# To His Wife - Author: [Tertullian](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/tertullian/) - Latin title: *Ad uxorem* - Date: ca. 200–206 (approximate) - Source: Franz Oehler, ed., Quinti Septimii Florentis Tertulliani quae supersunt omnia, vol. 1 (Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, 1853), 669–697 (Latin text: Franz Oehler (Oehler 1, 1853), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: Tertulliani Opera, Pars 1: Opera catholica; Adversus Marcionem, CCSL 1 (Turnhout: Brepols, 1954) - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/ - Passages: 16 ## To His Wife 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-1 - Source: Oehler 1:669–671 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Tertullian writes to his wife, urging her not to remarry if he dies first, since there is no marriage in the resurrection. ### Latin text Dignum duxi, dilectissima mihi in domino conserva, quid tibi sectandum sit post discessum de saeculo meum, si prior te fuero vocatus, iam hinc providere, ut provisum observes, mandare fidei tuae. Nam saecularibus satis agentes sumus, et utrique nostrum consultum volumus. Si talibus tabulas ordinamus, cur non magis de divinis atque caelestibus posteritati nostrae prospicere debeamus, et legatum quodammodo praelegare, admonitionem et demonstrationem eorum quae ex bonis immortalibus et de haereditate caelorum deputantur? Tu modo ut solidum capere possis hoc meae admonitionis fideicommissum deus faciat, cui sit honor, gloria, claritas, dignitas et potestas nunc et in saecula saeculorum. Praecipio igitur tibi, quanta continentia potes, post excessum nostrum renunties nuptiis, nihil mihi isto nomine collatura nisi quod tibi proderis. Ceterum Christianis saeculo digressis nulla restitutio nuptiarum in die resurrectionis repromittitur, translatis scilicet in angelicam qualitatem et sanctitatem. Proinde sollicitudo nulla quae de carnis zelo venit etiam in illa, quam septem fratribus per successionem nupsisse voluerunt, neminem tot maritorum resurrectionis die offendet, nec quisquam illam confusurus expectat. Quaestio Sadducaeorum cessit sententiae domini. Ne me putes propter carnis tuae integritatem mihi perservandam de contumeliae dolore suspectum insinuare iam hinc tibi consilium viduitatis. Nihil tunc inter nos dedecoris voluptuosi resumetur. Non enim tam frivola, tam spurca deus suis pollicetur. Sed an tibi vel cuicumque alii feminae ad deum pertinenti proficiet quod suademus licet pertractare. ### English translation (Claude) I have thought it right, my dearest fellow servant in the Lord, to provide already now what course you should follow after my departure from the world, if I am called before you, and to entrust it to your good faith to observe what has been provided. For we are busy enough with worldly affairs, and we want provision made for each of us. If we draw up wills for such things, why should we not rather look ahead for our posterity concerning divine and heavenly things, and in a manner bequeath a legacy in advance: an admonition and demonstration of those things which are allotted from the immortal goods and from the inheritance of heaven? Only may God grant that you can take in full this trust of my admonition; to him be honor, glory, splendor, dignity, and power, now and for ever and ever. I charge you, then, with all the self-restraint you can, to renounce marriage after my departure; you will confer nothing on me by that, except in so far as you will profit yourself. For to Christians who have departed from the world no restoration of marriage is promised on the day of resurrection, since they will have been transferred, namely, into angelic quality and holiness. Therefore no anxiety that comes from fleshly jealousy, even in the case of the woman whom they claimed had married seven brothers in succession, will offend any of her many husbands on the day of resurrection, nor does anyone wait to put her to shame. The question of the Sadducees gave way to the Lord's sentence. Do not think that, out of concern to keep your flesh intact for myself, I am suspicious of the pain of an insult and therefore urge on you already now the counsel of widowhood. Nothing of shameful pleasure will then be resumed between us. For God does not promise his own such frivolous, such filthy things. But whether what we urge will profit you, or any other woman who belongs to God, we may discuss at length. ### Scripture references - Matt 22:23–30: allusion, high confidence - Luke 20:35–36: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is to the Sadducees' question, Matt 22:23–30 (compare Luke 20:35–36). This early treatise (ca. 200–206) is addressed to Tertullian's own wife. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.1 (Oehler 1:669–671; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-1). ## To His Wife 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-2 - Source: Oehler 1:671 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God blessed marriage as one man and one woman, as with Adam and Eve; the patriarchs' plural marriages were a provisional license later corrected by Christ and the apostle. ### Latin text Non quidem abnuimus coniunctionem viri et feminae benedictam dictam a deo ut seminarium generis humani, et replendo orbi et instruendo saeculo excogitatam atque exinde permissam, unam tamen. Nam et Adam unus Evae maritus, et Eva una uxor illius, una mulier, una costa. Sane apud veteres nostros ipsosque patriarchas non modo nubere, sed etiam plurifariam matrimoniis uti fas fuit. Erant et concubinae. Sed licet figuraliter in synagoga ecclesia intercesserit, ut tamen simpliciter interpretemur, necessarium fuit instituere quae postea aut amputari aut temperari mererentur. Superventura enim lex erat. Oportebat enim legis adimplendae causas praecucurrisse. Item mox legi succedere habebat dei sermo circumcisionem inducens spiritalem. Igitur per licentiam tunc passivam materiae subsequentium emendationum praeministrabantur, quas dominus evangelio suo, dehinc apostolus in extremitatibus saeculi aut excidit redundantes aut composuit inconditas. ### English translation (Claude) We do not indeed deny that the union of man and woman was blessed by God as the seedbed of the human race, and devised for filling the world and furnishing the age, and thereafter permitted, yet as one. For Adam too was the one husband of Eve, and Eve his one wife: one woman, one rib. To be sure, among our ancestors and the patriarchs themselves it was lawful not only to marry but even to make use of marriage many times over. There were concubines too. But although the church was figuratively foreshadowed in the synagogue, still, to interpret simply, it was necessary to institute things that later deserved to be either cut off or moderated. For the law was to come afterwards. For the causes for fulfilling the law had to run on ahead. Likewise the Word of God was soon to succeed the law, bringing in spiritual circumcision. Therefore, through a license then left loose, material was supplied in advance for later corrections, which the Lord by his gospel, and then the apostle in the last times of the age, either cut away where they were excessive or put in order where they were disordered. ### Scripture references - Gen 1:28: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:21–24: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:29: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Gen 1:28, Gen 2:21–24, and Rom 2:29 (spiritual circumcision). ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.2 (Oehler 1:671; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-2). ## To His Wife 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-3 - Source: Oehler 1:671–673 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Marriage is not forbidden, against those who reject it, but Paul permits it only as a concession and prefers continence as the better good. ### Latin text Sed non ideo praemiserim de libertate vetustatis et posteritatis castigatione, ut praestruam Christum separandis matrimoniis, abolendis coniunctionibus advenisse, quasi iam hinc finem nubendi praescribam. Viderint qui inter cetera perversitatum suarum disiungere docent carnem in duobus unam, negantes eum qui feminam de masculo mutuatus duo corpora ex eiusdem materiae consortio sumpta rursus in se matrimonii computatione compegit. Denique prohiberi nuptias nusquam omnino legimus, ut bonum scilicet. Quid tamen bono isto melius sit accipimus ab apostolo, permittente quidem nubere, sed abstinentiam praeferente, illud propter insidias temptationum, hoc propter angustias temporum. Qua ratione utriusque pronuntiationis inspecta facile dinoscitur necessitate nobis concessam esse nubendi potestatem; quod autem necessitas praestat, depretiat ipsa. Quod denique scriptum est, Melius est nubere quam uri, quale hoc bonum est, oro te, quod mali comparatio commendat, ut ideo melius sit nubere, quia deterius est uri? At enim quanto melius est neque nubere neque uri? Sed etiam in persecutionibus melius est ex permissu fugere de oppido in oppidum quam comprehensum et distortum negare. Atque isto beatiores qui valent beata testimonii confessione excedere. Possum dicere: Quod permittitur, bonum non est. Quid enim? necesse est mori mihi. Si ploro, bonum est. Quod si timeo quod permittitur, suspectam habet permissionis suae causam. Quod autem melius est, nemo permisit, ut indubitatum et sua sinceritate manifestum. Non propterea appetenda sunt quaedam, quia non vetantur: etsi quodammodo vetantur, cum alia illis praeferuntur. Praelatio enim superiorum dissuasio est infimorum. Non ideo quid bonum est, quia malum non est, nec ideo malum non est, quia non obest. Porro plene bonum hoc antecedit, quod non modo non obest, sed insuper prodest. Namque malle debes quod prodest quam quod non obest. Ad primum enim locum certamen omne contendit; secundus solatium habet, victoriam non habet. Quod si apostolo auscultamus, obliti posteriorum et extendamur in priora et meliorum donativorum sectatores simus. Sic nobis etsi laqueum non imponit, quid utilitatis sit