Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not as through one who sinned; for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous. The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Romans 5:14-21 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not as through one who sinned; for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous. The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Parallel Translations
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Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.
But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
The gift is not as through one who sinned; for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification.
For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.
For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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neverthelesse deeth rayned from Adam to Moses even over them also that synned not with lyke transgression as dyd Adam: which is the similitude of him that is to come.
But the gyfte is not lyke as the synne. For yf thorow the synne of one many be deed: moche more plenteous vpon many was the grace of God and gyfte by grace: which grace was geven by one man Iesus Christ.
And the gifte is not over one synne as deeth cam thorow one synne of one that synned. For damnacion cam of one synne vnto condemnacion: but the gyft cam to iustify from many synnes.
For yf by the synne of one deeth raigned by the meanes of one moche more shall they which receave aboundance of grace and of the gyfte of rightewesnes raygne in lyfe by the meanes of one (that is to saye) Iesus Christ.
Lykewyse then as by the synne of one condemnacion cam on all men: even so by the iustifyinge of one cometh the rightewesnes that bringeth lyfe vpo all men.
For as by one mannes disobediece many be cam synners: so by the obediece of one shall many be made righteous.
But the lawe in the meane tyme entred in that synne shuld encreace. Neverthelater where aboundaunce of synne was there was more plenteousnes of grace.
That as synne had raigned vnto deeth even so might grace raygne thorow rightewesnes vnto eternall lyfe by the helpe of Iesu Christ.
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But death reigned from Adam to Moses, euen ouer them also that sinned not after the like maner of that transgression of Adam, which was the figure of him that was to come.
But yet the gift is not so, as is the offence: for if through the offence of that one, many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man Iesus Christ, hath abounded vnto many.
Neither is the gift so, as that which entred in by one that sinned: for the fault came of one offence vnto condemnation: but the gift is of many offences to iustification.
For if by the offence of one, death reigned through one, much more shall they which receiue that abundance of grace, and of that gift of that righteousnesse, reigne in life through one, that is, Iesus Christ.
Likewise then as by the offence of one, the fault came on all men to condemnation, so by the iustifying of one, the benefite abounded toward all men to the iustification of life.
For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners, so by that obedience of that one shall many also be made righteous.
Moreouer the Law entred thereupon that the offence shoulde abound: neuerthelesse, where sinne abounded, there grace abounded much more:
That as sinne had reigned vnto death, so might grace also reigne by righteousnesse vnto eternall life, through Iesus Christ our Lord.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (133)
- 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 (v17) For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made…
- Romans 5:18 (v19) So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 (v19) For him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Romans 5:12 (vv15, 17, 18, 19, 21) Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; so death passed to all men, because all sinned.
- 1 Corinthians 15:49 (v17) As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
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- Philippians 2:8 (v19) And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross.
- 1 Corinthians 15:22 (v18) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
- John 10:10 (vv17, 20) The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
- Romans 6:1 (v20) What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
- Titus 2:11 (v21) For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
- 2 Timothy 2:12 (v17) If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.
- Titus 3:3-7 (v20) For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating…
- Romans 6:14 (vv20–21) For sin will not have dominion over you. For you are not under law, but under grace.
- Psalms 25:11 (v20) For your name’s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
- Ephesians 1:6 (v19) to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
- Romans 5:15 (vv18–19) But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by…
- Romans 5:19 (v18) For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- Romans 6:23 (vv15, 17, 21) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Acts 13:39 (v18) and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
- Galatians 3:19-25 (v20) 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…
- Ephesians 2:8 (v15) for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Revelation 22:5 (v17) There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
- Genesis 3:6 (v17) When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one…
- Romans 4:25 (v18) who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
- Romans 5:14 (v21) Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of…
- Hebrews 2:9 (vv15, 18) But we see him who has been made a little lower than the angels, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor,…
- Romans 4:15 (v20) For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.
- Romans 8:10 (v21) If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
- 1 Timothy 2:4-6 (v18) who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the…
- Revelation 20:4 (v17) I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of…
- Revelation 20:6 (v17) Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God…
- John 1:7 (v18) The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him.
- John 1:16-17 (v21) From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- Acts 13:38-39 (v16) Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins, and by him everyone who believes is…
- Romans 3:19-22 (v18) Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 (v14) So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
- Philippians 3:9 (v17) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the…
- 1 John 5:11 (v15) The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
- Revelation 3:21 (v17) He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.
- Isaiah 61:10 (v17) I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me…
- Luke 7:47 (v20) Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”
- Romans 3:19-20 (v20) Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world…
- Ephesians 2:1-5 (v20) You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world,…
- Isaiah 1:18 (vv16, 20) “Come now, and let’s reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red…
- Romans 5:17 (vv14, 21) For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the…
- John 12:32 (v18) And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
- 1 Timothy 1:14 (v17) The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
- Hebrews 9:27 (v14) Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment,
- 1 Peter 2:9 (v17) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of…
- Revelation 5:9-10 (v17) They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your…
- Genesis 7:22 (v14) All on the dry land, in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died.
