as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
Parallel Translations
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as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
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vnderstondinge this how that the lawe is not geven vnto a righteous man but vnto the vnrighteous and disobedient to the vngodly and to synners to vnholy and vnclean to murtherers of fathers and murtherers of mothers to manslears
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Knowing this, that the Lawe is not giuen vnto a righteous man, but vnto the lawles and disobedient, to the vngodly, and to sinners, to the vnholy, and to the prophane, to murtherers of fathers and mothers, to manslayers,
Cross-references (37)
Passages linked to 1 Timothy 1:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 3:19 Then why is there the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.
- 1 Peter 4:18 “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?”
- Romans 5:20 The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
- Galatians 3:10-14 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who doesn’t continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them.” Now that no man is justified by the law before God is evident, for, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law is not of faith, but, “The man who does them will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,” that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
- Galatians 5:23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
- Titus 3:3 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- Romans 6:14 For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
- Romans 1:30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
- Genesis 9:5-6 I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.
- Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
- Revelation 21:8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Revelation 22:15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.
- Exodus 21:14 If a man schemes and comes presumptuously on his neighbor to kill him, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
- Leviticus 20:9 “ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself.
- Numbers 35:30-33 “ ‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies. “ ‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death. “ ‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. “ ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
- Deuteronomy 21:6-9 All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood shall be forgiven them. So you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in Yahweh’s eyes.
- Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- 2 Samuel 16:11 David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, “Behold, my son, who came out of my bowels, seeks my life. How much more this Benjamite, now? Leave him alone, and let him curse; for Yahweh has invited him.
- 2 Samuel 17:1-4 Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight. I will come on him while he is weary and exhausted, and will make him afraid. All the people who are with him will flee. I will strike the king only, and I will bring back all the people to you. The man whom you seek is as if all returned. All the people shall be in peace.” The saying pleased Absalom well, and all the elders of Israel.
- 2 Kings 19:37 As he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
- 2 Chronicles 32:21 Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. When he had come into the house of his god, those who came out of his own body killed him there with the sword.
- Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
- Proverbs 28:17 A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.
- Proverbs 28:24 Whoever robs his father or his mother and says, “It’s not wrong,” is a partner with a destroyer.
- Proverbs 30:11 There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.
- Proverbs 30:17 “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.
- Jeremiah 23:11 for both prophet and priest are profane. Yes, in my house I have found their wickedness,” says Yahweh.
- Ezekiel 21:25 “ ‘You, deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day has come, in the time of the iniquity of the end,
- Matthew 10:21 “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.
- Romans 4:13 For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
- Hebrews 11:31 By faith, Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
- 1 Peter 3:20 who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
- Galatians 5:21 envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
- Hebrews 12:16 lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal.
- 1 Peter 2:7 For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (18 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 9 That the law is not made for a…
9 That the law is not made for a righteous man The apostle did not intend to argue about the whole office of the law, but views it in reference to men. It frequently happens that they who wish to be regarded as the greatest zealots for the law, give evidence by their whole life that they are the greatest despisers of it. A remarkable and striking instance of this is found in those who maintain the righteousness of works and defend free-will. They have continually in their mouth these words, “Perfect holiness, merits, satisfactions;” but their whole life cries out against them, that they are outrageously wicked and ungodly, that they provoke in every possible way the wrath of God, and fearlessly set his judgment at naught. They extol in lofty terms the free choice of good and evil; but they openly shew, by their actions, that they are the slaves of Satan, and are most firmly held by him in the chains of slavery.
Having such adversaries, in order to restrain their haughty insolence, Paul remonstrates that the law is, as it were, the sword of God to slay them; and that neither he nor any like him have reason for viewing the law with dread or aversion; for it is not opposed to righteous persons, that is, to the godly and to those who willingly obey God. I am well aware that some learned men draw an ingenious sense out of these words; as if Paul were treating theologically about the nature of “the law.” They argue that the law has nothing to do with the sons of God, who have been regenerated by the Spirit; because it was not given for righteous persons. But the connection in which these words occur shuts me up to the necessity of giving a more simple interpretation to this statement. He takes for granted the well-known sentiment, that “from bad manners have sprung good laws,” and maintains that the law of God was given in order to restrain the licentiousness of wicked men; because they who are good of their own accord do not need the authoritative injunction of the law.
