Bible Strands
1 Corinthians 7:23
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church while giving practical instructions on social and marital status. He addresses them during a period of pastoral guidance on remaining in the condition God called them to.
The words — ἠγοράσθητε (ēgorasthēte) translates literally as "you were bought" in a commercial or marketplace context, and δοῦλοι (douloi) means "slaves" or bondservants. These terms establish a contrast between divine ownership and human bondage.
The thread — The phrase "you were bought at a price" recurs in 1 Corinthians 6:20 to ground bodily glorification in redemption. It also echoes the redemption language of 1 Peter 1:18 and Titus 2:14, which link Christ's self-giving to the purchase of a people.
Why it lands — The text declares that believers belong to God because of a purchased redemption, then commands them to refuse voluntary human enslavement. It requires a reader to recognize divine ownership as the boundary for all social and personal decisions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 6:20 you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
- 1 Peter 1:18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Titus 2:14 He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
- Leviticus 25:42 Because the Israelites are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves.
- Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
- Acts 20:28 Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.
- 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Galatians 2:4 This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
- Matthew 23:8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.