- Isaiah 43:25 (v16) I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
- Isaiah 44:22 (v16) I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Isaiah 53:10-12 (v19) Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He…
- Isaiah 53:11 (v15) After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of…
- Daniel 9:24 (v19) “Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make…
- Micah 7:18-19 (v20) Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger…
- Matthew 25:34 (v17) Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of…
- Romans 5:16-20 (v15) The gift is not as through one who sinned; for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to…
- Romans 5:20 (v17) The law came in that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
- Romans 5:21 (v14) that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Romans 8:22 (v14) For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.
- 2 Corinthians 3:7-9 (v20) But if the service of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the…
- 2 Corinthians 9:15 (v15) Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!
- Ephesians 1:6-8 (v20) to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood,…
- James 2:5 (v17) Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he…
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (vv16, 20) Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor…
- 1 Timothy 1:13-16 (vv16, 20) although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. The…
- 2 Peter 1:1 (vv18, 21) Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our…
- Genesis 19:25 (v14) He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
- 2 Chronicles 33:9-13 (v20) Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did more evil than did the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the…
- Isaiah 43:24-25 (v20) You have bought me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have burdened me with your…
- Ezekiel 16:60-63 (v20) Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish to you an everlasting covenant. Then you…
- Ezekiel 36:25-32 (v20) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. I will…
- Hosea 6:7 (v14) But they, like Adam, have broken the covenant. They were unfaithful to me, there.
- Jonah 4:11 (v14) Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between…
- Matthew 9:13 (v20) But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
- John 3:26 (v18) They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he baptizes, and…
- John 15:22 (v20) If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.
- Romans 6:12 (v21) Therefore don’t let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.
- Romans 6:16 (v21) Don’t you know that when you present yourselves as servants and obey someone, you are the servants of whomever you obey; whether of sin to…
- Romans 8:20 (v14) For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
- 1 Corinthians 4:8 (v17) You are already filled. You have already become rich. You have come to reign without us. Yes, and I wish that you did reign, that we also…
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 (v16) But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
- Galatians 3:10 (v16) 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…
- James 2:10 (v16) For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
- 1 Peter 5:10 (v21) But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect,…
- 1 John 2:20 (v18) You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
- 1 John 2:25 (v21) This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life.
- Revelation 1:6 (v17) and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father—to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Genesis 3:6-19 (v16) When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one…
- Genesis 3:19 (v17) You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall…
- Genesis 4:8 (v14) Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed…
- Genesis 5:5-31 (v14) All the days that Adam lived were nine hundred thirty years, then he died. Seth lived one hundred five years, then became the father of…
- Exodus 1:6 (v14) Joseph died, as did all his brothers, and all that generation.
- Exodus 1:22 (v14) Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
- Isaiah 55:7-9 (v15) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God,…
- Jeremiah 3:8-14 (v20) I saw when, for this very cause, that backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce,…
- Ezekiel 16:52 (v20) You also bear your own shame yourself, in that you have given judgment for your sisters; through your sins that you have committed more…
- Daniel 12:2 (v15) Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (133 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (25 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv14–21 14. Even over them, etc. Though this passage is…
14. Even over them, etc. Though this passage is commonly understood of infants, who being guilty of no actual sin, die through original sin, I yet prefer to regard it as referring to all those who sinned without the law; for this verse is to be connected with the preceding clause, which says, that those who were without the law did not impute sin to themselves. Hence they sinned not after the similitude of Adam’s transgression; for they had not, like him, the will of God made known to them by a certain oracle: for the Lord had forbidden Adam to touch the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; but to them he had given no command besides the testimony of conscience. The Apostle then intended to imply, that it did not happen through the difference between Adam and his posterity that they were exempt from condemnation. Infants are at the same time included in their number.
Who is a type of him who was to come. This sentence is put instead of a second clause; for we see that one part only of the comparison is expressed, the other is omitted — an instance of what is called anacoluthon You are then to take the meaning as though it was said, “as by one man sin entered into the whole world, and death through sin, so by one man righteousness returned, and life through righteousness.” But in saying that Adam bore a resemblance to Christ, there is nothing incongruous; for some likeness often appears in things wholly contrary. As then we are all lost through Adam’s sin, so we are restored through Christ’s righteousness: hence he calls Adam not inaptly the type of Christ. But observe, that Adam is not, said to be the type of sin, nor Christ the type of righteousness, as though they led the way only by their example, but that the one is contrasted with the other. Observe this, lest you should foolishly go astray with Origen, and be involved in a pernicious error; for he reasoned philosophically and profanely on the corruption of mankind, and not only diminished the grace of Christ, but nearly obliterated it altogether. The less excusable is Erasmus, who labors much in palliating a notion so grossly delirious.
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 On vv14–20 But that this Law was not that universal Law,…
But that this Law was not that universal Law, and that death did not proceed from any actual sin of everyone particularly, it appeareth hereby, that the very infants which neither could ever know nor transgress that natural Law, are notwithstanding dead as well as Adam.
Our infants.
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Not after that sort as they sin that are of more years, following their lusts: but yet the whole posterity was corrupt in Adam, when as he wittingly and willingly sinned.
Now the first Adam answereth the latter, who is Christ, as it is afterward declared.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–21 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even…
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
Ver. 14. Death reigned] From the reign of death, he concludes the reign of sin. Infants are no innocents; the first sheet or blanket wherein they are covered is woven of sin, shame, blood, and filth, Eze 16:4-6.