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A question now arises, “Is there any mortal man who does not belong to this class?” I reply, in this passage Paul gives the appellation “righteous” to those who are not absolutely perfect, (for no such person will be found,) but who, with the strongest desire of their heart, aim at what is good; so that godly desire is to them a kind of voluntary law, without any motive or restraint from another quarter. He therefore wished to repress the impudence of adversaries, who armed themselves with the name of “the law” against godly men, whose whole life exhibits the actual role of the law, since they had very great need of the law, and yet did not care much about it; which is more clearly expressed by the opposite clause. If there be any who refuse to admit that Paul brings an implied or indirect charge against his adversaries as guilty of those wicked acts which he enumerates, still it will be acknowledged to be a simple repelling of the slander; and if they were animated by a sincere and unfeigned zeal for the law, they ought rather to have made use of their armor for carrying on war with offenses and crimes, instead of employing it as a pretext for their own ambition and silly talking.
For the unrighteous and disobedient Instead of “unrighteous,” it would have been better if translators had made use of the word “lawless;” for the Greek word is ἀνόμους, which does not differ much from the second word in the clause, “disobedient.” By sinners he means wicked persons, or those who lead a base and immoral life.
For the ungodly and profane These words might have been fitly rendered “profane and impure;” but I did not wish to be fastidious in matters of little importance.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain He indeed escapeth the curse of the Law, and…
He indeed escapeth the curse of the Law, and therefore doth not abhor it, who fleeing and eschewing those things which the Law condemneth, giveth himself with all his heart to observe it: and not he that maketh a vain babbling of outward and curious matters.
And such a one is he, whom the Lord hath endued with true doctrine, and with the holy Ghost.
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To such as make an art as it were of sinning.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 9 Knowing this, that the law is not made…
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
Ver. 9. Is not made for a righteous] For he is freed by Christ from the coaction, malediction, and irritation of the law. The law lieth not upon the righteous (so the Greek soundeth), it urgeth not upon them, as it doth upon the wicked. To these it is as chains and shackles, to the righteous as girdles and garters, which gird up his loins and expedite his course the better. It confineth him (saith Rev. Dr Preston) to live in that element where he would live; as if one should be confined to Paradise, where he would be, though there were no such law. The wicked (on the contrary) it confineth to the place where he would not be, and to the actions that he would not do; as Shimei confined, leapeth over the pale after profit and pleasure, and dieth for it.
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But for the lawless, &c.] Those masterless monsters, that send messages after Christ, saying, "We will not have this man to reign over us." But shall they thus escape by iniquity? "In thine anger thou wilt cast down these people, O God," Psa 56:7. Aut faciendum, aut patiendum. Either do or suffer. They that will not bend shall break; they that will not be Christ’s subjects shall be his footstool: his arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king’s enemies, whereby the people (that fall not down before him) fall under him, Psa 45:5.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain By the law is to be understood the moral…
By the law is to be understood the moral law, (though possibly not excluding the law of Moses, consisting in many ordinances), as it is armed with stings and terrors, to restrain rebellious sinners; by the
righteous man, one in whom a principle of Divine grace is planted, and, from the knowledge and love of God, chooses the things that are pleasing to him, and is ardent and active to do his will. Now it is true, the holiness commanded in the law, that, consists in the love of God and our neighhour, obliges every reasonable creature indispensably and eternally; but as the law was delivered in so terrible a manner, as it has annexed so many severe threatenings to the transgressors of it, it is evident that it is directed to the wicked, who will only be compelled by fear from an outrageous breaking of it. And this may be emphatically signified in the word here used, κειται, for it signifies to be laid, as well as to be made. The law non objicitur is not lald against a righteous man. Thus we translate it, Mat 3:10; The axe is laid unto the root of the trees: there is some difference in the construction; here it is immediately joined with the dative case, there with an accusative case, with the preposition προς between the verb and the case; but that must be the sense. It is very probable, that these false teachers had been terrifying the Christians with the law, in opposition to whom the apostle saith, the law was not made for a righteous man, as to its condemning office; it was never intended against a righteous man, but against men that committed and lived in gross sin and wickedness. These sinners are first mentioned in general terms, then the apostle proceedeth to a more particular enumeration of them; whether in them (as some think) the apostle hath respect to the several precepts of the decalogue, I cannot determine. By the lawless he meaneth persons living without any respect to the laws of God or men. By the
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disobedient he meaneth such as will live in subjection to no government. The word by us translated
ungodly, signifieth such as live without any religion, having no regard to the worship of God, ασεβεσι. The word translated sinners signifies infamous, scandalous sinners.
Unholy and profane are also general terms, signifying persons that have no piety, but lewdly talk of things sacred, and live as lewdly.
Murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers: the words signify such as strike or beat their parents, though they do not give them mortal wounds, and well expresseth violaters of the fifth commandment.
Manslayers, androfonouv, signifies such as kill men, whether maliciously or passionately, violaters of the sixth commandment.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our apostle here declares the persons,
Our apostle here declares the persons,
1. whom the law was not made for; and,
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2. them for whom it was made.
