7:12 To the rest I say – I, not the Lord 1 – if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her.
1 sn I, not the Lord. Here and in v. 10 Paul distinguishes between his own apostolic instruction and Jesus’ teaching during his earthly ministry. In vv. 12-16, Paul deals with a situation about which the Lord gave no instruction in his earthly ministry.
2 tc Grk “the brother.” Later witnesses (א2 D2 Ï) have ἀνδρί (andri, “husband”) here, apparently in conscious emulation of the earlier mention of ἀνήρ (ajnhr) in the verse. However, the earliest and best witnesses (Ì46 א* A B C D* F G P Ψ 33 1739 al co) are decisively in favor of ἀδελφῷ (adelfw, “brother”), a word that because of the close association with “wife” here may have seemed inappropriate to many scribes. It is also for reasons of English style that “her husband” is used in the translation.
3 tn Grk “will save your husband?” The meaning is obviously that the wife would be the human agent in leading her husband to salvation.
4 tn Grk “will save your wife?” The meaning is obviously that the husband would be the human agent in leading his wife to salvation.