Parq/e,noi iN CoriNtH: 1 Cor 7,25-40 265 vv. 25-40 Paul addresses mainly those who want parqe,noi to marry (and tries to persuade them not to do so), but he also seems to refer in- directly to others who think it would be a sin for them to marry. this latter view is another reflection of the enthusiasm for asceticism that Paul addresses in the earlier part of chapter 7. But opposition to the marriage of parqe,noi might be based not simply on a general desire to avoid sexual relations, but rather on an understanding of parqe,noi as consecrated to God in some special way. this may be suggested by the reference in v. 34 to the parqe,noj as anxious about the affairs of the lord in order to be holy both in body and in spirit 4. as is indicated by the formulation of 7,1 (kalo.n avnqrw,pw| gunaiko.j mh. a[ptesqai), the Corinthian ascetics seem to be men, though quite possibly women were in agreement with them. those Paul addresses in vv. 25-40, who want the parqe,noi to marry, also seem to be men, though it is again quite possible that women agreed with them. insofar as those that take the opposite view are the same people addressed in vv. 1-24, they are also men. Some interpreters propose that the παρθένοι them- selves wanted to remain unmarried as consecrated women 5. What most suggests this is the reference in v. 34 to the anxiety of the parqe,noi to be holy in body and spirit; this seems to describe their own concerns, not those of others about them. apart from this passage, there is no in- dication that there were first-century Christian parqe,noi consecrated to God in some special way, though such parqe,noi were a well-established part of Christianity by the fourth century 6. this makes it doubtful that the parqe,noi discussed in 1 Cor 7,25-40 should be understood in this way. However, the use of parqe,noj to designate such a person would not be surprising in the context of the general Greek usage of the word. 4 Paul does not simply mention the parqe,noj, but speaks of h` gunh. h` a;gamoj kai. h` parqe,noj. He mentions the unmarried woman here in parallel to his refer- ence to the unmarried man (o` a;gamoj) in v. 32. it is unclear whether parqe,noj is a further identification of the unmarried woman (i.e., it is either epexegetical or an adjective), or refers to someone distinct from the unmarried woman. if Paul refers to distinct people, the unmarried woman is likely to mean a widow or a divorcee, while parqe,noj means a young, never-married woman. 5 See especially a.C. Wire, The Corinthian Women Prophets. a reconstruc- tion through Paul’s rhetoric (Minneapolis, MN 1990) 87-97; see also M.Y. MaC- doNald, Early Christian Women and Pagan Opinion. the Power of the Hysterical Woman (Cambridge 1996) 133-144; r.F. ColliNS, First Corinthians (Sacra Pagina; Collegeville, MN 1999) 292. 6 See P. Brown, The Body and Society. Men, Women, and Sexual renuncia- tion in early Christianity (lectures on the History of religions 13; New York 1988) 259-284.