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 On vv14–21 He proceeds to prove his assertion in the foregoing…
He proceeds to prove his assertion in the foregoing verse, that sin was in the world before the law, because
death, which is the wages of sin, did reign, and had power over all mankind, from Adam to Moses, which was about two thousand five hundred years.
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Even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression; i.e. over very infants, that had not actually sinned as Adam did. But though infants did not sin like Adam, yet they sinned in Adam; the guilt of his sin was imputed to them, else death could have had no power over them. Infants (as one saith) are not altogether innocents; the very first sheet or blanket wherewith they are covered is woven of sin and shame, of blood and filth, Eze 16:4,6.
Who is the figure of him that was to come; of his offspring, (so some), which came of him in after times; his posterity (as before) was represented in his person: but others better expound it of Christ, who is the Second Adam; and of whom Adam was a figure or type, not in respect of such things as were personal to either of them, but of that which by them redounded to others. The first Adam was the original of man’s natural and earthly being; the Second Adam, of his spiritual and heavenly. By the first, sin and death came into the world; by the Second, righteousness and life.
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 On vv14, 15, 18, 20 The apostle had asserted, That sin was in the…
The apostle had asserted, That sin was in the world before the written law of Moses; here he proves it thus: "Death, the wages of sin, did reign in the world, and had power over all mankind from Adam to Moses; therefore sin was in the world from Adam to Moses." By them that have not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, infants are generally understood; the guilt of Adam’s sin is imputed to them, else death could have no power over them.
The argument runs thus: Death is a punishment of sin, but infants die who never sinned actually, therefore they die for Adam’s sin: Sin brought mortality into their nature, and the wages of sin is death: They brought a sinful nature into the world with them, which God gave the Jews of old an intimation of, by appointing the sacrament of circumcision signifying that infants brought something into the world with them, which was early to be cut off; he also signifies the same to us Christians, by appointing the ordinance of baptism for children, which he calls the laver of regeneration: Now, a laver supposes uncleanness; what is pure, needs no laver.
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Learn hence, That infants, as soon as they live, have in them the seeds of death: Sin is the seed of death, the principle of corruption. God doth infants no wrong when they die: their death is of themselves, for they have the seeds of death in themselves. All death is the wages of sin, and therefore can be no injustice to the sinner; thus death reigned form Adam to Moses, yea, even to this day; and, like an insatiable tyrant, will continue to reign and slay universally, and beyond number, from the infant to the aged, from the dunghill to the throne, sparing neither age nor sex, neither great nor small, neither sacred nor profane.
From whence to the end of the chapter, the apostle enters upon a comparison betwixt Adam and Christ, whom he here calls a figure or resemblance of him that was to come, that is, of Christ. As Adam was the root of sin and death to all his natural seed, so Christ is the root of holiness and life to all his spiritual seed.
As by the first Adam, sin, and by sin death came upon all men; so by the second Adam came righteousness, and by righteousness life on all believers. As the fist Adam merited death, so the second Adam life for all his offspring: Thus, Adam was the figure of him that was to come.
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 On vv14–21 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,.... Though the…
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,.... Though the law of Moses was not yet given, death exerted itself, and extended its dominion over all the sons and daughters of Adam, during the interval between Adam and Moses; which clearly shows that sin was in the world, and that there must be a law in being, which that was a transgression of: death is represented as a king, as sin and Satan sometimes are; and indeed, death reigns by sin, and Satan both by sin and death; their empires rise, stand, and fall together. So Bildad calls death "the king of terrors", Job 18:14; and a very formidable and powerful king he is; his dominion is very large, his power uncontrollable, and the dread of him very great, especially to Christless sinners. The Jews say (b), that at the resurrection the world will be renewed, and will not be as at the first, when , "death reigned in the world"; referring to the same period of time the apostle here does. The subjects of his government were not only adult persons, who had been guilty of many actual transgressions, but he reigned
even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. This does not exclude the dominion of death over such who had sinned after the likeness of Adam, but rather confirms its power over them; nor does it intend adult Gentiles, who did not sin in the same manner, nor against the same law, as Adam did; but it designs infants, not yet guilty of actual sin; and therefore since death reigns over them, who only holds and exercises his dominion by virtue of sin, it follows, that they must have original sin in them; the guilt of Adam's transgression must be imputed to them, and the corruption of nature, from him, derived unto them, or it could not reign over them. A child of a year old, the Jewish doctors (c) say, has not tasted the taste of sin, that is, has not committed actual sin; and observe (d), that young children die on account of the sins of their parents: but the true reason of their dying is here suggested by the apostle; which is the transgression of Adam:
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who is the figure of him that was to come; meaning, either his posterity that were to come out of his loins, whose figure, type, and representative he was; or rather Christ, who is sometimes called , "he that was to come"; and the Arabic version reads the words thus, "who was a type of Adam that was expected"; that is, of Christ the second Adam, that was expected to come, according to the promise and prophecy: of him the first Adam was a type, in his human nature, in the formation and quality of it; as the first Adam was made by God of the virgin earth, the second Adam was born of a virgin; as the first, so the second Adam was pure, holy, upright, and wise; in his office, as Lord of the world, head of the woman, priest in his house, and prophet to his posterity; in his marriage with Eve, a figure of the church; but in nothing more clearly than in his being a covenant head to all his offspring: and this is what the apostle chiefly designs, since he runs the parallel between them on this account in the following verses; showing, that as the one conveyed sin and death to all his seed, so the other communicates righteousness and life to all that belong to him. So the Jews say (e), that by Adam is intimated the righteous branch, the Messiah; and that , "the secret of Adam is the secret of the Messiah".
