“But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.”
I say this as a concession, not as a command. — Paul himself explicitly marks his teaching as condescension, not absolute law. The word gnōmē (judgment, considered opinion) contrasts with epitagē (command). In this pastoral move, Paul acknowledges the distance between the ideal (he may prefer celibacy) and the real (most believers need marriage). The concessive framing respects Christian freedom while establishing clear ethical guidance.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 7:6
“Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent.” What then can this mean? “Let not the wife,” says he, “exercise continence, if the husband be unwilling; nor yet the husband without the wife's consent.” Why so? Because great evils spring from this sort of continence. For adulteries and fornications and the ruin of families have often arisen from hence. For if when men have their own wives they commit fornication, much more if you defraud them of this consolation. And…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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