270 terraNCe CallaN by some man. if they are daughters, the decision would be made by their fathers, or some other person acting in his stead. if they are be- trothed women, the decision would be made by the man to whom they are betrothed. and if they are spouses in spiritual marriages, the deci- sion would be made by their spouse. the question about parqe,noi is the question about what men should do with regard to the marriage of parqe,noi. For this reason, Paul’s general discussion of parqe,noi in 7,25- 40 is not addressed to the parqe,noi themselves, but to others who will deal with them 18. ii. Fiancées, daughters, Spouses in Spiritual Marriage, or Widows? of these four interpretations, the one least likely, in light of the way parqe,noj and its cognates are used in Greek literature, is that it refers to spouses in a spiritual marriage. in the uses of parqe,noj and its cog- nates that i have examined, i have found no instance in which it refers to a participant in a spiritual marriage 19. the uses of parqe,noj and its cognates make the interpretation of parqe,noj in 1 Cor 7,25-40 as a reference to widows somewhat more likely, a reference to fiancées still more likely, and a reference to daughters most likely of all. 1. Widows i have found three passages in which parqe,noj designates a widow. in Spec. 1.129 Philo says that if the daughter of a priest is widowed (chreu,sh|) either by death or divorce, and has no children, she should share in the first fruits of her father as she did as a parqe,noj; in some way she is virtually (duna,mei) a parqe,noj. likewise, ignatius of antioch in Smyrn. 13.1 speaks of the parqe,noi called widows (ch,raj). Clement of alexandria speaks of a widow (ch,ra) becoming a parqe,noj again through swfrosu,nh in Stromata 7.12.72. it is ordinarily presumed that parqe,noi have not had sexual intercourse. this presumption is made explicit when it is said that a 18 Fee, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 327; d.e. GarlaNd, 1 Corinthians (Baker exegetical Commentary on the Nt; Grand rapids, Mi 2003) 320. 19 the earliest clear reference to spiritual marriage seems to be the suneisa,ktouj gunai/kaj mentioned in the description of Paul of Samosata (200- 275 C.e) in eusebius, Church History 7.30.12; but see also Herm. Vis. 2.2.3; tertullian, Exhortation to Chastity 12.2; On Monogamy 16.3. See the discussion of spiritual marriage in allo, Première Épître aux Corinthiens, 189-194; deMiNG, Paul on Marriage and Celibacy, 35-43.