(b) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 96. 1. (c) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 22. 2. (d) Massecheth Calah, fol. 17. 2. (e) R. Abraham Seba, Tzeror Hammor, fol. 2. 3. & 3. 1.
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 On vv14–21 Death reigned - And how vast is his kingdom!…
Death reigned - And how vast is his kingdom! Scarce can we find any king who has as many subjects, as are the kings whom he hath conquered. Even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression - Even over infants who had never sinned, as Adam did, in their own persons; and over others who had not, like him, sinned against an express law. Who is the figure of him that was to come - Each of them being a public person, and a federal head of mankind. The one, the fountain of sin and death to mankind by his offense; the other, of righteousness and life by his free gift. Thus far the apostle shows the agreement between the first and second Adam: afterward he shows the differences between them. The agreement may be summed up thus: As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so by one man righteousness entered into the world, and life by righteousness. As death passed upon all men, in that all had sinned; so life passed upon all men, (who are in the second Adam by faith,) in that all are justified. And as death through the sin of the first Adam reigned even over them who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression; so through the righteousness of Christ, even those who have not obeyed, after the likeness of his obedience, shall reign in life. We may add, As the sin of Adam, without the sins which we afterwards committed, brought us death; so the righteousness of Christ, without the good works which we afterwards perform, brings us life: although still every good, as well as evil, work, will receive its due reward.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14–21 Verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses]…
Verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses] This supposes, as Dr. Taylor very properly observes:-
1. That sin was in the world from Adam to Moses.
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2. That law was not in the world from Adam to Moses during the space of about 2500 years; for, after Adam's transgression, that law was abrogated; and, from that time, men were either under the general covenant of grace given to Adam or Noah, or under that which was specially made with Abraham.
3. That, therefore, the sins committed were not imputed unto them to death, for they did not sin after the similitude of Adam's transgression; that is, they did not, like him, transgress a law, or rule of action, to which death, as the penalty, was annexed. And yet-
4. Death reigned over mankind during the period between Adam and Moses; therefore men did not die for their own transgressions, but in consequence of Adam's one transgression.
Who is the figure of him that was to come.] Adam was the figure, τυπος, the type, pattern, or resemblance of him who was to come; i.e. of the Messiah. The correspondence between them appears in the following particulars:-
1. Through him, as its spring and fountain, sin became diffused through the world, so that every man comes into the world with sinful propensities: for by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, Ro 5:12. Through Christ, as its spring and fountain, righteousness becomes diffused through the earth; so that every man is made partaker of a principle of grace and truth; for he is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, Joh 1:9.
2. As in Adam all die; so in Christ shall all be made alive, 1Co 15:22. For, since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, 1Co 15:21.
3. As in or through Adam guilt came upon all men, so, through Christ, the free gift comes upon all men unto justification of life, Ro 5:18. These alone seem to be the instances in which a similitude exists between Adam and Christ.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 18 Rom 5:14. Nevertheless — Though the law was not…
Rom 5:14. Nevertheless — Though the law was not yet given by Moses, yet sin was in the world, and was imputed, as appears by this, that death, which is the punishment of sin, was in the world at that time, and reigned — Brought all under its power, from Adam to Moses — As Rom 5:21, and Rom 6:12, even over them, &c. — Not only over them that had sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, but also over infants that had not committed actual sin, as Adam had done, and over others who had not, like him, sinned against an express law. Who is the figure of him that was to come — A lively type of Christ in his public capacity, each of them being a public person, and a federal head of mankind: the one the fountain of sin and death to mankind by his offence, the other of righteousness and life by his free gift. Thus far the apostle shows the agreement between the first and second Adam: afterward he shows the difference between them. The agreement may be summed up thus: As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so by one man righteousness entered into the world, and life by righteousness. As death passed upon all men, in that all had sinned; so life passed upon all men, (who are in the second Adam by faith,) in that all are justified. And as death, through the sin of the first Adam, reigned even over them who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression: so through the righteousness of Christ, even those who have not obeyed after the likeness of his obedience, shall reign in life. We may add, as the sin of Adam, without the sins which we afterward committed, brought us death: so the righteousness of Christ, without the good works which we afterward perform, brings us life, although still every good as well as evil work will receive its due reward.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14–21 Nevertheless - Notwithstanding that sin is not imputed where…
Nevertheless - Notwithstanding that sin is not imputed where there is no law, yet death reigned.
Death reigned - People died; they were under the dominion of death in its various melancholy influences. The expression “death reigned” is one that is very striking. It is a representation of death as a monarch; having dominion over all that period, and overall those generations. Under his dark and withering reign people sank down to the grave. We have a similar expression when we represent death as “the king of terrors.” It is a striking and affecting personification, for.
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(1) His reign is absolute. He strikes down whom he pleases, and when he pleases.
(2) There is no escape. All must bow to his sceptre, and be humbled beneath his hand,
(3) It is universal. Old and young alike are the subjects of his gloomy empire.
