There is general agreement that the Apostle Paul was a single man for the duration of his ministry. The Book of Acts omits any mention of Paul having had a wife, and Paul’s Letters also seem to indicate the same. However, there is some disagreement as to whether Paul was married earlier in his life. In this article I will argue that Pablo was, in fact, a widower at the time as he wrote. I will develop the case in seven points:
1. Paul puts himself in the category of being “single” in 1 Corinthians 7:8.
“To singles and widows I say that it is good for them if they stay like me”, 1 Corinthians 7:8
Some things are clear from this verse. First, Paul addresses a group of people who are not married at the time of his writing: the “singles” and the “widows.” Second, he instructs them to remain single if possible. Third, he holds himself up as an example of staying single. The phrase “as I” therefore communicates in no uncertain terms that Paul himself was single at the time of his writing.
“Don’t we have the right to take with us a believing wife, as well as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas (Peter)?”, 1 Corinthians 9:5.
In context, Paul tells the Corinthians about the privileges he has given up for the further advancement of the gospel. He has a “right” to be paid for his ministry and to take a wife for himself as the other apostles have done, but he waives those rights: “But I have profited none of this” (1 Corinthians 9: 15a). Paul points out once more, therefore, that he was not married.
two. The word “bachelor” is translated from the Greek “let’s do”.
In Greek literature in general, “agamos” refers specifically to a single man, either a bachelor or a widower (see LSJ, p. 5). The term “let’s do” only appears four times in the entire New Testament. All four usages come from Paul, and all four appear in the seventh chapter of 1 Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 7:8, 11, 32, 34).
3. Paul uses the termlet’s do” to refer to those who have been married but are now no longer married.
“But if you leave him, stay unmarried, or else reconcile with your husband, and that the husband does not abandon his wife”, 1 Corinthians 7:11.
“The woman who is not married and the virgin care about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and in spirit; but the married woman worries about the things of the world, about how to please her husband ”, 1 Corinthians 7:34.
Notice that in chapter 7:11 it refers to a woman who has separated from her husband. Notice also that in chapter 7:34 he contrasts an “unmarried” woman with a “maiden/virgin”; thereby contrasting someone who was previously married to someone who was not. In both cases, “single” refers to the once-married, not the never-married.
Four. The context of “let’s do” in 1 Corinthians 7:8 is dominated by Paul’s instructions to those who are married or have been married.
1 Corinthians 7 is divided into two sections: 7:1-24 and 7:25-40. In the first section Paul addresses those who are or have been married.
- 7:1–7 – It is addressed to those who are currently married.
- 7:8–9 – It addresses the “widows”.
- 7:10–16 – The husbands and wives in question are addressed to abandonment and divorce.
Paul addresses “virgins” only in the second section: those who have never been married. This strongly suggests that “let’s do” in verse 8 also refers to those who have been married at least once. Since Paul identifies as “let’s do”, this suggests that he, too, was once married.
5. The Greek word for “widowed” was rarely used during the period koine (type of Greek with which the New Testament was written).
There was a word in Greek that specified “widowed” (les), but does not appear in biblical literature, and only rarely outside of it. So it is not surprising that Paul uses a term like “let’s do” instead (TDNT, 9:440; Thiselton, 515, Charge, p. 288).
6. The word “bachelor” seems to be the masculine word for someone who has lost a spouse.
In 1 Corinthians 7:8, “let’s do” parallels “widows,” which strongly suggests that Paul is addressing both men and women who have suffered the loss of a spouse. This is fully in line with the rest of this section, where Paul explicitly addresses both spouses about marital relations (7:1-7) and desertion/divorce (7:10-16). Therefore, in 1 Corinthians 7:8, Paul is telling widows and widowers that it is good for them to remain single as he does. If they don’t have self-control, however, he tells them they’d better get married.
7. As a good Pharisee, it is highly unlikely that Paul would have been single all his life.
Elsewhere, Paul says that he was a Pharisee, a “Hebrew of Hebrews” (Phil. 3:5), and “showing much more zeal for the traditions of my forefathers” (Gal. 1:14; cf. Acts 22:3). Marriage was the norm for Pharisees, and it was required for rabbis (Paul was probably considered a rabbi). Very Paul could hardly have set himself up as an example of Pharisaic piety if he had not been married (Fee, 288, n. 7; see also Harvey McArthur in “Celibacy in Judaism at the Time of Christian Origins”) .
The evidence, therefore, suggests that Paul was a widower. At some point, he was married. But by calling him to Christ, God gave Paul the gift of celibacy (“a genuine gift of freedom from sexual need,” Fee, 287). Paul wants all who have this gift to use it as he has, for the good of the kingdom.
This article was originally published on August 30, 2011 on the personal blog of . Translated by Susan Pedraza.