7:26 What was the "present distress" Paul refers to here?
7:26 What was the "present distress" Paul refers to here?
Most bible commentators believe the present distress Paul referred to here is persecution the church was suffering at that time, or impending political upheavals that would greatly affect the church. However, elsewhere in scripture the Greek word for distress, anagke, is only translated as such where persecution is explicit in the context (CP 2Cor 6:4-5; 12:10; 1Th 3:7). 2Cor 6:4 is a bit confusing too - distresses here is not from anagke but stenochoria, which has in view distresses from within, such as anguish or discomfort.
They are not related to persecutions, whereas necessities is from anagke and therefore should have been translated distresses in light of the persecutions explicit in the context. In other places in scripture where anagke is used apart from persecutions it is translated necessity (CP 1Cor 7:37; 9:16; 2Cor 9:7; Phm14; He 7:12; 9:16).
In the context of 1Cor 7:26 persecutions are not explicit either. Paul's main concern here is that once Christians marry they can no longer give their undivided attention to the things of God. This is not teaching that Paul was against marriage, even though he himself was unmarried by choice. Far from it as our study on 1Cor 7 clearly shows (CP V2, 8-16; 36-38). Paul is simply teaching us all in 1Cor 7:26 and the following verses that there is a higher loyalty than even that to our covenanted partners in marriage - God (CP V27-35 with Col 3:2).
Trouble in the flesh in 1Cor 7:28 refers to the demands of marriage that are not encountered in the single state. Time is short in V29 means that God's work is urgent and Christians cannot allow anything to hinder them doing it (CP V28-29, 31 with Lu 9:59-60; Ro 13:11-12; 2Ti 4:2-4; Jas 4:13-15; 1Pe 4:7). When studied in context it is clear that the present distress in 1Cor 7:26 is not referring to persecutions or impending political upheavals affecting the church, but to the compelling force or necessity for married Christians to look after each other which restricts their capacity to devote all of their attention to God. And it is in this context also that V36-40 must be understood (CP V36-40).