(4) It would be an eternal reign if itwere not for the gospel.
It would shed unmitigated woes upon the earth; and the silent tread of this terrific king would produce only desolation and tears forever.
From Adam to Moses - From the time when God gave one revealed law to Adam, to the time when another revealed Law was given to Moses. This was a period of 2500 years; no inconsiderable portion of the history of the world. Whether people were regarded and treated as sinners then, was a very material inquiry in the argument of the apostle. The fact that they died is alleged by him as full proof that they were sinners; and that sin had therefore scattered extensive and appalling woes among people.
Even over them - Over all those generations. The point or emphasis of the remark here is, that it reigned over those that had sinned under a different economy from that of Adam. This was what rendered it so remarkable; and which showed that the withering curse of sin had been felt in all dispensations, and in all times.
After the similitude ... - In the same way; in like manner. The expression “after the similitude” is an Hebraism, denoting in like manner, or as. The difference between their case and that of Adam was plainly that Adam had a revealed and positive law. They had not. They had only the law of nature, or of tradition. The giving of a law to Adam, and again to the world by Moses, were two great epochs between which no such event had occurred. The race wandered without revelation. The difference contemplated is not that Adam was an actual sinner, and that they had sinned only by imputation. For,
The expression “to sin by imputation” is unintelligible, and conveys no idea. The apostle makes no such distinction, and conveys no such idea. His very object is different. It is to show that they were actual sinners; that they transgressed law; and the proof of this is that they died. It is utterly absurd to suppose that people from the time of Adam to Moses were sinners only by imputation. All history is against it; nor is there the slightest ground of plausibility in such a supposition.
Of Adam’s transgression - When he broke a plain, positive revealed law. This transgression was the open violation of a positive precept; theirs the violation of the laws communicated in a different way; by tradition, reason, conscience, etc. Many commentators have supposed that infants are particularly referred to here. Augustine first suggested this, and he has been followed by many others. But probably in the whole compass of the expositions of the Bible, there is not to be found a more unnatural and forced construction than this. For,
(1) The apostle makes no mention of infants. He does not in the remotest form allude to them by name, or give any intimation that he had reference to them.
(2) The scope of his argument is against it. Did infants only die? Were they the only persons that lived in this long period? His argument is complete without supposing that he referred to them. The question in regard to this long interval was, whether people were sinners? Yes, says the apostle. They died. Death reigned; and this proves that they were sinners. If it should be said that the death of infants would prove that they were sinners also, I answer,
That this was an inference which the apostle does not draw, and for which he is not responsible. It is not affirmed by him. If it did refer to infants, what would it prove? Not that the sin of Adam was imputed, but that they were personally guilty, and transgressors. For this is the only point to which the argument tends.
The apostle here says not one word about imputation. He does not even refer to infants by name; nor does he here introduce at all the doctrine of imputation. All this is mere philosophy introduced to explain difficulties; but whether true or false, whether the theory explains or embarrasses the subject, it is not needful here to inquire.
(3) The very expression here is against the supposition that infants are intended. One form of the doctrine of imputation as held by Edwards, Starter, etc. has been that there was a constituted oneness or personal identity between Adam and his posterity; and that his sin was regarded as truly and properly theirs; and they as personally blameworthy or ill-deserving for it, in the same manner as a man at 40 is answerable for his crime committed at 20. If this doctrine be true, then it is certain that they not only had “sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression,” but had committed the very identical sin, and that they were answerable for it as their own. But this doctrine is now abandoned by all or nearly all who profess to be Calvinists; and as the apostle expressly says that they had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, it cannot be intended here.
(4) The same explanation of the passage is given by interpreters who nevertheless held to the doctrine of imputation. Thus, Calvin says on this passage, “Although this passage is understood commonly of infants, who, being guilty of no actual sin, perish by original depravity, yet I prefer that it should be interpreted generally of those who have not the Law. For this sentiment is connected with the preceding words, where it is said that sin is not imputed where there is no law. For they had not sinned according to the similitude of Adam’s transgression, because they had not as he had the will of God revealed. For the Lord forbid Adam to touch the fruit (of the tree) of the knowledge of good and evil; but to them he gave no command but the testimony of conscience.” Calvin, however, supposes that infants are included in the “universal catalogue” here referred to. Turretine also remarks that the discussion here pertains to all the adults between Adam and Moses. Indeed, it is perfectly manifest that the apostle here has no particular reference to infants; nor would it have ever been supposed, but for the purpose of giving support to the mere philosophy of a theological system.
(According to our author, the disputed clause in Rom 5:14, “even over them,” etc., is to be understood of those who had not sinned against “a revealed or positive law.” Many eminent critics have explained the phrase in the same way, and yet arrived at a very different conclusion from that stated in the commentary, namely, that people die simply on account of actual or personal sin. - Bloomfield Crit. Dig. vol. v. p. 520. There are, however, very strong objections against this interpretation.