It was not made for a righteous man, that is, say some, it was not made for him as a burden, to be an uneasiness to him, because he has a love to it, a delight in it, and does voluntarily comform himself to the observations of it;
others say thus, The law was not made for a righteous man, that is, the righteous man is not under the coercive or vindictive, but directive, power of the law only: he is not under the curse of the law actually, though all are under it meritoriously; adn accordingly the law was never made to terrify, and affrighten, and condemn them.
Next the apostle declares for whom, for what persons, and for what purposes, the law was made, intended, and designed; namely, for restraining and condemning first, in general, all lawless persons, sons of Belial, as the scripture calls them, that is, men without yoke; the moral law in general is a rule of holy living, and the gospel in particular is Christ’s yoke; now such as will not wear the yoke of Christ, must expect no benefit by the cross of Christ: then he instances in particular, what and whom the law was made for, namely, to deter and restrain persons from all impiety and profaneness, from all disobedience and stubbornness, from murder and manslaughter, from sodomy, from whoredom, and all manner of uncleanness, either natural or unnatural, from theft, from perjury, from lying and falsehood; and, summarily, to curb and restrain wicked men from the practice of every thing which is contrary to the pure and holy nature of God.
Learn hence, That there is such a propensity and inclination in the corrupt and depraved nature of man to the practice of all sins, even the greatest, the vilest, and the worst of sins, that the law of God, with all its threatened punishments, is not sufficient to deter, to terrify, or restrain sinners from the commission of them; but such as will not be under the restraining, must lie under the condemning, power of the law.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Knowing this, that the law is not made for…
Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man,.... No man is naturally righteous since Adam, excepting the man Christ Jesus: some that are righteous in their own opinion, and in the esteem of others, are not truly and really so; none are righteous, or can be justified in the sight of God by the works of the law; those only are righteous men, who are made so through the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them: and such a righteous man is here intended, who believes in Christ with the heart unto righteousness, who lays hold on Christ's righteousness, and receives it by faith; in consequence of which he lives soberly, righteously, and godly, though not without sin, since there is no such just man upon earth. Now for such a man the law was not made; which must be understood not of its original constitution and make, for it was certainly made for, and given to Adam, who was a righteous man, and was written upon his heart in a state of innocence; and who had a positive law made also for him, and given to him as a trial of his obedience to this: it was also delivered to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, who were, many of them, at least, righteous men; and besides all this, the law was made for Jesus Christ; he was the end, the mark, and scope at which it aimed, and for whose sake it was given to Israel, that he might be made under it, and fulfil it. Nor does this expression deny all use of the law to a righteous man, which has been pointed out on the preceding verse, but only removes an unlawful use, and a wrong end of the law: it never was made with any such view as to obtain righteousness by it; for, a righteous man, as Adam, in innocence, and all that are justified by Christ's righteousness, need it not for such a purpose, because they are already righteous; and sinners can never attain to righteousness by it, since it cannot give life unto them: it is made therefore not for the former with the view now mentioned, but for the latter, and that both for the restraining of sin, and punishing of sinners. The words , may be rendered, "the law does not lie upon a righteous man", or against him. It does not lie as a weight or burden on him; its precept does not lie on him, as a task to be performed; nor does its penalty, the curse, lie on him as a punishment to be bore by him: it does not lie upon him, nor against him, as an accusing law, its mouth is stopped by the righteousness of Christ, by which he is denominated a righteous man; nor as a terrifying law, and bringing into bondage by its threats and menaces; nor as a rigorous law, obliging to obedience in a forcible and compulsive way; seeing there is no need of it, the righteous man delights in it, and cheerfully serves it, and the love of Christ constrains him to obey it freely. And much less does it lie on him, or against him as a cursing or condemning law, since Christ has redeemed him from the curse of it,
But for the lawless and disobedient; by the "lawless" are meant, not the Gentiles, which were without the written law, but such who have it, and despise and reject it, and live not according to it, but transgress it: and "the disobedient" design such who are not subject to it: who are sons of Belial, children without the yoke; who cast the law of the Lord behind their backs; who are not, nor can they be subject to it, without the powerful and efficacious grace of God. Now the law lies upon, and against such persons, as an accusing, terrifying, cursing, and condemning law,
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For the ungodly, and for sinners; by the "ungodly" are intended, such as are without God in the world, who neither fear God, nor regard man, who neglect and despise the worship of God, and say to him, depart from us, Job 21:14 and by "sinners" are designed notorious ones, who are exceeding great sinners, always sinning, making sin their constant business and employment; on and against these the law lies:
for unholy and profane: such are unholy persons, who are destitute of inward principles of truth and holiness, and who live unholy lives and conversations; and "profane" persons are those who profane the name of the Lord by cursing and swearing, and who profane his day, doctrines, and ordinances, and live dissolute and profane lives, being abandoned to all sin and wickedness; these three couples of wicked men, expressed in general terms, seem to have respect greatly to the moral part of the four precepts of the decalogue, as the following particulars do to the other six:
for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers; though there is no law that expressly mentions this, yet is beyond all doubt a breach both of the fifth and sixth commands; and if cursing parents, and disobedience to them, were punishable by the law with death, then much more the murder of them; see Lev 20:9 though the words will bear to be rendered, "for strikers of fathers, and strikers of mothers"; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render them, and against this there was an express law, Exo 21:15. According to the Pompeian law, one guilty of parricide was to be sewed up in a sack with a dog, a cock, a viper, and an ape, and cast into the sea, or into a river (h):
for manslayers, guilty of the murder of any man, which was always punishable with death, and was a breach of the sixth command; see Gen 9:6.
