Definition: to wed (of either sex) — marry (a wife)
Occurrences: 29x in NT
Used by Jesus: Mat 5:32; 19:9,10; 22:25,30; 24:38; Mark 6:17; 10:11,12; 12:25; Luke 14:20; 16:18; 17:27; 20:34,35
Used by Paul: 1 Cor 7:9,28,33,34,36,38,39; 1 Tim 4:3; 5:11,14
Key observation: Both authors use the same verb. Jesus uses it in contexts of (a) divorce teaching, (b) resurrection teaching (no marriage), (c) eschatological comparison (eating/drinking/marrying). Paul uses it in (a) permission/encouragement to marry, (b) warning against forbidding marriage.
Definition: from alpha-privative + gamos; unmarried
Occurrences: 4x — ALL in 1 Cor 7 (vv. 8, 11, 32, 34)
Exclusively Pauline vocabulary. Jesus does not use this word; instead he uses eunouchizo (Mat 19:12).
Key observation: Paul's term for the unmarried state is a neutral descriptive word (a- + gamos = "not-married"). It does not carry positive or negative connotation inherently.
Definition: to castrate; figuratively, to live unmarried — make eunuch
Occurrences: 2x — ONLY Mat 19:12 (both uses)
Exclusively used by Jesus in the NT. Figurative meaning: those who have chosen celibacy "for the kingdom of heaven's sake."
Key observation: Jesus's vocabulary for voluntary celibacy is stronger and more vivid than Paul's neutral agamos. Jesus uses the metaphor of eunuchs who "have made themselves eunuchs."
Definition: a divine gratuity, spiritual endowment, miraculous faculty
Occurrences: 17x in NT
Paul in 1 Cor 7:7: "But every man hath his proper gift [charisma] of God, one after this manner, and another after that."
Same word used in: Rom 1:11; 5:15; 6:23; 11:29; 12:6; 1 Cor 1:7; 12:4,9,28,30,31; 2 Cor 1:11; 1 Tim 4:14; 2 Tim 1:6; 1 Pet 4:10
Key observation: Paul calls BOTH celibacy and marriage a charisma. The "one after this manner, and another after that" construction means some receive the gift of celibacy, others the gift of marriage. This parallels 1 Cor 12 where different gifts are distributed to different people by the same Spirit.
Definition: a maiden; by implication, an unmarried daughter
Occurrences: 14x in NT
Used by Jesus in parables: Mat 25:1,7,11 (ten virgins)
Used by Paul: 1 Cor 7:25,28,34,36,37,38; 2 Cor 11:2
Also: Luke 1:27 (Mary); Acts 21:9; Rev 14:4
Key observation: Paul's discussion of virgins (1 Cor 7:25-38) explicitly states "I have no commandment of the Lord" (v.25) — acknowledging this is his pastoral judgment, not Jesus's command.
Definition: to attach oneself to, touch, have contact with
Used in 1 Cor 7:1: "It is good for a man not to touch [haptesthai] a woman"
Key observation: This is a euphemism for sexual relations (cf. Gen 20:6 LXX; Prov 6:29). The question is whether Paul is stating his own principle or quoting a Corinthian position. The introductory formula "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me" (peri de hon egrapsate moi) introduces a topic the Corinthians raised in their letter to Paul.