Tool Alpha
The Stoic Reader
Stoic texts read beside the New Testament passages that share their words or their argument, and where the New Testament turns.
Without distraction
Epictetus says that in present conditions the Cynic should stay unmarried, undistracted and wholly given to the service of God. Paul says the unmarried can attend to the Lord without distraction.
1 Corinthians 7:35, in every translation this tool compares.
The real question: Epictetus and Paul both say a man on God's errand may do better unmarried, and both use the same word for why. Are they giving the same reason? The surgeon on call all weekend tells her sister she can't come to the wedding. Is that because weddings are a distraction, or because of what this particular weekend is?
"But as the state of things now is, like that of an army prepared for battle, is it not necessary that a Cynic should be without distraction; entirely attentive to the service of God; at liberty to walk among mankind; not tied down to common duties, nor entangled in relations."
ἀπερίσπαστος (aperispastos), undistracted. Epictetus 3.22.69: ἀπερίσπαστον εἶναι δεῖ τὸν Κυνικόν, ὅλον πρὸς τῇ διακονίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ, the Cynic must be undistracted, wholly given to the service (διακονία, diakonia) of God. 1 Corinthians 7:35 has the adverb ἀπερισπάστως (aperispastōs), Strong's G563, once in the New Testament: for undistracted devotion to the Lord. Epictetus adds in 3.22.72 the noun τὸν περισπασμόν, the distraction, of a household. The related verb περισπάω (perispaō) describes Martha at Luke 10:40.
Both say that marriage is good and not forbidden, and that for a man in a particular service in a particular time it divides his attention. Epictetus allows that in a city of the wise the Cynic would marry (3.22.68). Paul says the one who marries does well (7:38). The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, on 7:32-34, says Cynic sages feared marriage would distract them from the freedom of a life with no possessions and no responsibilities.
The emergency differs. Epictetus's is the human condition now, like an army drawn up for battle, and the Cynic is the messenger, scout and herald who must be free to go among everyone. Paul's is the shortened time (7:29) and the anxiety to please the Lord (7:32). The study note adds that Paul also acknowledges some will be more distracted without marriage (7:9) and later notes that most apostles were married (9:5). Epictetus's undistracted man serves the god by being free of ties. Paul's serves the Lord and is told not to bind others with his choice (7:35).
The word is rare and shared, the subject is the same, and the study note names the Cynic background. No source in hand says Paul read Epictetus. The study note shows both drawing on a known Cynic debate about marriage.
Not a ban on marriage. Both writers say plainly that marriage is allowed and good.
- Epictetus, Discourses 3.22.67-72, Greek text ed. Heinrich Schenkl (Teubner, 1916), Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit)
- Epictetus, Discourses, trans. Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1890), 3.22, Perseus Digital Library
- SBL Greek New Testament, 1 Corinthians 7:35, via MorphGNT
- Site Greek lexicon (Abbott-Smith), word-study-lexicon.json, G563
- Site word study data, word-study-alpha.json, G4049
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Zondervan, 2016), note on 1 Corinthians 7:32-34