(h) Pompon. Laetus de Leg. Rom. p. 156.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The law doth not lie against a righteous man…
The law doth not lie against a righteous man - Doth not strike or condemn him. But against the lawless and disobedient - They who despise the authority of the lawgiver violate the first commandment, which is the foundation of the law, and the ground of all obedience. Against the ungodly and sinners - Who break the second commandment, worshipping idols, or not worshipping the true God. The unholy and profane - Who break the third commandment by taking his name in vain.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. The law is not made for a…
Verse 9. The law is not made for a righteous man] There is a moral law as well as a ceremonial law: as the object of the latter is to lead us to Christ; the object of the former is to restrain crimes, and inflict punishment on those that commit them. It was, therefore, not made for the righteous as a restrainer of crimes, and an inflicter of punishments; for the righteous avoid sin, and by living to the glory of God expose not themselves to its censures. This seems to be the mind of the apostle; he does not say that the law was not MADE for a righteous man, but ουκειται, it does not LIE against a righteous man; because he does not transgress it: but it lies against the wicked; for such as the apostle mentions have broken it, and grievously too, and are condemned by it. The word κειται, lies, refers to the custom of writing laws on boards, and hanging them up in public places within reach of every man, that they might be read by all; thus all would see against whom the law lay.
The lawless] ανομοις. Those who will not be bound by a law, and acknowledge none, therefore have no rule of moral conduct.
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Disobedient] ανυποτακτοις. Those who acknowledge no authority; from α, negative, and οποτασσω, to subject; they neither acknowledge law, nor executive authority, and consequently endeavour to live as they list; and from such dispositions all the crimes in the following catalogue may naturally spring.
For the ungodly] ασεβεσι. The irreligious-those who do not worship God, or have no true worship; from α, negative, and σεβω, to worship. For sinners, αμαπτωλοις those who transgress the laws; from α, negative, and μαρπτω, to hit the mark. This has been elsewhere explained.
For unholy] ανοσιοις. Persons totally polluted-unclean within, and unclean without; from α, negative, and οσιος holy.
And profane] βεβηλοις. Such who are so unholy and abominable as not to be fit to attend any public worship; from βε, denoting privation or separation, and βηλος, a threshold or pavement, particularly of a temple. Our word profane comes from procul a fano, "far from the temple." When the ancients, even heathens, were about to perform some very sacred rites, they were accustomed to command the irreligious to keep at a distance; hence that saying in a fragment of Orpheus:-
Φθεγξομαι οἱς θεμις εστι· θυρας δ' επιθεσθε βεβηλοις Πασιν ὁμως.
"I will speak to whom it is lawful; but these doors, O, shut against the profane."
And that of Virgil, AEn. vi. ver. 258.
Procul! O procul! este profani.
Far! ye profane! get hence.
Murderers of fathers] πατραλωαις. The murderer of a father or a mother, notwithstanding the deep fall of man, and the general profligacy of the world, has been so rare, and is a crime so totally opposite to nature, that few civilized nations have found it necessary to make laws against it. Yet, such monsters, like the most awful and infrequent portents, have sometimes terrified the world with their appearance. But I think the original does not necessarily imply the murder of a father or of a mother; πατραλωας comes from πατερα, a father, and αλοιαω, to strike, and may mean simply beating or striking a father or mother: this is horrible enough; but to murder a parent out-herods Herod.
Manslayers] ανδροφονοις. Murderers simply; all who take away the life of a human being contrary to law. For no crime, unless it be murder, should any man lose his life. If the law did not speak differently, I should not scruple to say that he whose life is taken away, except for murder, is murdered.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Knowing this - That is, “If anyone knows, or…
Knowing this - That is, “If anyone knows, or admits this, he has the prover view of the design of the law.” The apostle does not refer particularly to himself as knowing or conceding this, for then he would have uses the plural form of the participle (see the Greek), but he means that anyone who had just views of the law would see that that which he proceeds to specify was its real purpose.