1. It is not consistent with the scope of the passage. The apostle had asserted in Rom 5:12, that all die in consequence of the sin of the one man (see the supplementary note). And in Rom 5:13-14 proceeds to prove his position thus: People universally die; they must, therefore, have transgressed some law; not the Law of Moses, for people died before that was in being. Death absolutely reigned between Adam and Moses, even over them who had not broken a revealed law. therefore, people have died, in consequence of the sin of the one man. But in this chain of reasoning there is a link awanting. The conclusion does not follow; for though the persons in question had not broken a positive law, they had yet broken the law of nature, written on the heart, and might, therefore, have been condemned on account of a breach of it, Rom 2:12. But if we explain the clause under discussion, of infants who have not personally sinned like Adam against any law whatever, we ascend at once to the conclusion, that all die on account of Adam’s sin.
2. The particle “even,” καί kai seems to intimate, that a new class different from that before mentioned, or at all events a subdivision of it, is now to be introduced. None of all the multitudes that lived between Adam and Moses, had sinned against a positive or revealed law. To avoid an unmeaningful tautology therefore, some other sense must be attached to the clause. It is vain to affirm that the particle “even” simply lays “emphasis” on the fact, that they die who had not sinned against a positive law, since were we to admit this forced construction, we should still ask, to what purpose is the emphasis? The fact to which it is supposed to draw attention, as has been noticed already, falls short of proving the apostle’s point.
3. Moreover, since “the similitude,” etc. is quite a general expression containing no particular intimation in itself, as to that, in which the likeness consists, we are just as much at liberty to find the resemblance in personal transgression, as others, in transgression against revealed laws. To sin personally is to sin like Adam. Nay, the resemblance in this case is complete; in the other view it is imperfect, scarcely deserving to be called a resemblance at all. For they who have no revealed law, may yet be said to sin like Adam in some very important respects. They sin wilfully and presumptuously against the law written in their hearts, in spite of the remonstrances of conscience, etc. The only difference in fact, lies in the mode or manner of revelation. But if we suppose the likeness to lie in personal sin, we can find a class who have not sinned like Adam in any way whatever. And why this class should be supposed omitted, in an argument to prove that all people die in consequence of Adam’s sin, it is difficult to conceive.
What though infants are not “alluded to by name?” No one has ever asserted it. Had this been the case, there could have been no dispute on the point. To say, however, that the apostle “does not give any intimation that he had reference to infants,” is just a begging of the question, a taking for granted what requires to be proved. Perhaps, as Edwards suggests, “such might be the state of language among Jews and Christians at that day, that the apostle might have no phrase more aptly to express this meaning. The manner in which the epithets personal and actual, are used and applied now in this case, is probably of later date, and more modern use,” p. 312, Orig. Sin.
The learned author of this commentary objects further, to the opinion that infants who have not sinned personally are embraced in the clause under discussion; that “to sin by imputation is unintelligible, and conveys no idea.” It is his own language, and he alone is responsible for it. He tells us also, that “it is utterly absurd, to suppose that people, from the time of Adam to Moses, were sinners only by imputation.” No one ever supposed so, nor does the view, to which he objects, at all involve any such consequence. Again he affirms, “that the scope of the apostle’s argument is against the application of the clause to infants;” and asks, for what purpose we cannot divine: “Did infants only die?” The answer is obvious. No! Death reigned over all who lived from Adam to Moses, even over that class who had not sinned personally. As to the true scope of the passage, and the view that is most consonant to it, enough has been said already.)
Who is the figure - τύπος tupos. “Type.” This word occurs sixteen times in the New Testament, Joh 20:25 (twice); Act 7:43-44; Act 23:25; Rom 5:14; Rom 6:17; 1Co 10:6, 1Co 10:11; Phi 3:17; 1Th 1:7; 2Th 3:9; 1Ti 4:12; Tit 2:7; Heb 8:5; 1Pe 5:3. It properly means,
Any impression, note, or mark, which is made by percussion, or in any way, Joh 20:25, “the print (type) of the nails.”
(2)An effigy or image which is made or formed by any rule; a model, pattern. Act 7:43, “ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Remphan, figures (types) which ye had made.” Act 7:44, “that he should make it (the tabernacle) according to the fashion (type) which he had seen,” Heb 8:5.
(3)A brief argument, or summary, Act 23:25.
(4)A rule of doctrine, or a law or form of doctrine, Rom 6:17.
(5)An example or model to be imitated; an example of what we ought to be, Phi 3:17; 1Th 1:7; 2Th 3:9; 1Ti 4:12; Tit 2:7; 1Pe 5:3; or an example which is to be avoided, an example to warn us, 1Co 10:6, 1Co 10:11.
In this place it is evidently applied to the Messiah. The expression “he who was to come” is often used to denote the Messiah. As applied to him, it means that there was in some respects a similarity between the results of the conduct of Adam and the effects of the work of Christ. It does not mean that Adam was constituted or appointed a type of Christ, which would convey no intelligible idea; but that a resemblance may be traced between the effects of Adam’s conduct and the work of Christ. It does not mean that the person of Adam was typical of Christ; but that between the results of his conduct and the work of Christ, there may be instituted a comparison, there may be traced some resemblance. What that is, is stated in the following verses. It is mainly by way of contrast that the comparison is instituted, and may be stated as consisting in the following points of resemblance or contrast.
(1) Contrast.
By the crime of one, many are dead; by the work of the other, grace will much more abound, Rom 5:15. In regard to the acts of the two. In the case of Adam, one offence led on the train of woes; in the case of Christ, his work led to the remission of many offences, Rom 5:16. In regard to the effects. Death reigned by the one; but life much more over the other.
