliever\u00a0does not want to stay married to the believing party, it is my understanding that the Christian is to let the unbeliever go and the \"bond of marriage\" is not binding anymore.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95448,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-remarry-if-your-spouse-abandons-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":27298,"position":1},"title":"Can you remarry if your spouse abandons you?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Day, Is it true that someone can remarry if it is for abandonment of the marriage? Some pastors are saying you can remarry. Answer: The general rule is, \"But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife should not leave her husband\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85351,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-help-me-understand-i-corinthians-712-16-and-how-it-applies-in-a-situation\/","url_meta":{"origin":27298,"position":2},"title":"Can you help me understand I Corinthians 7:12-16 and how it applies in a situation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I appreciate the content posted on your website. It has been very helpful in studies, for clarity and explanation on several occasions, and in discussions I've been involved in. I have a question I couldn't quite find an answer to, though, and I was hoping you could provide some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16183,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-not-being-enslaved-to-a-non-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":27298,"position":3},"title":"What is meant by not being enslaved to a non-Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm confused about this verse about being enslaved to a non-Christian. Does not being enslaved mean you are no longer bond by the covenant of marriage or what? I've never study this verse and we'll be going to be hitting the topic of marriage again soon, so do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16542,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-i-divorce-my-husband-who-is-a-drug-addict\/","url_meta":{"origin":27298,"position":4},"title":"Can I divorce my husband who is a drug addict?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I found out three months after my husband and I got married in 2006 that he had a drug addiction.\u00a0 He would leave the house for days abandoning my daughter and me and would not answer his phone. Two weeks ago he moved out of state, leaving a note\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-sin-to-divorce-someone-who-forces-you-to-worship-idols\/","url_meta":{"origin":27298,"position":5},"title":"Is it a sin to divorce someone who forces you to worship idols?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I need to know something: Is it a sin to divorce someone who forces you to worship idols? I have been praying fasting for my husband to stop. He sees the light for a short period but he goes back again. This has been happening for years. His family\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}