The law is not made for a righteous man - There has been great variety in the interpretation of this passage. Some suppose that the law here refers to the ceremonial laws of Moses (Clarke, Rosenmuller, Abbot); others to the denunciatory part of the law (Doddridge and Bloomfield); and others that it means that the chief purpose of the law was to restrain the wicked. It seems clear, however, that the apostle does not refer merely to the ceremonial law, for he specifies that which condemns the unholy and profane; the murderers of fathers and mothers; liars and perjured persons. It was not the ceremonial law which condemned these things, but the moral law. It cannot be supposed, moreover, that the apostle meant to say that the law was not binding on a righteous man, or that he was under no obligation to obey it - for he everywhere teaches that the moral law is obligatory on all mankind.
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To suppose also that a righteous man is released from the obligation to obey the law, that is, to do right, is an absurdity. Nor does he seem to mean, as Macknight supposes, that the law was not given for the purpose of justifying a righteous man - for this was originally one of its designs. Had man always obeyed it, he would have been justified by it. The meaning seems to be, that the purpose of the law was not to fetter and perplex those who were righteous, and who aimed to do their duty and to please God. It was not intended to produce a spirit of servitude and bondage. As the Jews interpreted it, it did this, and this interpretation appears to have been adopted by the teachers at Ephesus, to whom Paul refers. The whole tendency of their teaching was to bring the soul into a state of bondage, and to make religion a condition, of servitude. Paul teaches, on the other hand, that religion was a condition of freedom, and that the main purpose of the law was not to fetter the minds of the righteous by numberless observances and minute regulations, but that it was to restrain the wicked from sin. This is the case with all law. No good man feels himself lettered and manacled by wholesome laws, nor does he feel that the purpose of law is to reduce him to a state of servitude. It is only the wicked who have this feeling - and in this sense the law is made for a man who intends to do wrong.
For the lawless - To bind and restrain them. The word here used means, properly, those who have no law, and then those who are transgressors - the wicked. It is rendered transgressors in Mat 15:28; Luk 22:37, and wicked, Act 2:23; 2Th 2:8.
And disobedient - Those who are insubordinate, lawless, refractory. The word properly means those who are under no subjection or authority. It occurs in the New Testament only here, and Tit 1:6, Tit 1:10, where it is rendered unruly, and Heb 2:8, where it is translated not put under; that is, under Christ.
For the ungodly - Those who have no religion; who do not worship or honor God. The Greek word occurs in the following places, in all of which it is rendered ungodly; Rom 4:5; Rom 5:6; 1Ti 1:9; 1Pe 4:18; 2Pe 2:5; 2Pe 3:7; Jud 1:15. The meaning is, that the law is against all who do not worship or honor God.
And for sinners - The word used here is the common word to denote sinners. It is general, and includes sins of all kinds.
For unholy - “Those who are regardless of duty to God or man,” Robinson, Lexicon. The word occurs in the New Testament only here, and in 2Ti 3:2. It has particular reference to those who fail of their duty toward God, and means those who have no piety; who are irreligious.
And profane - This does not necessarily mean that they were profane in the sense that blasphemed the name of God, or were profane swearers - though the word would include that - but it means properly those who are impious, or who are scoffers; notes, Heb 12:16. The word occurs only in the following places, in all of which it is rendered profane: 1Ti 1:9; 1Ti 4:7; 1Ti 6:20; 2Ti 2:16; Heb 12:16. A man who treats religion with contempt. mockery, or scorn, would correspond with the meaning of the word.
For murderers of fathers - The Greek properly means a “smiter of a father” (Robinson), though here it undoubtedly means a parricide. This was expressly forbidden by the law of Moses, and was a crime punishable by death; Exo 21:15. It is said to have been a crime which the Roman law did not contemplate as possible, and hence that there was no enactment against it. It is, indeed, a crime of the highest order; but facts have shown that if the Romans supposed it would never be committed, they did not judge aright of human nature. There is no sin which man will not commit if unrestrained, and there is in fact no conceivable form of crime of which he has not been guilty.
Murderers of mothers - A still more atrocious and monstrous crime, if possible, than the former. We can conceive nothing superior to this in atrocity, and yet it has been committed. Nero caused his mother to be murdered, and the annals of crime disclose the names of not a few who have imbrued their own hands in the blood of those who bare them. This was also expressly forbidden by the law of Moses; Exo 21:15.
