1 Corinthians 7:36

But if any man thinketh that he behaveth himself unseemly toward his virgin daughter, if she be past the flower of her age, and if need so requireth, let him do what he will; he sinneth not; let them marry.

The RSV has butchered this text in the most deplorable and high-handed mistranslation of it that could possibly be imagined.

If any man ... was used by Paul here for the purpose of including guardians of young women of marriageable age as well as parents; and to make "any man" in this passage refer to any man shacked up in some kind of platonic partnership with a member of the opposite sex is nothing but a shameful rape of this passage. As Foy E. Wallace noted, "They made the virgin daughter in this place the girlfriend of another man to whom the virgin was betrothed, advising him to be free in his behavior."[54] Wallace caught the spirit of the RSV exactly in his words: "The passage is perverted to allow sexual satisfaction `if his passions are strong,' and `to do what he will,' and `he does not sin' in such pre-marital relations."[55]

Dummelow affirmed unequivocally that "any man" in the above passage means "any parent or guardian."[56] There is no way to understand this passage except in the light of the customs of the day, "And the father (or guardian) had control of the arrangements for his daughter's marriage."[57] The kind of situation assumed to have been the object of Paul's remarks (as in the RSV and New English Bible (1961)) was absolutely impossible in the first century. No father or guardian would have allowed such an arrangement (as that supposed) under any threat or circumstance whatever. Therefore, with the utmost confidence, the perversion of this place by some of the new translations and even by the RSV is condemned as being sinful, incorrect, and even blasphemous. It was not some passionate suitor Paul had in mind, but the daughter's father; because, as F. F. Bruce said, "The word rendered GIVETH IN MARRIAGE twice in 1 Corinthians 7:38 (English Revised Version (1885)) is normally used of a father's giving his daughter in marriage."[58] "The then universal custom of Jews, Greeks and Romans (was) that the father or guardian disposed of the daughter's hand (in marriage)."[59]

If she be past the flower of her age ... and need so requireth ... Any denial of marriage to an aging daughter would indeed seem unseemly to a loving parent, who should feel no sense of sin in giving his daughter's hand in marriage.

Let them marry ... This was the injunction to parents and guardians, and it has no reference at all to some passionate suitor shacked up with his girlfriend.

Let him do what he will ... he sinneth not ... This means allow the parents or guardians in such cases to do what they believe is best; no sin is involved in contracting marriages, despite all that Paul had said about celibacy.

[54] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., A Review of the New Versions (Fort Worth, Texas: The Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1973), p. 433.

[55] Ibid.

[56] J. R. Dummelow, op. cit., p. 904.

[57] S. Lewis Johnson, op. cit., p. 610.

[58] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 93.

[59] John William Russell, Compact Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1964), p. 415.