Verse 39 Only in the Lord; only to one who is a Christian. The Christian widow was not to marry a heathen idolater. It has sometimes been maintained that this direction forbids a Christian female, at the present day, to marry any one not truly pious; but this is a very wide extension of its meaning. As, in all Christian lands, and among all forms of communion, the young females who give evidence of sincere piety, far outnumber those of the other sex, and that from the influence of causes permanent and universal, the doctrine that they must not marry beyond the limit above prescribed, necessarily consigns a very large proportion of the females of the church, probably more than half, to celibacy. And as the human race is equally divided between the sexes, the celibacy of any number of Christian females must necessarily occasion the celibacy of an equal number of the other sex. It is easy to see, therefore, that such a rule, besides not being here enjoined, would greatly impede the extension and establishment of Christianity in the world. In fact, one of the most powerful means of its extension is the influence of a pious mother upon her children, in cases where her efforts are not aided by the coöperation of the father.