For manslayers - This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It means a homicide - a murderer. The crime is expressly forbidden by the law; Exo 20:13; Gen 9:6.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The law is not, &c. He means that the…
The law is not, &c. He means that the just man doth good, and avoideth evil, not as compelled by the law, and merely for fear of the punishment appointed for transgressors, but voluntarily, and for the love of God and virtue; and would do so, though there were no law. (Challoner) --- If all men were just, the law would be unnecessary, as law are made against transgressors. (Calmet) --- It is not the just, but the unjust, that the law threatens, binds, and chastises. The just man obeys it without violence or constraint; he fulfils it with pleasure. (St. Augustine, lib. de Spiritu. &c.)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain law is not made for a righteous man--not for…
law is not made for a righteous man--not for one standing by faith in the righteousness of Christ put on him for justification,and imparted inwardly by the Spirit for sanctification. "One not forensically amenable to the law" [ALFORD]. For sanctification, the law gives no inward power to fulfil it; but ALFORD goes too far in speaking of the righteous man as "not morally needing the law." Doubtless, in proportion as he is inwardly led by the Spirit, the justified man needs not the law, which is only an outward rule (Rom 6:14; Gal 5:18, Gal 5:23). But as the justified man often does not give himself up wholly to the inward leading of the Spirit, he morally needs the outward law to show him his sin and God's requirements. The reason why the ten commandments have no power to condemn the Christian, is not that they have no authority over him, but because Christ has fulfilled them as our surety (Rom 10:4).
disobedient--Greek, "not subject"; insubordinate; it is translated "unruly," Tit 1:6, Tit 1:10; "lawless and disobedient" refer to opposers of the law, for whom it is "enacted" (so the Greek, for "is made").
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ungodly and . . . sinners--Greek, he who does not reverence God, and he who openly sins against Him; the opposers of God, from the law comes.
unholy and profane--those inwardly impure, and those deserving exclusion from the outward participation in services of the sanctuary; sinners against the third and fourth commandments.
murderers--or, as the Greek may mean, "smiters" of fathers and . . . mothers; sinners against the fifth commandment.
manslayers--sinners against the sixth commandment.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 9. Not made for—Literally, does not lie for, does…
9. Not made for—Literally, does not lie for, does not exist for. The term lies does not express a penal effect upon the just man, though the severe strain of the following verses indicates that such is the implication. Legal penalty is not for the good, but for the criminal.
A righteous man—As the subtle teacher of the fables and genealogies claimed to be. The law did not exist for the purpose of making him wise in his own conceit. Law, here, means not the absolute rule of right, for that exists for, and is binding on, all beings; but it means the vocal or written expression of that rule; the commandment in words. For beings who do absolutely and continually right, no such verbal commandment would be needed. It would be intrinsically good, but relatively superfluous. In practical daily morals this truth has been recognized among the best pagan writers. From many passages in Wetstein we select the following: Antiphon says, “The man doing no wrong needs no law.” “Aristippus, being asked what was the superiority of the philosophers, replied, in the fact that if the laws were abrogated we should live the same.” AElian says, “Solon did not legislate for lions, when he enacted that it was obligatory to support one’s parents.” See our note on Mat_11:30. But Paul’s righteous man is the gospel ideal; the made righteous, not by nature, but by grace purifying and exalting nature. To him Christ, by faith embraced, is the substitute for law, being a living law, and the Spirit is the quickener to a conformity with Christ. As the man sinks below Christ, he sinks into law, and feels its enslaving and condemning power until he rises again into Christ.
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The objects of law are now first described in three severe antitheses. The lawless are those who ignore law, and act as if it had no existence; the disobedient recognise law and consciously rebel against it. The ungodly neither recognize nor reverence God, and think and live as if no God existed; sinners know God, yet consciously disregard his authority as God, and transgress his commandments. Unholy are those whose hearts and lives possess no inward purity or conformity to the divine ideal; the profane are those who regard nothing and nobody as sacred or holy.
The above three antitheses specify qualities of character; the following epithets characterize classes of evil men according to their evil actions. The apostle’s mind evidently runs along the prohibitions of the second table of the decalogue, from the fifth to the ninth commandment, selecting what he deems the most flagrant transgressions of each. The transgressors against the fifth commandment are parricides and matricides; and against the sixth are manslayers.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 9. knowing this] The A.V. putting a full stop…
9. knowing this] The A.V. putting a full stop after ‘lawfully’ gives an entirely wrong turn here; the R.V. puts a comma and inserts ‘as’ in order to shew the connexion of ‘knowing’ with ‘a man’; we may continue the above rendering rather more idiomatically, if it be handled as law should be and with the knowledge that.
the law is not made] There is no article, and we may with the R.V. translate, law is not made; not thereby drawing a marked distinction between ‘law’ here and ‘the law’ of Moses above, but following St Paul’s instinct of language, and by the omission drawing attention to the play on words or the antithesis intended, in a crisper and more proverbial way. This explanation will satisfy all the cases of omission of article before ‘law’ quoted by Winer from Gal_2:21; Gal_3:11; Gal_3:18; Gal_3:21; Gal_4:5. Cf. Winer, § 19, Moulton n.; Lightfoot’s Gal. 11. 19. Here ‘law’ and ‘the lawless’ stand in sharper contrast without the article.