ostendit dicens, Innupta de dominicis cogitat, uti et corpore et spiritu sancta sit: nupta vero sollicita est quomodo coniugi suo placeat. Ceterum nusquam ita nuptias permittit, ut non potius ad suum exemplum nos eniti malit. Felicem illum, qui Pauli similis extiterit. ### English translation (Claude) But I have not set out the freedom of antiquity and the correction of later times in order to lay the ground for claiming that Christ came to separate marriages and abolish unions, as though I were already now prescribing an end to marrying. Let them see to it who, among their other perversities, teach the disjoining of the one flesh in two, denying him who, having borrowed the woman from the man, joined back together within himself, by the reckoning of marriage, two bodies taken from the partnership of the same material. Indeed, we nowhere read at all that marriage is forbidden, as being, of course, a good thing. Yet what is better than this good we learn from the apostle, who permits marrying but prefers abstinence: the former because of the snares of temptations, the latter because of the straits of the times. When the reasoning of both pronouncements is examined, it is easily seen that the power to marry has been granted us out of necessity; and what necessity grants, it thereby cheapens. Finally, as to what is written, “It is better to marry than to burn,” what sort of good is this, I ask you, which comparison with an evil commends, so that it is better to marry only because it is worse to burn? But how much better is it neither to marry nor to burn? In persecutions too it is better, by permission, to flee from town to town than to be arrested and racked and deny; and more blessed than this are those who have the strength to depart by the blessed confession of testimony. I can say: what is permitted is not good. For what? I must die. If I weep, it is good. But if I fear what is permitted, the reason for its permission is suspect. What is better, however, no one has permitted, as being beyond doubt and plain in its own purity. Some things are not to be sought just because they are not forbidden, even though in a way they are forbidden when other things are preferred to them. For the preference of the higher is a dissuasion from the lower. A thing is not good just because it is not evil, nor is it not evil just because it does no harm. Further, the fully good surpasses this, which not only does no harm but also profits. For you ought to prefer what profits to what does no harm. For every contest strives for the first place; second place has consolation, it does not have victory. But if we listen to the apostle, let us forget what lies behind, stretch forward to what lies ahead, and be followers of the better gifts. Thus, though he lays no snare on us, he shows what is advantageous, saying: “The unmarried woman thinks about the Lord's things, that she may be holy in both body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious how she may please her husband.” For the rest, he nowhere permits marriage in such a way as not rather to wish that we strive after his own example. Happy the one who has proved like Paul! ### Scripture references - Gen 2:24: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 4:3: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 7:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:26: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:23: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:13: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:31: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:35: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:34: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:7–8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations and allusions are Gen 2:24 (Matt 19:5–6), 1 Tim 4:3, 1 Cor 7:9, 7:26, Matt 10:23, Phil 3:13, 1 Cor 12:31, 1 Cor 7:35, 7:34, and 7:7–8. “They who teach the disjoining” are dualist groups such as the Marcionites, who rejected marriage. The sentence “For what? I must die. If I weep, it is good” is obscure in the Latin and is translated literally. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.3 (Oehler 1:671–673; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-3). ## To His Wife 1.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-4 - Source: Oehler 1:673–676 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The desires of the flesh and of the world that urge remarriage should be overcome, following widows who have chosen to be “married to God” and trusting God's provision. ### Latin text Sed carnem legimus infirmam, et hinc nobis adulamur in quibusdam. Legimus tamen et spiritum firmum. Nam in uno sensu utrumque positum est. Caro terrena materia est, spiritus vero caelestis. Cur ergo ad excusationem proniores quae in nobis infirma sunt opponimus, quae vero fortiora non tuemur? Cur caelestibus terrena non cedant? Si spiritus carne fortior, quia et generosior, nostra culpa infirmiorem sectamur. Nam disiunctis a matrimonio duae species humanae imbecillitatis necessarias nuptias faciunt. Prima quidem potentissima quae venit de concupiscentia carnis, sequens de concupiscentia saeculi. Sed utraque repudianda est a servis dei, qui et luxuriae et ambitioni renuntiamus. Carnis concupiscentia aetatis officia defendit, decoris messem requirit, gaudet de contumelia sua: dicit virum necessarium sexui, ut auctoritatis et solatii causa, vel ut a malis rumoribus tuta sit. Et tu adversus consilia haec eius adhibe sororum nostrarum exempla, quarum nomina penes dominum, quae nullam formae vel aetatis occasionem praemissis maritis sanctitati anteponunt. Malunt enim deo nubere. Deo speciosae, deo sunt puellae. Cum illo vivunt, cum illo sermocinantur, illum diebus et noctibus tractant, orationes suas velut dotes domino assignant, ab eodem dignationem velut munera dotalia, quotienscunque desiderant, consequuntur. Sic aeternum sibi donum domini occupaverunt, ac iam in terris non nubendo de familia angelica deputantur. Talium exemplis feminarum ad aemulationem te continentiae exercens spiritali affectione carnalem illam concupiscentiam humabis, temporalia et volatica desideria formae vel aetatis immortalium bonorum compensatione delendo. Ceterum haec saecularis concupiscentia causas habet gloriam, cupiditatem, ambitionem, insufficientiam, per quas necessitatem nubendi subornat, videlicet caelestia repromittens, dominari in aliena familia, alienis opibus incubare, cultum de alieno extorquere, sumptum quem non sentias caedere. Haec procul a fidelibus, quibus nulla cura tolerandae vitae, nisi si diffidimus de promissis dei et cura et providentia, qui lilia agri tanta gratia vestit, qui volatilia caeli nullo ipsorum labore pascit, qui prohibet de crastino victu vestituque curari, spondens scire se quid cuique servorum suorum opus sit, non quidem monilium pondera, non vestium taedia, non Gallicos mulos, nec Germanicos baiulos, quae nuptiarum gloriam accendunt, sed sufficientiam, quae modestiae et pudicitiae apta est. Praesume, oro te, nihil tibi opus esse, si domino appareas, immo omnia habere, si habeas dominum, cuius omnia. Caelestia recogita, et terrena despicies. Nihil viduitati apud deum subsignatae necessarium est quam perseverare. ### English translation (Claude) But we read that the flesh is weak, and from this we flatter ourselves in certain things. Yet we also read that the spirit is strong. For both are set down in one sentence. The flesh is earthly material, but the spirit heavenly. Why then, readier to make excuses, do we put forward what is weak in us, and not defend what is stronger? Why should earthly things not yield to heavenly? If the spirit is stronger than the flesh, because it is also nobler, it is our fault if we follow the weaker. For those separated from marriage, two kinds of human weakness make marriage seem necessary. The first and most powerful comes from the desire of the flesh, the next from the desire of the world. But both are to be rejected by the servants of God, we who renounce both luxury and ambition. The desire of the flesh pleads the duties of age, seeks the harvest of beauty, rejoices in its own disgrace; it says that a husband is necessary to the sex, for authority and consolation, or so that she may be safe from evil rumors. And you, against these counsels of it, apply the examples of our sisters, whose names are with the Lord, who, having sent their husbands on ahead, put no occasion of beauty or age before holiness. For they prefer to be married to God. For God they are beautiful, for God they are maidens. With him they live, with him they converse, him they handle day and night; they assign their prayers to the Lord as dowries, and from him they obtain his favor as marriage gifts as often as they desire. Thus they have secured for themselves the eternal gift of the Lord, and already on earth, by not marrying, they are reckoned among the angelic household. Training yourself by the examples of such women to emulate their continence, you will bury that fleshly desire with spiritual affection, blotting out the temporary and fleeting desires of beauty or age by the compensation of immortal goods. As for this worldly desire, its causes are vainglory, greed, ambition, and insufficiency, through which it contrives the necessity of marrying, promising heavenly delights, forsooth: to lord it over another's household, to brood on another's wealth, to extort finery from another, to spend without feeling the cost. These things are far from the faithful, who have no care about sustaining life, unless we distrust the promises of God and his care and providence, who clothes the lilies of the field with such grace, who feeds the birds of the sky with no labor of their own, who forbids us to be anxious about tomorrow's food and clothing, pledging that he knows what each of his servants needs: not, indeed, heavy necklaces, not tiresome garments, not Gallic mules nor German porters, which inflame the vainglory of marriage, but sufficiency, which suits modesty and chastity. Presume, I beg you, that you need nothing if you appear to the Lord; rather, that you have everything if you have the Lord, whose are all things. Consider heavenly things, and you will despise earthly ones. Nothing is necessary for widowhood sealed before God but to persevere. ### Scripture references - Matt 26:41: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:25–34: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Matt 26:41 and Matt 6:25–34. The phrase “caelestia repromittens” (“promising heavenly things”) appears ironic; some editors suspect the text. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.4 (Oehler 1:673–676; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-4). ## To His Wife 1.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-5 - Source: Oehler 1:676–677 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Children and posterity are no reason for Christians to remarry, since the end is near and encumbrances hinder; the time is short. ### Latin text Adiciunt quidem sibi homines causas nuptiarum de sollicitudine posteritatis et liberorum amarissima voluptate. Nobis otiosum est. Nam quid gestiamus liberos gerere, quos cum habemus, praemittere optamus, respectu scilicet imminentium angustiarum, cupidi et ipsi iniquissimo isto saeculo eximi et recipi apud dominum, quod etiam apostolo votum fuit? Nimirum necessaria suboles servo dei. Satis enim de salute nostra securi sumus, ut liberis vacemus: quaerenda nobis onera sunt quae etiam a gentilium plerisque vitantur, quae legibus coguntur, quae parricidiis expugnantur, nobis demum plurimum importuna, quantum fidei periculosa. Cur enim dominus Vae praegnantibus et nutricantibus cecinit, nisi quia filiorum impedimenta testatur in illa die expeditionis incommodum futura? Ea utique nuptiis imputantur. Istud autem ad viduas non pertinebit. Ad primam angeli tubam expeditae prosilient, quamcunque pressuram persecutionemque libere perferent, nulla in utero, nulla in uberibus aestuante sarcina nuptiarum. Igitur sive carnis, sive saeculi, sive posteritatis gratia nubitur, nihil ex istis necessitatibus competit dei servis, ut non satis habeam semel alicui earum succubuisse et uno matrimonio omnem concupiscentiam huiusmodi expiasse. Nubamus quotidie, et nubentes a die illo timoris deprehendamur ut Sodoma et Gomorrha. Nam illic non utique nuptias et mercimonia solummodo agebant, sed cum dicit, Nubebant et emebant, insigniora ipsa carnis et saeculi vitia denotat, quae a divinis disciplinis plurimum avocent, alterum per lasciviendi voluptatem, alterum per adquirendi cupiditatem. Et tamen illa tunc caecitas longe a finibus saeculi habebatur. Quid ergo fiet, si quae olim detestabilia sunt penes deum, ab iis nos nunc arceat? Tempus, inquit, in collecto est. Superest ut qui matrimonia habent tamquam non habentes agant. ### English translation (Claude) People do add further reasons for marrying: concern for posterity and the most bitter pleasure of children. For us this is idle. For why should we be eager to bear children whom, when we have them, we wish to send on ahead, in view, namely, of the straits that threaten, being ourselves eager to be taken out of this most wicked age and received with the Lord, which was the apostle's wish too? Offspring, no doubt, is necessary for a servant of God! For we are secure enough about our own salvation to have leisure for children! We must seek burdens which are avoided even by most of the gentiles, which are compelled by laws, which are got rid of by parricides; burdens that are most troublesome to us, as much as they are dangerous to faith. For why did the Lord pronounce “Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing,” unless because he testifies that the encumbrance of children will be a hindrance on that day of departure? These things are certainly to be charged to marriage. But this will not concern widows. At the angel's first trumpet they will spring up unencumbered; they will freely endure whatever affliction and persecution, with no burden of marriage heaving in the womb or at the breast. So whether one marries for the sake of the flesh, or of the world, or of posterity, none of these necessities befits the servants of God, so that I think it enough to have given way to one of them once and to have expiated all desire of this kind by one marriage. Let us marry every day, and, marrying, be caught by that day of fear like Sodom and Gomorrah! For there they were not merely carrying on marriages and trade; but when he says, “They were marrying and buying,” he points to the most notable vices themselves of the flesh and of the world, which most draw us away from divine disciplines, the one through the pleasure of wantonness, the other through the greed of acquiring. And yet that blindness was then held far from the end of the age. What then will happen if he now keeps us from things that of old were detestable to God? “The time,” he says, “is short. It remains that those who have wives act as though they had none.” ### Scripture references - Phil 1:23: allusion, high confidence - Matt 24:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:52: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 17:26–29: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:29: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions and quotations are Phil 1:23, Matt 24:19, 1 Cor 15:52 (compare 1 Thess 4:16), Luke 17:26–29, and 1 Cor 7:29. “Compelled by laws” refers to the Augustan marriage laws; “got rid of by parricides” to abortion and exposure. “The most bitter pleasure” is ironic. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.5 (Oehler 1:676–677; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-5). ## To His Wife 1.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-6 - Source: Oehler 1:677–679 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Many Christians live continently even within marriage, and even pagan priestesses keep virginity and widowhood for their demons; a Christian widow can surely do so for God. ### Latin text Quod si hi qui habent obliterare debent quod habent, quanto magis non habentes prohibentur repetere quod non habent, ut cuius maritus de rebus abiit, exinde requiem sexui suo nubendi abstinentia iniungat, quam pleraeque gentilium feminarum memoriae carissimorum maritorum parentant. Cum quid difficile videtur, difficiliora alios obeuntes recenseamus. Quot enim sunt, qui statim a lavacro carnem suam obsignant? quot item qui consensu pari inter se matrimonii debitum tollunt, voluntarii spadones pro cupiditate regni caelestis? Quodsi salvo matrimonio abstinentia toleratur, quanto magis adempto? Credo enim difficilius salvum derelinqui quam amissum non desiderari. Durum plane et arduum satis continentia sanctae feminae post viri excessum dei causa, cum gentiles satanae suo et virginitatis et viduitatis sacerdotia perferant? Romae quidem quae ignis illius inextinguibilis imaginem tractant, auspicia poenae suae cum ipso dracone curantes de virginitate censentur. Achaeae Iunoni apud Aegium oppidum virgo sortitur, et quae Delphis insaniunt, nubere nesciunt. Ceterum viduas Africanae Cereri adsistere scimus, durissima quidem oblivione a matrimonio allectas. Nam manentibus in vita viris non modo decedunt, sed et alias eis utique ridentibus loco suo insinuant, adempto omni contactu usque ad osculum filiorum, et tamen durante usu perseverant in tali viduitatis disciplina, quae pietatis etiam sanctae solatia excludit. Haec diabolus suis praecepit, et auditur. Provocat nimirum dei servos continentia suorum, quasi ex aequo. Continent etiam gehennae sacerdotes. Nam invenit quomodo homines etiam in bonis sectationibus perderet, et nihil apud eum refert alios luxuria, alios continentia occidere. ### English translation (Claude) But if those who have wives ought to forget what they have, how much more are those who do not have forbidden to seek again what they do not have, so that a woman whose husband has departed this life should thenceforth impose rest on her sex by abstaining from marriage, which many gentile women offer as a funeral tribute to the memory of their dearest husbands. When something seems hard, let us review others who undertake harder things. For how many there are who seal their flesh immediately after the washing! How many also who by equal consent between themselves remove the debt of marriage, voluntary eunuchs for the desire of the kingdom of heaven! But if abstinence is endured while marriage remains, how much more when it has been taken away? For I believe it is harder to give up what is safe than not to long for what is lost. Is the continence of a holy woman after her husband's death for God's sake plainly hard and arduous enough, when the gentiles bear priesthoods of both virginity and widowhood for their Satan? At Rome indeed those who tend the image of that unquenchable fire, taking care of the auspices of their own punishment together with the dragon himself, are chosen for their virginity. For Achaean Juno at the town of Aegium a virgin is chosen by lot, and the women who rave at Delphi do not know how to marry. Moreover we know that widows attend the African Ceres, drawn away from marriage by a most hard forgetfulness. For while their husbands are still living, they not only withdraw from them but even install other women in their own place, the husbands certainly laughing, all contact being removed, even to the kiss of their children; and yet, with long practice, they persevere in such a discipline of widowhood as shuts out even the comforts of holy affection. The devil has commanded these things to his own, and he is obeyed. He challenges the servants of God, no doubt, by the continence of his own, as if on equal terms. Even the priests of Gehenna are continent. For he has found how to destroy people even in good pursuits, and with him it makes no difference whether he kills some by luxury, others by continence. ### Scripture references - Matt 19:12: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:3–5: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are Matt 19:12 and 1 Cor 7:3–5. The pagan examples are the Vestal virgins at Rome (with the sacred serpent), the priestess of Juno at Aegium, the Pythia at Delphi, and the priestesses of Ceres in Africa. “Seal their flesh after the washing” means living continently from baptism. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.6 (Oehler 1:677–679; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-6). ## To His Wife 1.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-7 - Source: Oehler 1:679–681 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A husband's death by God's will ends the marriage; the church's rules barring the twice-married from office and enrolled widows show how second marriage detracts from holiness. ### Latin text Nobis continentia ad instrumentum aeternitatis demonstrata est a domino salutis, ad testimonium fidei, ad commendationem carnis istius exhibendae superventuro indumento incorruptibilitatis, ad sustinendam novissime voluntatem dei. Super haec enim recogites, moneo, neminem non ex dei voluntate de saeculo educi, si ne folium quidem ex arbore sine dei voluntate delabitur. Idem qui nos mundo infert, idem et educat necesse est. Igitur defuncto per dei voluntatem viro etiam matrimonium dei voluntate defungitur. Quid tu restaures cui finem deus posuit? Quid libertatem oblatam tibi iterata matrimonii servitute fastidis? Obligatus es, inquit, matrimonio, ne quaesieris solutionem: solutus es matrimonio, ne quaesieris obligationem. Nam etsi non delinquas renubendo, carnis tamen pressuram subsequi dicit. Quare facultatem continentiae, quantum possumus, diligamus, quam primum obvenerit, inbibamus, ut quod in matrimonio non valuimus, in viduitate sectemur. Amplectenda occasio est quae adimit quod necessitas imperabat. Quantum detrahant fidei, quantum obstrepant sanctitati nuptiae secundae, disciplina ecclesiae et praescriptio apostoli declarat, cum digamos non sinit praesidere, cum viduam adlegi in ordinem nisi univiram non concedat. Aram enim dei mundam proponi oportet. Tota illa ecclesiae candida de sanctitate describitur. Sacerdotium viduitatis et caelibatum est apud nationes. Pro diaboli scilicet aemulatione. Regem saeculi, Pontificem Maximum, rursus nubere nefas est. Quantum deo sanctitas placet, cum illam etiam inimicus affectat? non utique ut alicuius boni affinis, sed ut dei domini placita cum contumelia affectans. ### English translation (Claude) To us continence has been shown by the Lord of salvation as an instrument of eternity, a testimony of faith, a commendation of this flesh which is to be presented for the coming garment of incorruption, and finally as submission to the will of God. For besides this, I urge you to reflect that no one is taken out of the world except by the will of God, if not even a leaf falls from a tree without the will of God. The same one who brings us into the world must also take us out. Therefore, when a husband has died by the will of God, the marriage too has died by the will of God. Why should you restore what God has put an end to? Why do you disdain the freedom offered you by a repeated servitude of marriage? “Are you bound to a wife?” he says. “Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek to be bound.” For even if you do not sin by marrying again, he says that affliction of the flesh follows. Therefore let us love, as far as we can, the opportunity for continence; let us drink it in as soon as it comes, so that what we could not do in marriage we may pursue in widowhood. We must embrace the occasion that takes away what necessity was commanding. How much second marriages detract from faith, how much they obstruct holiness, the discipline of the church and the prescription of the apostle declare, since he does not allow the twice-married to preside, since he does not grant that a widow be enrolled in the order unless she has been the wife of one man. For the altar of God must be set forth pure. All that whiteness of the church is described in terms of holiness. Among the nations there is a priesthood of widowhood and celibacy, in rivalry, of course, with God, by the devil. It is unlawful for the king of the world, the Pontifex Maximus, to marry again. How much holiness pleases God, when even the enemy affects it! Not, surely, as being akin to any good, but as affecting, with insult, what pleases the Lord God. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 15:53: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 10:29: echo, medium confidence - 1 Cor 7:27–28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 3:2: allusion, high confidence - Titus 1:6: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 5:9: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions and quotations are 1 Cor 15:53–54, Matt 10:29 (the leaf echoes the sparrow), 1 Cor 7:27–28, 1 Tim 3:2 and Titus 1:6 (bishops “husband of one wife,” read here as excluding the twice-married), and 1 Tim 5:9. “Enrolled in the order” refers to the church's order of widows. “Univira” (“wife of one man”) was also a Roman ideal. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.7 (Oehler 1:679–681; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-7). ## To His Wife 1.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-8 - Source: Oehler 1:681–682 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God champions widows; widowhood, being chosen by effort, has a merit of its own even beside virginity, and a widow should avoid idle and loose company. ### Latin text Nam de viduitatis honoribus apud deum uno dicto eius per prophetam expeditum est: Iuste facito viduae et pupillo, et venite disputemus, dicit dominus. Duo ista nomina, in quantum destituta auxilio humano, in tantum divinae misericordiae exposita, suscipit tueri pater omnium. Vide, quam ex aequo habetur qui viduae benefecerit, quanti est vidua ipsa, cuius assertor cum domino disputabit! Non tantum virginibus datum, opinor. Licet in illis integritas solida et tota sanctitas de proximo visura sit faciem dei, tamen vidua habet aliquid operosius, quia facile est non appetere quod nescias et aversari quod desideres nunquam. Gloriosior continentia quae ius suum sentit, quae quid viderit novit. Poterit virgo felicior haberi, at vidua laboriosior: illa, quod bonum semper habuit, ista, quod bonum sibi invenit; in illa gratia, in ista virtus coronatur. Quaedam enim sunt divinae liberalitatis, quaedam nostrae operationis. Quae a domino indulgentur, sua gratia gubernantur; quae ab homine captantur, studio perpetrantur. Stude igitur ad virtutem continentiae, quae pudori procurat, sedulitati, quae vagas non facit, frugalitati, quae saeculum spernit. Convictus atque colloquia deo digna sectare, memor illius versiculi sanctificati per apostolum: Bonos corrumpunt mores congressus mali. Loquaces, otiosae, vinosae, curiosae contubernales vel maxime proposito viduitatis officiunt. Per loquacitatem irrepunt verba pudoris inimica, per otium a severitate deducunt, per vinolentiam quidvis mali insinuant, per curiositatem aemulationem libidinis convehunt. Nulla huiusmodi feminarum de bono univiratus loqui novit. Deus enim illis, ut ait apostolus, venter est, ita et quae ventri propinqua. Haec tibi iam hinc commendo, conserva carissima, post apostolum quidem ex abundanti pertractata, sed tibi etiam solatio futura, quod meam memoriam, si ita evenerit, in illis frequentabis. ### English translation (Claude) For concerning the honors of widowhood with God, the matter is settled by one saying of his through the prophet: “Do justice to the widow and the orphan, and come, let us reason together, says the Lord.” These two names, the more they are destitute of human help, the more they are exposed to divine mercy, and the Father of all undertakes to protect them. See how the one who has done good to a widow is treated as an equal! How great is the widow herself, whose champion will reason with the Lord! This has not been granted even to virgins, I think. Although in them solid integrity and entire holiness will see the face of God from close by, yet the widow has something more laborious, because it is easy not to seek what you do not know and to turn away from what you have never desired. More glorious is the continence that feels its right, that knows what it has seen. The virgin may be held happier, but the widow more hard-working: the one because she has always had the good, the other because she has found the good for herself; in the one grace is crowned, in the other virtue. For some things belong to divine generosity, others to our own work. What is granted by the Lord is governed by his grace; what is striven for by man is achieved by effort. Strive, then, for the virtue of continence, which provides for modesty; for industry, which does not make women wanderers; for frugality, which spurns the world. Pursue company and conversation worthy of God, mindful of that little verse sanctified by the apostle: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Talkative, idle, wine-bibbing, curious companions do the most harm to the purpose of widowhood. Through talkativeness words hostile to modesty creep in; through idleness they lead away from seriousness; through drunkenness they insinuate any evil; through curiosity they bring in the rivalry of lust. No woman of this kind knows how to speak of the good of having had one husband. For their god, as the apostle says, is the belly, and so also what is near the belly. These things I commend to you already now, dearest fellow servant, treated abundantly, to be sure, after the apostle, but to be a comfort to you too, since, if it so happens, you will keep my memory alive in them. ### Scripture references - Isa 1:17–18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:33: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 5:13: echo, medium confidence - Phil 3:19: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Menander, Thais (Menander, Thais): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are Isa 1:17–18, 1 Cor 15:33 (a line of Menander's Thais, “sanctified” by Paul's use), and Phil 3:19; the vices echo 1 Tim 5:13. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 1.8 (Oehler 1:681–682; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/1-1/#p-1-8). ## To His Wife 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-1 - Source: Oehler 1:683–684 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In a second book, Tertullian turns to the case of a widow who does remarry: Paul advises continence but commands that remarriage be “only in the Lord.” ### Latin text Proxime tibi, dilectissima in domino conserva, quid feminae sanctae matrimonio quacumque sorte adempto sectandum sit, ut potui prosecutus sum. Nunc ad secunda consilia convertamur, respectu humanae infirmitatis, quarundam exemplis admonentibus, quae divortio vel mariti excessu ablata continentiae occasione non modo abiecerunt opportunitatem tanti boni, sed ne in nubendo quidem rursum disciplinae meminisse voluerunt, ut in domino potissimum nuberent. Itaque mihi confusus est animus, ne, qui nuper te ad univiratus et viduitatis perseverantiam hortatus sim, nunc mentione nuptiarum proclivium tibi labendi oblationem faciam. Quod si integre sapis, certe scis id servandum tibi esse quod sit utilius. Quod vero difficile est, et non sine necessitatibus, et hoc maximum propositum vitae, subresedi; nec mihi de isto quoque referendi ad te causae fuissent, nisi graviorem iam sollicitudinem comprehendissem. Nam quanto grandis est continentia carnis, quae viduitati ministrat, tanto, si non sustineatur, ignoscibile videri potest. Difficilium enim facilis est tunc venia. Quanto autem nubere in domino perpetrabile est, uti nostrae potestatis, tanto culpabilius est non observare quod possis. Eo accedit quod apostolus de viduis quidem et innuptis, ut ita permaneant, suadet, cum dicit, Cupio autem omnes meo exemplo perseverare: de nubendo vero in domino, cum adicit, Tantum in domino, iam non suadet, sed exerte iubet. Igitur in ista maxime specie, nisi obsequimur, periclitamur; quia suasum impune quis neglegat quam iussum, quod illud de consilio veniat et voluntati proponatur, hoc autem de potestate descendat et necessitati obligetur, illic libertas, hic contumacia delinquere videatur. ### English translation (Claude) In my last letter, my dearest fellow servant in the Lord, I set out as well as I could what a holy woman should follow when her marriage has been taken away by whatever lot. Now let us turn to second counsels, out of regard for human weakness, warned by the examples of certain women who, when the opportunity for continence was offered them by divorce or by a husband's death, not only threw away the chance of so great a good, but even in marrying again did not wish to remember the discipline, that they should above all marry in the Lord. So my mind is troubled, lest I, who lately urged you to persevere as the wife of one man and in widowhood, should now, by mentioning marriage, offer you a slope to slip on. But if you are wholly wise, you certainly know that you must keep to what is more profitable. Since that is difficult, and not without constraints, and this the highest purpose of life, I paused over it; nor would I have had reason to write to you about this too, had I not now perceived a graver cause for concern. For the greater the continence of the flesh that serves widowhood, the more pardonable it can seem if it is not sustained; for pardon for difficult things is then easy. But the more feasible it is to marry in the Lord, as being within our power, the more blameworthy it is not to keep what you can. Add to this that the apostle, concerning widows and the unmarried, advises them to remain so when he says, “I wish all to persevere after my example”; but concerning marrying in the Lord, when he adds, “Only in the Lord,” he no longer advises but expressly commands. In this matter above all, then, unless we obey, we are in danger; because one may neglect advice with impunity sooner than a command, since the one comes from counsel and is set before the will, while the other comes down from authority and is bound on necessity; in the one case it seems liberty, in the other contumacy, to go wrong. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 7:7–8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:39: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 7:7–8 (freely) and 1 Cor 7:39. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.1 (Oehler 1:683–684; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-1). ## To His Wife 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-2 - Source: Oehler 1:684–687 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Paul's instruction that a believer stay with an unbelieving spouse concerns those converted after marriage; it gives no license for a Christian to marry an unbeliever, since remarriage is “only in the Lord.” ### Latin text Igitur cum quaedam istis diebus nuptias suas de ecclesia tolleret ac gentili coniungeretur, idque ab aliis retro factum recordarer, miratus aut ipsarum petulantiam aut consiliariorum praevaricationem, quod nulla scriptura eius facti licentiam profert, Numquid, inquam, de illo capitulo sibi blandiuntur primae ad Corinthios, ubi scriptum est: Si quis fratrum infidelem habet uxorem, et illa matrimonio consentit, ne dimittat eam: similiter mulier fidelis infideli nupta, si consentaneum maritum experitur, ne dimiserit eum; sanctificatur enim infidelis vir a fideli uxore et infidelis uxor a fideli marito; ceterum immundi essent filii vestri? Hanc monitionem fors de fidelibus iunctis simpliciter intellegendo putent etiam infidelibus nubere licere. Qui ita interpretatur, absit ut sciens se circumscribat. Ceterum manifestum est scripturam istam eos fideles designare qui in matrimonio gentili inventi a dei gratia fuerint, secundum verba ipsa. Si quis, inquit, fidelis uxorem habet infidelem. Non dicit, Uxorem ducit infidelem. Ostendit iam in matrimonio agentem mulieris infidelis mox gratia dei conversum perseverare cum uxore debere, scilicet propterea, ne qui fidem consecutus putaret sibi divertendum esse ab aliena iam et extranea quodammodo femina. Adeo et rationem subicit, in pace nos vocari ad dominum deum et posse infidelem a fideli per usum matrimonii lucrifieri. Ipsa etiam clausula hoc ita intellegendum esse confirmat, Ut quisque, ait, vocatur a domino, ita perseveret. Vocantur autem gentiles, opinor, non fideles. Quod si de fidelium tantum matrimonio pronuntiasset absolute, permiserat sanctis vulgo nubere. Si vero permiserat, nunquam tam diversam atque contrariam permissui suo pronuntiationem subdidisset, dicens: Mulier defuncto viro libera est; cui vult nubat, tantum in domino. Hic certe nihil retractandum est; nam de quo retractari potuisset, spiritus cecinit: Ne quod ait, Cui velit nubat, male uteremur, adiecit, Tantum in domino, id est in nomine domini, quod est indubitate Christiano. Ille igitur spiritus sanctus, qui viduas et innuptas integritati perseverare mavult, qui nos ad exemplum sui hortatur, nullam aliam formam repetundarum nuptiarum nisi in domino praescribit, huic soli condicioni continentiae detrimenta concedit: Tantum, inquit, in domino. Adiecit pondus legi suae, Tantum. Quo sono et modo enuntiaveris dictum istud, onerosum est: et iubet et suadet, et praecipit et hortatur, et rogat et comminatur. Districta, expedita sententia est, et ipsa sui brevitate facunda. Sic solet divina vox, ut statim intellegas, statim observes. Quis enim non intellegere possit multa pericula et vulnera fidei in huiusmodi nuptiis, quas prohibet, apostolum providisse, et primo quidem carnis sanctae in carne gentili inquinamentum praecavisse? Hoc loco dicit aliquis, Quid ergo refert inter eum qui in matrimonio gentili a domino allegitur et olim id est ante nuptias fidelem, ut non proinde carni suae caveant, cum alter a nuptiis infidelis arceatur, alter in eis perseverare iubeatur? cur, si a gentili inquinamur, non ille diiungitur, quemadmodum iste non obligatur? Respondebo, si spiritus dederit, ante omnia allegans dominum magis gratum habere matrimonium non contrahi quam omnino disiungi: denique divortium prohibet, nisi stupri causa, continentiam vero commendat. Habeat igitur ille perseverandi necessitatem, hic porro etiam non nubendi potestatem. Tunc si secundum scripturam qui in matrimonio gentili a fide deprehendentur, propterea non inquinantur, quia cum ipsis alii quoque sanctificantur, sine dubio isti qui ante nuptias sanctificati sunt, si extraneae carni commisceantur, sanctificare eam non possunt in qua non sunt deprehensi. Dei autem gratia illud sanctificat quod invenit. Ita quod sanctificari non potuit, immundum est: quod immundum est, cum sancto non habet partem, nisi ut de suo inquinet et occidat. ### English translation (Claude) So when a certain woman in these days took her marriage away from the church and was joined to a gentile, and I recalled that this had been done by others before, wondering either at their wantonness or at the betrayal of their advisers, since no Scripture offers license for such a deed, I said: Surely they do not flatter themselves with that chapter of First Corinthians where it is written: “If any of the brothers has an unbelieving wife and she consents to the marriage, let him not dismiss her; likewise a believing woman married to an unbeliever, if she finds her husband consenting, let her not dismiss him; for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife by the believing husband; otherwise your children would be unclean.” Perhaps, understanding this admonition simply of believers who are joined in marriage, they think it lawful also to marry unbelievers. Far be it that whoever interprets it so should knowingly deceive himself. But it is plain that this Scripture refers to those believers who were found by the grace of God in a marriage with a gentile, according to the very words. “If any believer,” he says, “has an unbelieving wife.” He does not say, “takes an unbelieving wife.” He shows that one already living in marriage with an unbelieving woman, and soon converted by the grace of God, ought to persevere with his wife, lest, that is, anyone who had attained faith should think he must separate from a woman now in a way foreign and strange to him. So he