Q&A: 1 Corinthians 7:12 — is Paul's 'I, not the Lord' statement inspired Scripture?

Mike presents the text and two interpretations. Interpretation 1: Paul genuinely means 'this is my wisdom/opinion, not a divine command' — i.e., it has lesser authority. Interpretation 2: When Paul says 'the Lord' (vv. 10–11), he is specifically referring to a known teaching of Jesus (a tradition Paul had received); when he says 'I, not the Lord' (v. 12), he means 'I have no specific Jesus-tradition to cite here, but I, Paul the Apostle, am giving you a command' — which still carries full apostolic authority. Mike says he used to hold view 1 but has moved toward view 2, though he is not certain. He would want to do a careful inductive study of the full passage before settling it. He frames the ambiguity honestly as an example of the kind of interpretive difficulty genuine scholars engage.