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for a righteous man] By ‘righteous’ we may well understand one ‘who has his measure of fruit in holiness’ (Ellicott, quoting Hooker), in contrast to those who not only ignore the law as any check on their life, lawless, but are positively disobedient or unruly, delighting in open defiance of it; being ungodly, with no fear of God or sense of His presence before their mind; and sinners, marked as such by definite acts of sin (Luk_18:13), (2Pe_1:6); (for the two words together compare Judges 15).
unholy] They are further breakers of the first and second commandments; the word describes the disregard of duty to God, and only occurs here and 2Ti_3:2; but the corresponding word for the performing of this duty occurs in 1Ti_2:8, ‘lifting up holy hands in worship.’
profane] breakers of the third and fourth commandments; the N. T. use of the word describes disregard of God’s day, Mat_12:5; of God’s house, Act_24:6; of God’s law and truth, 1Ti_4:7; 1Ti_6:20; 2Ti_2:16; of God’s name and birthright blessing, Heb_12:16.
murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers] breakers of the fifth commandment, cf. Exo_21:15. In this and in the following words St Paul evidently singles out the worst breaches of the Jaw, his argument being ‘the law was meant to convict the vilest—you apply it to the holiest.’ Hence, we must keep the stronger meaning ‘parricide,’ though the Greek word by its proper derivation means ‘father-beater.’ When it came to have the meaning ‘parricide,’ a different derivation was also assigned to it and the spelling a little altered accordingly. For similar corruptions in English to fit a supposed derivation compare ‘reindeer,’ ‘causeway,’ ‘camel leopard.’
manslayers] breakers of the sixth commandment.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (9) Knowing this.—The teacher of the Law, being aware…
(9) Knowing this.—The teacher of the Law, being aware of this great truth, now to be detailed—viz.:—
That the law is not made for a righteous man.—The stern Mosaic Law was enacted centuries before the Messiah Jesus had given to men His new Law. The Law of Moses was not, then, enacted for a “righteous man”—that is, for a Christian in the true sense of the word, who has sought and found justification by faith in Jesus, and who, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, is living a new life. In other words, the “teacher,” Paul says, must teach the flock of Ephesus (1) the true use of the prohibitions of the Law, viz., that they served to convince a man of his hopeless condition; they showed him he was a slave to sin, from which wretched bondage, the Law, which made him bitterly conscious of his condition, gave him no assistance to free himself; (2) the “teacher” was to press home to the people that the Law, good though it was, if used as a means to open men’s eyes to see their true condition, was not made for them if they were reckoned among the righteous—that is, if they had found acceptance in the Redeemer. In the case of these justified and sanctified ones the moral law was written in their hearts and was embodied in their lives.
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But for the lawless.—Now the Law was not made for the holy and humble men of heart, whom St. Paul trusted formed the main body of the congregation of believers in Ephesus, and in every city where men and women were found who called on the name of the Lord Jesus, and who struggled to follow their dear Master’s footsteps. It was made centuries before Jesus of Nazareth walked on earth, as a great protest against the every-day vices which dishonoured Israel in common with the rest of mankind. The terrible enumeration of sins and sinners in these 9th and 10th verses, while following the order of the ancient Tables of Sinai, seems to allude pointedly to the vices especially prevalent in that day in the great centres of the Roman empire.
And disobedient.—More accurately rendered, unruly, or insubordinate.
For the ungodly and for sinners.—These four terms with which the Apostle opens his sad list of those for whom the Law was enacted, generally denote those who care nothing for human law, and who despise all obedience; who to their careless neglect for all constituted authorities, unite irreligion and contempt for all sacred things.
For unholy and profane.—The persons designated in these terms are those wanting in inner purity—men who scoff at holiness of life and character in its deepest sense. These six classes may be assumed in general terms to include the prohibitions of the first four Commandments (the First Table, as it is termed), where sins against God are especially dwelt upon. The sins against man, which form the subject of the prohibitions of the Second Table (Commandments Five to Ten), are included in the following enumeration of wrong-doers.
For murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers.—The original Greek expressions here require the milder rendering, smiters of fathers and smiters of mothers, and refer to persons of various ages who refuse all reverence, even all kindly treatment, to their parents. The words of the Fifth Commandment exactly explain this unnatural conduct.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain As knowing for knowing, A.V; Law for the Law,…
As knowing for knowing, A.V; Law for the Law, A.V; unruly for disobedient, A.V; and sinners for and for sinners, A.V; the unholy for unholy, A.V Law is not made for a righteous man. It is much better to render nomov, with the A.V, "the Law," as e.g. Rom_2:12-14. The whole proposition relates to the Law of Moses, which these teachers perverted and tried to force upon Christians, being ignorant that the Law was made, not for the righteous, but for sinners. For is not made, we might render does not apply to or is not in force against. Keitai with the dative following as (RAPC 2Ma 4:11) suggests some such meaning, somewhat different from the simple nomov keitai. This freedom of the righteous from the Law is what St. Paul everywhere asserts (Rom_6:14 Rom_8:2; Gal_2:19 Gal_3:25 Gal_5:18, etc.) the Law being viewed, not as a holy rule of life, but as a system of penalties Law of sin and death." That nomov here means the Law of Moses is further evident from this, that in the following list the apostle clearly follows the general order of the Decalogue, taking first the offences against the first table, and then sins against the fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth commandments (compare, too, ver. 11 with. Rom_2:16) Lawless (ajnomoiv); with no special reference to its etymology, but meaning simply "transgressors," "wicked," Luk_22:37; Act_2:23; 2Th_2:8 (A.V) and very frequently in the LXX Unruly (ajnupotaktoiv); insubordinate, resisting lawful authority. In the LXX for the Hebrew liylib, (1Sa_2:12, Symmachus) and perhaps Pro_16:27. In the New Testament it is peculiar in this sense to the pastoral Epistles, being only found here and in Tit_1:6, 10 In Heb_2:10 it has the classical sense of "unsubdued." The express application of the word insi, Tit_1:10, to the "unruly talkers of the circumcision," shows that St. Paul has them in view here also. Ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane. All terms implying offences against the first table. (jAsebe) (with the kindred ajsebeia and ajsebew) is always rendered "ungodly," "ungodliness," "to act ungodly;" aJmartwloiv, sinners, viz. against God; ajnosioiv, unholy (found only here and at 2Ti_3:2 in the New Testament, but frequent in the LXX) is the contrary to osiov, holy, saintly; bebhloiv (whence bebhlow, to profane, (Mat_12:5; Act_24:6) profane, of persons and things not consecrated to God peculiar in the New Testament to the pastoral Epistles (1Ti_4:7; 2Ti_2:16) andaiv, Heb_12:16, but found commonly in the LXX and in classical Greek. Patralwaiv and mhtralw not murderers, but, as in the margin, smiters, ill-users of father and mother." Both words are only found here in the New Testament, but found in Demosthenes, Aristophanes, etc. The allusion here is tow Exo_21:15, where the Hebrew word for "smiteth" is XXX, which does not necessarily mean "to smite to death" any more than ajloa does. jAndrofonoiv, man-slayers; found only here in the New Testament, but used in RAPC 2Macc 9:28 and in classical writers. The reference is to Exo_21:12.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 9. The law is not made for a righteous…
9. The law is not made for a righteous man. Law (there is no article) is not given to justify righteous men, but to restrain, condemn, and punish the wicked. A long catalogue of sins, common in the Gentile world, are given, which were all condemned by the law.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 We know this
We know this
"Because we realize this" or "We also know this"
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that law is not made for a righteous man
This can be stated in active form. AT: "that God did not make the law for the righteous man" (See: Active or Passive)
a righteous man
Here "man" includes both male and female. AT: "a righteous person" or "a good person" (See: When Masculine Words Include Women)
It is made
This can be stated in active form. AT: "God made the law" (See: Active or Passive)
sexually immoral people
This refers to anyone who sleeps with someone to whom they are not married.
homosexuals
men who sleep with other men
those who kidnap people for slaves
"those who kidnap people to sell as slaves" or "those who take people to sell as slaves"
for whatever else is against faithful instruction
"for those who do anything else that is against true Christian teaching"
the glorious gospel of the blessed God
"the gospel about the glory that belongs to the blessed God" or "the gospel of the glorious and blessed God"
with which I have been entrusted
This can be stated in active form. AT: "which God has given me and made me responsible for" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
law
lawful
rebel
godly
sin
profane
sexual immorality
servant
corrupt witness
good news
bless
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:9 the law was not intended for people who…
1:9 the law was not intended for people who do what is right: As a general principle, the virtuous person needs no law. For Christians, a righteous life results from faith apart from the law (see Gal 5:16-26; Eph 2:11-14; Titus 2:11-14; cp. Rom 8:1-17; Jas 2:14-16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.