(2) Resemblance. By the disobedience of one, many were made sinners; by the obedience of the other, many shall be made righteous, Rom 5:18-19. It is clear, therefore, that the comparison which is instituted is rather by way of antithesis or contrast, than by direct resemblance. “The main design is to show that greater benefits have resulted from the work of Christ, than evils from the fall of Adam.” A comparison is also instituted between Adam and Christ in 1Co 15:22, 1Co 15:45. The reason is, that Adam was the first of the race; he was the fountain, the head, the father; and the consequences of that first act could be seen everywhere. By a divine constitution the race was so connected with him, that it was made certain that, if he fell, all would come into the world with a nature depraved, and subject to calamity and death, and would be treated as if fallen, and his sin would thus spread crime, and woe, and death everywhere. The evil effects of the apostasy were everywhere seen; and the object of the apostle was to show that the plan of salvation was adapted to meet and more than counterveil the evil effects of the fall. He argued on great and acknowledged facts - that Adam was the first sinner, and that from him, as a fountain, sin and death had flowed through the world. Since the consequences of that sin had been so disastrous and widespread, his design is to show that from the Messiah effects had flowed more beneficent than the former were ruinous.
“In him the tribes of Adam boast.
More blessings than their father lost.”
Watts.
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 On vv15, 19, 20 But not as the offence, so also is the…
But not as the offence, so also is the gift, or the benefits which mankind receive by their Redeemer, Jesus Christ. For St. Paul here shews that the graces which Christ came to bestow upon men, and offers to all, are much greater than the evils which the sin of one man, Adam, caused. 1. Because, if by the offence of that one man, Adam, many, i.e. all died by original sin that descended from Adam, (the blessed Virgin mother by a special privilege being always excepted) much more that grace of one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many,[3] the comparison does not imply that more in number receive the grace of Christ, than were infected with sin; but that they who receive the graces which are offered to all, receive greater benefits than were the damages caused by the sin of Adam. For the judgment indeed was by one unto condemnation, or so as to make all guilty of one sin, that is, of original sin; and for other actual sins, men committed them by their own proper will; whereas the grace of Christ justifies men from many sins; that is, also from all sins which they have committed by their own malice. 2. Because by it, that is, by the offence of one man, death reigned in the world, and made all men liable to damnation; yet now by the incarnation of Christ, (which would not have been, had not Adam sinned) all they who are justified by the grace of their Redeemer, have Christ God and man for their head: he is become the head of that same mystical body which is his Church: they are exalted to the dignity of being the brothers of Christ, the Son of God; they are made joint heirs with him of the kingdom of heaven, and so by the grace of Christ have a greater dignity in this world, and shall be exalted to a greater and more eminent degree of glory in the kingdom of his glory for all eternity; which hath given occasion to the Church, in her liturgy, to cry out, as it were with a transport of joy, O happy fault, which hath procured us such and so great a Redeemer! See St. John Chrysostom,[4] hom. x. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Abundavit in plures; Greek eis tous pollous, in multos; so that it wis not to be taken comparatively for more, but absolutely for many, or for all; because all here are many, as in other places.
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 On vv14–21 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over…
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression--But who are they?--a much contested question. Infants (say some), who being guiltless of actual sin, may be said not to have sinned in the way that Adam did [AUGUSTINE, BEZA, HODGE]. But why should infants be specially connected with the period "from Adam to Moses," since they die alike in every period? And if the apostle meant to express here the death of infants, why has he done it so enigmatically? Besides, the death of infants is comprehended in the universal mortality on account of the first sin, so emphatically expressed in Rom 5:12; what need then to specify it here? and why, if not necessary, should we presume it to be meant here, unless the language unmistakably point to it--which it certainly does not? The meaning then must be, that "death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those that had not, like Adam, transgressed against a positive commandment, threatening death to the disobedient." (So most interpreters). In this case, the particle "even," instead of specifying one particular class of those who lived "from Adam to Moses" (as the other interpretation supposes), merely explains what it was that made the case of those who died from Adam to Moses worthy of special notice--namely, that "though unlike Adam and all since Moses, those who lived between the two had no positive threatening of death for transgression, nevertheless, death reigned even over them."
who is the figure--or, "a type."
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of him that was to come--Christ. "This clause is inserted on the first mention of the name "Adam," the one man of whom he is speaking, to recall the purpose for which he is treating of him, as the figure of Christ" [ALFORD]. The point of analogy intended here is plainly the public character which both sustained, neither of the two being regarded in the divine procedure towards men as mere individual men, but both alike as representative men. (Some take the proper supplement here to be "Him [that is] to come"; understanding the apostle to speak from his own time, and to refer to Christ's second coming [FRITZSCHE, DE WETTE, ALFORD]. But this is unnatural, since the analogy of the second Adam to the first has been in full development ever since "God exalted Him to be a Prince and a Saviour," and it will only remain to be consummated at His second coming. The simple meaning is, as nearly all interpreters agree, that Adam is a type of Him who was to come after him in the same public character, and so to be "the second Adam").
