1 Corinthians 7:2

This verse probably begins Paul’s extended correction of the Corinthians’ view of marriage. He proceeded to urge them strongly that the type of abstinence that they were arguing for within marriage was totally wrong. Notice the three sets of balanced pairs in this verse and in the two that follow. In this verse Paul urged married couples to have sexual relations with one another because of the prevalence of temptations to satisfy sexual desire inappropriately. "Having" one’s spouse was a common euphemism in non-biblical Greek for having that person sexually. [Note: Keener, p. 62.]

The view of 1 Corinthians 7:1 that understands Paul to be saying that it is better to avoid marrying sees Paul making a concession to that statement here. Those who hold this view believe that Paul was saying that it is better to marry since many single people cannot live in the single state without eventually committing "immoralities" (fornication, Gr. porneias). This is obviously not the only reason to marry (cf. Genesis 2:18-24), but it appears to have been an important consideration in Corinth where temptations to fornicate abounded. As noted above, I do not favor this interpretation. Another unappealing interpretation is as follows.

"This [i.e., "each . . . each"] forbids polygamy, which was advocated by some Jewish teachers." [Note: Robertson and Plummer, p. 133.]