What does 1 Corinthians 7:39 mean?

Paul wraps up this long section about whether unmarried people should get married by addressing one more group: widows. He emphasizes once more that those who are already married should stay married. A wife is bound to her husband so long as he or she lives. In almost all cases, only death should end a Christian marriage.

However, if the woman's husband dies, the widow is free to marry whomever she chooses. Paul offers one stipulation by saying "only in the Lord." In other words, a Christian widow should not marry an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14).

In the culture of Paul's day, the widow was in a very different position from young women considering her first marriage. Widows were no longer necessarily under the authority of their fathers and were free to choose their own husband, given the opportunity. At the same time, such widows were especially vulnerable to being exploited or abandoned. Young women generally relied on their fathers to find them a desirable husband. That's why Paul's instructions to widows differ from his earlier instructions to those who are "betrothed."