36 If anyone thinks he is acting improperly toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if she is getting along in years and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married.
The biological clock ticked for women even in Paul’s day. This would have been even more true in that day, because there were no treatments for infertility. There was also a very high infant mortality rate. So even if you did get pregnant and have a child, they often died before reaching adulthood. And children meant security in old age. They became your Social Security System. They would take care of you. Paul is writing during a time of great tension and persecution of the Jesus-followers. He has been discussing the difficulties of marriage and the extra pull that marriage places on an individual. When someone is married they cannot be fully attentive to the Lord. By necessity some of their energies and attention are directed toward their spouse. Here Paul addresses the needs of the woman. Her clock is ticking. If that creates difficulties, pressure if you will, then marrying is OK. The ‘acting improperly’ is not premarital sex. It is withholding the opportunity for children as the woman’s clock ticks. We don’t have quite the same view of children as that culture did. A woman without children was viewed as defective, as not fulfilling the duties of a wife. Something had to be wrong with her if she didn’t have children. Single older women just didn’t exist. Even widows were encouraged to remarry. Remember, there was no insurance policy that gave money to the survivors. When the husband died, the wife and kids were left to fend for themselves. And the society didn’t really have a place for women who weren’t married. If a woman wasn’t married, how were they going to provide for their necessities? Even if difficult times, marriage is OK.
The Arnold Journey 