also adds the reason, that we are called in peace to the Lord God, and that the unbeliever can be won by the believer through the intercourse of marriage. The very conclusion also confirms that it is to be understood so: “As each one is called by the Lord,” he says, “so let him persevere.” But it is gentiles who are called, I think, not believers. But if he had pronounced absolutely about the marriage of believers only, he would have permitted the holy to marry anyone at large. And if he had permitted it, he would never have added a pronouncement so different from and contrary to his permission, saying: “A woman whose husband has died is free; let her marry whom she will, only in the Lord.” Here certainly there is nothing to reconsider; for what might have been reconsidered, the Spirit has proclaimed: lest we misuse what he says, “let her marry whom she will,” he added, “only in the Lord,” that is, in the name of the Lord, which undoubtedly means to a Christian. That Holy Spirit, then, who prefers widows and the unmarried to persevere in integrity, who urges us to follow his example, prescribes no other form of renewed marriage than in the Lord; to this condition alone he concedes the loss of continence: “Only,” he says, “in the Lord.” He has added weight to his law: “Only.” With whatever tone and manner you pronounce that word, it is weighty: it both commands and advises, both enjoins and exhorts, both asks and threatens. The sentence is strict and clear, and eloquent in its very brevity. So the divine voice is wont to speak, so that you understand at once and obey at once. For who could fail to understand that the apostle foresaw many dangers and wounds to faith in marriages of this kind, which he forbids, and first of all guarded against the defilement of holy flesh in gentile flesh? Here someone says: “What difference, then, is there between the one who is chosen by the Lord while in a marriage with a gentile, and the one who was a believer earlier, that is, before the marriage, that they should not equally guard their flesh, since the one is kept from marriage with an unbeliever, and the other is commanded to persevere in it? Why, if we are defiled by a gentile, is the one not separated, just as the other is not bound?” I will answer, if the Spirit grants, alleging first of all that the Lord holds it more pleasing that a marriage not be contracted than that it be dissolved at all: indeed he forbids divorce, except for the cause of sexual immorality, but commends continence. Let the one, then, have the necessity of persevering, and the other also the power of not marrying. Then, if according to Scripture those who are overtaken by faith in a marriage with a gentile are not defiled, because the others are sanctified together with them, without doubt those who were sanctified before marriage, if they mingle with strange flesh, cannot sanctify that flesh in which they were not overtaken. But the grace of God sanctifies what it finds. So what could not be sanctified is unclean; and what is unclean has no part with the holy, except to defile and slay it with its own. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 7:12–14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:15–16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:32: allusion, high confidence - Matt 19:9: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The quotations are 1 Cor 7:12–14, 7:17 (compare 7:20, 24), and 7:39; the allusions 1 Cor 7:15–16 and Matt 5:32 (compare 19:9), where Tertullian's “stuprum” (“sexual immorality”) renders the exception clause. “The Spirit has proclaimed” refers to the apostle's words as inspired. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.2 (Oehler 1:684–687; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-2). ## To His Wife 2.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-3 - Source: Oehler 1:687–688 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Marrying a pagan is sexual sin, a violation of the body bought by Christ's blood, and daily exposure to pagan ways wears faith away. ### Latin text Haec si ita sunt, fideles gentilium matrimonia subeuntes stupri reos constat esse et arcendos ab omni communicatione fraternitatis, ex litteris apostoli dicentis cum eiusmodi ne cibum quidem sumendum. Aut numquid tabulas nuptiales de illo apud tribunal domini proferemus, et matrimonium rite contractum allegabimus quod vetuit ipse? Non adulterium est quod prohibitum est, non stuprum est. Extranei hominis admissio minus templum dei violat, minus membra Christi cum membris adulterae commiscet. Quod sciam, non sumus nostri, sed pretio empti, et quali pretio? sanguine dei. Laedentes igitur carnem istam eum laedimus de proximo. Quid sibi voluit ille qui dixit delictum quidem esse extraneo nubere, sed minimum, cum alias seposita carnis iniuria ad dominum pertinentis omne delictum voluntarium in dominum grande est? Quanto enim potestas vitandi fuit, tanto contumaciae crimine oneratur. Recenseamus nunc cetera pericula aut vulnera, ut dixi, fidei ab apostolo provisa, non carni tantum, verum etiam et ipsi spiritui molestissima. Quis enim dubitet obliterari quotidie fidem commercio infideli? Bonos corrumpunt mores confabulationes malae: quanto magis et convictus et individuus usus? Quaevis mulier fidelis deum observet necesse est. Et quomodo potest duobus dominis servire, domino et marito, adde gentili? Gentilem enim observando gentilia exhibebit, formam, exstructionem, munditias saeculares, blanditias turpiores, ipsa etiam matrimonii secreta maculosa, non ut penes sanctos officia sexus cum honore ipsius necessitatis, tanquam sub oculis dei modeste et moderate transigantur. ### English translation (Claude) If these things are so, it is clear that believers who enter into marriages with gentiles are guilty of sexual immorality and must be kept from all communion with the brotherhood, according to the letter of the apostle, who says that with such a person one must not even eat. Or shall we produce marriage contracts about it before the Lord's tribunal and plead that a marriage was duly contracted which he himself forbade? Is what is forbidden not adultery, is it not sexual immorality? Does the admission of a strange man violate the temple of God any less, mingle the members of Christ with the members of an adulteress any less? So far as I know, we are not our own, but bought with a price; and with what a price! The blood of God. So in harming this flesh we harm him directly. What did he mean who said that it is indeed a sin to marry an outsider, but a very small one, when, apart from the injury to flesh that belongs to the Lord, every willful sin against the Lord is great? For the greater the power of avoiding it was, the more it is burdened with the charge of contumacy. Let us now review the other dangers or wounds to faith, as I said, foreseen by the apostle, most harmful not only to the flesh but also to the spirit itself. For who would doubt that faith is daily worn away by commerce with an unbeliever? “Bad conversations corrupt good morals”: how much more living together and inseparable intercourse? Any believing woman must attend to God. And how can she serve two masters, the Lord and a husband, and a gentile at that? For in attending to a gentile she will display gentile things: beauty, elaborate hairdressing, worldly elegance, baser allurements, even the secrets of marriage stained, not as among the saints, where the duties of the sex are carried out modestly and with moderation, with honor for the very necessity, as under the eyes of God. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 5:11: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:15–16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19–20: allusion, high confidence - Acts 20:28: echo, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:33: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions and quotations are 1 Cor 5:11, 1 Cor 6:15–16, 1 Cor 6:19–20, Acts 20:28 (“the blood of God”), 1 Cor 15:33, and Matt 6:24. Tertullian's “stuprum” is rendered “sexual immorality” and “adulterium” “adultery”; he treats such a marriage as no true marriage. The one who called it “a very small sin” is unidentified. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.3 (Oehler 1:687–688; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-3). ## To His Wife 2.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-4 - Source: Oehler 1:688–689 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: A pagan husband will obstruct his Christian wife's fasts, night services, Easter vigil, Eucharist, prison visits, and hospitality. ### Latin text Sed viderit, qualiter viro officia pendat. Domino certe non potest pro disciplina satisfacere, habens in latere diaboli servum, procuratorem domini sui ad impedienda fidelium studia et officia, ut, si statio facienda est, maritus de die condicat ad balneas, si ieiunia observanda sunt, maritus eadem die convivium exerceat, si procedendum erit, numquam magis familiae occupatio obveniat. Quis enim sinat coniugem suam visitandorum fratrum gratia vicatim aliena et quidem pauperiora quaeque tuguria circuire? Quis nocturnis convocationibus, si ita oportuerit, a latere suo adimi libenter feret? Quis denique sollemnibus Paschae abnoctantem securus sustinebit? Quis ad convivium dominicum illud, quod infamant, sine sua suspicione dimittet? Quis in carcerem ad osculanda vincula martyris reptare patietur? Iam vero alicui fratrum ad osculum convenire? aquam sanctorum pedibus offerre? de cibo, de poculo invadere, desiderare, in mente habere? Si pereger frater adveniat, quod in aliena domo hospitium? si cui largiendum erit, horreum, proma praeclusa sunt. ### English translation (Claude) But let her see how she pays her duties to her husband. To the Lord she certainly cannot give satisfaction according to discipline, having at her side a servant of the devil, his master's agent for hindering the pursuits and duties of believers: so that if a station is to be kept, the husband makes an appointment at the baths for that day; if fasts are to be observed, the husband holds a banquet the same day; if she must go out, never is there more household business in the way. For who would let his wife go round from street to street to other people's houses, and indeed all the poorer hovels, for the sake of visiting the brothers? Who will gladly let her be taken from his side for night gatherings, if need be? Who, finally, will calmly bear her staying out all night at the Easter solemnities? Who will let her go without suspicion of his own to that Lord's supper which they defame? Who will allow her to creep into prison to kiss the chains of a martyr? And then to meet one of the brothers for the kiss? To offer water for the saints' feet? To snatch food or cup for them, to long for them, to keep them in mind? If a brother comes from abroad, what hospitality is there in a stranger's house? If something must be given to someone, the granary and the storeroom are shut. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 5:10: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - A “station” was a day of fasting and prayer (Wednesdays and Fridays). The defamed “Lord's supper” refers to pagan rumors about Christian meals; footwashing echoes John 13:14 and 1 Tim 5:10. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.4 (Oehler 1:688–689; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-4). ## To His Wife 2.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-5 - Source: Oehler 1:689–691 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even a tolerant pagan husband knows and can exploit his wife's Christian practices, such as signing herself with the cross, night prayer, and taking the reserved Eucharist. ### Latin text Sed aliquis sustinet nostra nec obstrepit. Hoc est igitur delictum, quod gentiles nostra noverunt, quod sub conscientia iniustorum sumus, quod beneficium eorum est, si quid operamur. Non potest nescire qui sustinet, aut si celatur quia non sustinet, timetur. Cum autem scriptura utrumque mandet, et sine alterius conscientia et sine nostra pressura operari domino, nihil interest, in qua parte delinquas, aut in conscientiam mariti, si sit patiens, aut in conflictationem tui, dum vitatur impatiens. Nolite, inquit, margaritas vestras porcis iactare, ne conculcent eas et conversi vos quoque evertant. Margaritae vestrae sunt etiam quotidianae conversationis insignia. Quanto curaveris ea occultare, tanto suspectiora feceris et magis captanda gentili curiositati. Latebisne tu, cum lectulum, cum corpusculum tuum signas, cum aliquid immundum flatu explodis, cum etiam per noctem exurgis oratum, et non magiae aliquid videberis operari? Non sciet maritus quid secreto ante omnem cibum gustes? et si sciverit panem, non illum credit esse qui dicitur? Et haec ignorans quisque rationem simpliciter sustinebit? sine gemitu? sine suspicione panis an veneni? Sustinent quidam, sed ut inculcent, ut illudant huiusmodi feminis, quarum arcana in periculum quod credunt reservent, si forte laedantur, sustinent, quarum dotes obiectione nominis mercedem silentii faciant, scilicet apud arbitrum speculatorem litigaturi. Quod pleraeque non providentes aut re excruciata aut fide perdita recognoscere consueverunt. ### English translation (Claude) “But someone puts up with our practices and does not object.” This, then, is the sin: that gentiles know our practices, that we are under the knowledge of the unrighteous, that it is by their favor if we do anything. One who puts up with them cannot fail to know; or if things are hidden from him because he does not put up with them, he is feared. But since Scripture commands both, to work for the Lord both without another's knowledge and without pressure on us, it makes no difference on which side you sin: either against your husband's knowledge, if he is tolerant, or in conflict with yourself, while you avoid him if he is intolerant. “Do not throw your pearls to swine,” he says, “lest they trample them and turn and overturn you too.” Your pearls are also the marks of your daily conduct. The more you take care to hide them, the more suspect you will make them and the more they will be seized on by gentile curiosity. Will you escape notice when you sign your little bed and your body, when you blow away something unclean with a breath, when you even get up at night to pray, and will you not seem to be doing some magic? Will your husband not know what you taste secretly before all food? And if he knows it is bread, does he not believe it to be what it is said to be? And will anyone, ignorant of the reason for these things, simply put up with them? Without a groan? Without suspecting whether it is bread or poison? Some put up with them, but so as to trample on and mock such women, keeping their secrets in reserve for the danger they believe in, in case they are wronged; they put up with those whose dowries they turn into the price of silence by threatening to denounce the name, being ready, of course, to go to law before a spy as judge. Most women, not foreseeing this, come to recognize it only when their property has been tortured away or their faith lost. ### Scripture references - Matt 7:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The quotation is Matt 7:6. “What you taste secretly before all food” refers to the Eucharist reserved at home and received before other food; signing the bed and body is the sign of the cross; blowing away the unclean is exsufflation against evil spirits. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.5 (Oehler 1:689–691; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-5). ## To His Wife 2.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-6 - Source: Oehler 1:691–692 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Married to a pagan, a Christian woman is drawn into idolatrous festivals and taverns and loses the fellowship, prayer, and Scripture of Christian life. ### Latin text Moratur dei ancilla cum laboribus alienis, et inter illos omnibus nominibus daemonum, omnibus sollemnibus regum, incipiente anno, incipiente mense, nidore turis agitabitur. Et procedet de ianua laureata et lucernata, ut de novo consistorio libidinum publicarum, discumbet cum marito saepe in sodalitiis, saepe in popinis, et ministrabit nonnumquam iniquis, solita quondam sanctis ministrare, et non hinc praeiudicium damnationis suae agnoscet, eos observans quos erat iudicatura? Cuius manum desiderabit? de cuius poculo participabit? Quid maritus suus illi, vel marito quid ipsa cantabit? Audiet sane aliquid dei coenans de taberna. De gehenna quae dei mentio? quae Christi invocatio? Ubi fomenta fidei de scripturarum interiectione? Ubi spiritus? Ubi refrigerium? Ubi divina benedictio? Omnia extranea, omnia inimica, omnia damnata, atterendae saluti a malo immissa. ### English translation (Claude) The handmaid of God lives amid others' labors, and among them, on all the feast days of demons, on all the solemnities of kings, at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the month, she will be troubled by the reek of incense. And she will go out from a door decked with laurel and lamps, as from a new meeting place of public lusts; she will recline with her husband often at club dinners, often in taverns; and she who once used to serve the saints will sometimes serve the wicked; and will she not recognize from this a foretaste of her condemnation, as she waits on those whom she was to judge? Whose hand will she long for? Of whose cup will she partake? What will her husband sing to her, or what will she sing to her husband? She will hear something, no doubt, dining from the tavern! What mention of God from Gehenna? What invocation of Christ? Where is the nourishment of faith from the reading of Scripture interspersed? Where is the Spirit? Where the refreshment? Where the divine blessing? All is strange, all hostile, all condemned, sent in by the evil one to wear away salvation. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 6:2–3: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Laurel and lamps on doors marked pagan and imperial festivals. “Whom she was to judge” alludes to 1 Cor 6:2–3. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.6 (Oehler 1:691–692; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-6). ## To His Wife 2.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-7 - Source: Oehler 1:692–694 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Mixed marriages begun before conversion are valid and blessed with hope of winning the spouse, but a Christian who chooses to marry a pagan enters a union the Lord condemns. ### Latin text Haec si illis quoque evenire possunt quae in matrimonio gentili fidem adeptae morantur, tamen excusantur, ut in ipsis deprehensae a deo, et iubentur perseverare et sanctificantur et spem lucrationis accipiunt. Si ergo ratum est apud deum matrimonium huiusmodi, cur non et prospere cedat, ut pressuris et angustiis et impedimentis et inquinamentis non ita lacessatur, habens iam ex parte divinae gratiae patrocinium? Nam et ad aliquam virtutem caelestem documentis dignationis alicuius vocatus ille de gentibus terrori est gentili, quo minus sibi obstrepat, minus insidiet, minus speculetur. Sensit magnalia, vidit experimenta, scit meliorem factum; sic et ipse dei candidatus est timore. Ita facilius huiusmodi lucro fiunt in quos dei gratia consuetudinem fecit. Ceterum aliud est ultro et sponte in prohibita descendere. Quae domino non placent, utique dominum offendunt, utique a malo inferuntur. Hoc signi erit, quod solis petitoribus placet nomen Christianum. Ideo inveniuntur qui tales non exhorreant ut exterminent, ut abrapiant, ut a fide excludant. Habes causam, qua non dubites nullum huiusmodi matrimonium prospere decurri, dum a malo conciliatur, a domino vero damnatur. ### English translation (Claude) If these things can happen to those too who, having attained faith, remain in a marriage with a gentile, they are nevertheless excused, as having been overtaken by God in that state; they are commanded to persevere, they are sanctified, and they receive hope of winning their partner. If, then, a marriage of this kind is valid before God, why should it not also turn out well, so as not to be so harassed by pressures and straits and hindrances and defilements, having already on one side the patronage of divine grace? For the one called from among the gentiles to some heavenly virtue, by proofs of some divine favor, is a terror to the gentile, so that he objects less, plots less, spies less. He has felt great wonders, he has seen evidences, he knows the other has been made better; so he too becomes a candidate for God through fear. So those in whom God's grace has made the acquaintance are the more easily won. But it is another thing to descend of one's own accord and freely into what is forbidden. What does not please the Lord certainly offends the Lord, certainly is brought in by the evil one. This will be the sign: that the Christian name pleases only suitors. That is why men are found who do not shudder at such women, in order to ruin them, to carry them off, to shut them out from faith. You have the reason why you should not doubt that no marriage of this kind runs well, since it is arranged by the evil one but condemned by the Lord. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 7:12–16: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusion is 1 Cor 7:12–16. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.7 (Oehler 1:692–694; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-7). ## To His Wife 2.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-8 - Source: Oehler 1:694–697 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Rich Christian women marry pagans out of worldliness, but marriage between two believers, sealed by the church's blessing and shared in prayer, fasting, and worship, is supremely happy. ### Latin text Ad hoc quaeramus, an iure, quasi revera dispectores divinarum sententiarum. Nonne etiam penes nationes severissimi quique domini et disciplinae tenacissimi servis suis foras nubere interdicunt? scilicet ne in lasciviam excedant, officia deserant, dominica extraneis promant. Nonne insuper censuerunt servituti vindicandos qui cum alienis servis post dominorum denuntiationem in consuetudine perseveraverunt? Severiores habebuntur terrenae disciplinae caelestibus praescriptis? ut gentiles quidem extraneis iunctae libertatem suam amittant, nostrae vero diaboli servos sibi coniungant et in statu suo perseverent? Scilicet negabunt sibi a domino per apostolum eiusdem denuntiatum. Quam huius amentiae causam detineam, nisi fidei imbecillitatem pronam semper in concupiscentias saecularium gaudiorum? Quod quidem plurimum in lautioribus deprehensum est. Nam quanto dives aliqua est et matronae nomine inflata, tanto capaciorem domum oneribus suis requirit, ut campum in quo ambitio decurrat. Sordent talibus ecclesiae. Difficile in domo dei dives, ac si quis est, difficile caelebs. Quid ergo faciant? Unde nisi a diabolo maritum petant idoneum exhibendae sellae et mulabus et cinerariis peregrinae proceritatis? Christianus ista etiam dives fortasse non praestet. Quaeso te, gentilium exempla proponas tibi. Pleraeque et genere nobiles et re beatae passim ignobilibus et mediocribus sibi coniunguntur ad luxuriam inventis, aut ad licentiam sectis. Nonnullae se libertis et servis suis conferunt, omnium hominum existimatione despecta, dummodo habeant a quibus nullum impedimentum libertatis suae timeant. Christianam fidelem fideli re minori nubere piget, locupletatiorem futuram in viro paupere? Nam si pauperum sunt regna caelorum, divitium non sunt, plus dives in paupere inveniet. Maiore dote dotabitur de bonis eius qui in deo dives est. Sit illa ex aequo in terris, quae in caelis forsitan non erit. Dubitandum et inquirendum et identidem deliberandum est, an idoneus sit invectis dotalibus cui deus censum suum credidit? Unde sufficiamus ad enarrandam felicitatem eius matrimonii quod ecclesia conciliat et confirmat oblatio et obsignat benedictio, angeli renuntiant, pater rato habet? Nam nec in terris filii sine consensu patrum recte et iure nubunt. Quale iugum fidelium duorum unius spei, unius voti, unius disciplinae, eiusdem servitutis? Ambo fratres, ambo conservi, nulla spiritus carnisve discretio. Atquin vere duo in carne una. Ubi caro una, unus et spiritus. Simul orant, simul volutantur, simul ieiunia transigunt, alterutro docentes, alterutro exhortantes, alterutro sustinentes. In ecclesia dei pariter utrique, pariter in convivio dei, pariter in angustiis, in persecutionibus, in refrigeriis. Neuter alterum celat, neuter alterum vitat, neuter alteri gravis est. Libere aeger visitatur, indigens sustentatur. Eleemosynae sine tormento, sacrificia sine scrupulo, quotidiana diligentia sine impedimento; non furtiva signatio, non trepida gratulatio, non muta benedictio. Sonant inter duos psalmi et hymni, et mutuo provocant quis melius domino suo cantet. Talia Christus videns et audiens gaudet. His pacem suam mittit. Ubi duo, ibi et ipse: ubi et ipse, ibi et malus non est. Haec sunt quae apostoli vox illa sub brevitate intellegenda nobis relinquit. Haec tibi suggere, si opus fuerit. His te ab exemplis quarundam reflecte. Non licet aliter fidelibus nubere, non expedit. ### English translation (Claude) Besides this, let us ask whether we are right, as truly discerners of the divine sentences. Do not even among the nations the strictest masters and those most tenacious of discipline forbid their slaves to marry outside the household? Lest, that is, they run into wantonness, neglect their duties, bring out their masters' goods to strangers. Have they not moreover decreed that those who, after warning from the masters, have persisted in intercourse with others' slaves are to be claimed into slavery? Shall earthly disciplines be held stricter than heavenly prescriptions, so that gentile women joined to strangers lose their freedom, while ours join the devil's slaves to themselves and remain in their own status? No doubt they will deny that the Lord's warning was given them through his apostle! What cause shall I assign for this madness, except weakness of faith, always prone to the desires of worldly pleasures? This indeed is found most among the wealthier. For the richer a woman is and the more puffed up with the title of matron, the more spacious a house she seeks for her burdens, as a field in which her ambition may run. To such women the churches are mean. It is hard for a rich person to be in the house of God, and if there is one, hard for her to be unmarried. What then are they to do? Where but from the devil are they to seek a husband fit to furnish a sedan chair, mules, and hairdressers of outlandish height? A Christian, even a rich one, might perhaps not provide these. I beg you, set before yourself the examples of gentile women. Many, noble in birth and blessed in fortune, join themselves here and there to men of low birth and middling means, found for luxury or pursued for license. Some give themselves to their freedmen and slaves, despising the opinion of all people, provided they have men from whom they fear no hindrance to their freedom. Does a Christian woman, a believer, disdain to marry a believer of lesser means, when she will be richer in a poor husband? For if the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor, it does not belong to the rich; the rich woman will find more in the poor man. She will be endowed with a greater dowry from the goods of him who is rich in God. Let her be his equal on earth, who in heaven perhaps will not be. Must one doubt and inquire and deliberate again and again whether he to whom God has entrusted his own wealth is fit for the dowry brought in? How shall we suffice to tell the happiness of that marriage which the church arranges, the offering confirms, the blessing seals, angels report, and the Father holds as ratified? For not even on earth do sons marry rightly and lawfully without the consent of their fathers. What a yoke is that of two believers, of one hope, one vow, one discipline, the same service! Both are brothers, both fellow servants, with no separation of spirit or flesh. Indeed they are truly two in one flesh. Where there is one flesh, there is one spirit too. Together they pray, together they prostrate themselves, together they keep fasts, teaching one another, exhorting one another, supporting one another. Both are equally in the church of God, equally at the banquet of God, equally in straits, in persecutions, in refreshments. Neither hides anything from the other, neither avoids the other, neither is a burden to the other. The sick is visited freely, the needy sustained. Alms without torment, sacrifices without anxiety, daily diligence without hindrance; no furtive signing, no fearful greeting, no silent blessing. Psalms and hymns sound between the two, and they challenge each other as to who will sing better to their Lord. Seeing and hearing such things Christ rejoices. To these he sends his peace. Where two are, there he is too; and where he is, there the evil one is not. These are the things which that saying of the apostle leaves for us to understand in its brevity. Suggest these things to yourself, if need be. Turn yourself away by them from the examples of certain women. It is not lawful for believers to marry otherwise; it is not expedient. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 7:39: allusion, high confidence - Luke 6:20: allusion, high confidence - Gen 2:24: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:16: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 18:20: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The allusions are 1 Cor 7:39, Luke 6:20, Gen 2:24 (Matt 19:5), Col 3:16, and Matt 18:20. The reference to masters' rules alludes to the Roman senatus consultum Claudianum (52), under which a free woman who cohabited with another's slave after warning could be reduced to slavery. “The offering confirms, the blessing seals” is an early witness to a church celebration of marriage with the Eucharist. ### Citation (SBL) Tertullian, Ux. 2.8 (Oehler 1:694–697; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/tertullian-uxorem/2-1/#p-2-8).