What does 1 Corinthians 7:36 mean?

Having addressed the advantage to those who remain unmarried, Paul now returns to the issue of whether a man who is already engaged to be married should go through with it. As he did earlier (1 Corinthians 1:25), Paul breaks from his typical pattern of including men and women equally in these discussions. Here, as then, he speaks about engagements and marriage arrangements. Perhaps the culture of his day simply did not allow for a woman who had been betrothed to break the engagement.

Paul has already said to both men and women that they are free to marry in any case. This is not an issue of sin or even being less holy. Paul sees it as an issue of opportunity for those who choose not to marry.

He now addresses engaged men and encourages them to go through with the marriage under the right conditions. If the engaged man thinks breaking off the engagement will be dishonorable toward the woman, he should marry her. If his sexual passion is strong to the point of being difficult to control, he should marry her.

This and the following verses create difficult choices for translators working from the original Greek. Some see this verse as being addressed to the father of the potential bride, with a focus on her desire to be married, whether she has the gift of celibacy, and her age. If that is the case, the Christian father with the authority to decide his daughter's marital fate should consider similar issues as a Christian man would weigh in deciding whether to marry.