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 On vv14–21 14. Nevertheless, death reigned—The previous verse assumed that there…
14. Nevertheless, death reigned—The previous verse assumed that there was sin during the patriarchate; this verse proves it from the existence of death. That death implies sin he assumes from the account of the fall in Genesis. Changing the order of the steps of the apostle’s reasoning in these two verses, we arrange it thus: During the patriarchate there was death, therefore sin, therefore law. The inference is, if that period is covered by death, sin, and law, it is included in the parallel ruin from Adam and redemption by Christ; and the Messiah and justification must not be monopolized by Judaism.
Sinned after… Adam’s transgression—Referring not to infants, but to all who lived during the patriarchate. They did not, like Adam, (nor like the Jews,) transgress a revealed law, but only the inner law written on the heart. (See note Rom_2:14.)
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Paul now specifies three particulars of the antithesis, namely, the quality, the number, and the results, showing in each the excess of the good in Christ over the evil in Adam.
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 On vv14–21 14. reigned] See below, on Rom_5:21. The idea is…
14. reigned] See below, on Rom_5:21. The idea is of unquestioned dominion.
after the similitude, &c.] i.e. by conscious transgression of express precepts. The phrase thus exactly meets the case of infant-death, and also includes all other cases, supposed possible, in which no distinct violation of then-known law was traceable.
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the figure] Lit. a figure. The word “type,” (derived from the Gr. word used here,) expresses the meaning exactly. Adam so sinned that his sons, even irrespective of personal sins, died—a penal death. Christ, the last Adam, so lived and suffered that his “brethren,” irrespective of personal merit, live, with the life of the justified.
him that was to come] Christ; mysteriously foretold from the first as “to come.” A sentence is quoted from the Rabbis: “The last Adam is Messiah.”—Observe that the doctrine of the imputed guilt of the First Sin is distinctly found in Judaic literature. As Meyer says on Rom_5:12, (Germ. ed., p. 241,) it probably was a part of the Apostle’s belief before his conversion, but one “which he found, in his Christian enlightenment, no reason to reject;” on the contrary, he incorporated it as an integral part of his Gospel-teaching.—(And this he did, let us add, as the commissioned messenger of the Truth.)
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 On vv14–21 (14) After the similitude of Adam’s transgression—i.e., “in direct…
(14) After the similitude of Adam’s transgression—i.e., “in direct defiance of divine command.” They had not incurred just punishment as Adam had, and yet they died. Why? Because of Adam’s sin, the effects of which extended to them all, just in the same way as the effects of the death of Christ extend to all.
Who is the figure.—Better, type. There is thus hinted at the parallelism which was omitted in Rom_5:12. Adam was the type of Christ, his sin and its effects the type of Christ’s death and its effects. No doubt the way in which this point is introduced is, in a mere rhetorical sense, faulty. St. Paul was, however, much above caring for rhetoric. And beside, it must be remembered that he wrote by dictation, and, probably, never revised what the amanuensis had written. This fact has very rightly been insisted on by Dr. Vaughan (Preface to Third Edition, p. 22), “We must picture to ourselves in reading this profound Epistle to the Romans a man full of thought, his hands, perhaps, occupied at the moment in stitching at the tent-cloth, dictating one clause at a time to the obscure Tertius beside him, stopping only to give time for the writing, never looking it over, never, perhaps, hearing it read over, at last taking the style into his hand to add the last few words of affectionate benediction.”
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 On vv15, 18, 19, 20 Vers. 15-17. But not as the trespass, so also…
Vers. 15-17. But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died (not, be dead, as in the Authorized Version. Observe also the articles before "one" and "many"), much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded unto the many. And not as through one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was of one (ex enov) unto condemnation, but the free gift is of (ek) many offences unto justification. For if by the offence of the one death reigned through the one, much more they which receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. The purport of these verses is (while keeping up the view of condemnation and justification being both derived to all from one) to show how the effects of the latter for good far transcend those of the former for evil. It is not easy, however, to explain the apostle"s exact intention in the contrasts which he draws. He seems to have written, after his manner, full of ideas which he did not linger to arrange in clear form. In ver. 15 the contrast between "trespass" (paraptwma) and "free gift" (carisma) seems to be the leading idea. The suggesting thought seems to be If (as has been shown) one man"s trespass had such far-reaching effects, much more must the grace of God (displayed also in One) have no less far-reaching effects. God"s grace must be more powerful than man"s trespass. And it is here asserted that it was so. The much more (pollw mallon) is best taken (as it must be in ver. 17) in a logical, not a quantitative sense; i.e. as enforcing the conclusion, not as intensifying the verb "abounded." So far the effects are not distinctly contrasted in respect to their extent; all that is implied in this verse is that both reach to the many (oi polloi), i.e. the whole human race collectively; unless, indeed, the verb eperisseuse implies excess of effect. It is to be observed that the phrase oi polloi does not here mean, as is usual in classical Greek, the greater part, but the multitude, mankind being regarded collectively. It depends, however, on the writer"s mental horizon whether the phrase, taken by itself, is to be understood as comprehending all. The consideration is of importance in the case before us. On the one hand, it may be contended that, in the first clause of the verse, "the many" must mean all, for that undoubtedly all died (cf. ver. 12, eiv pantav anyrwpouv o yanatov dihlyen), and that consequently all must be intended also in the second clause. So also in ver. 19, where it is said that dikaioi katastayhsontai oi polloi . And it may be said, further, that the drift of the whole argument requires the view of the effects of the redemption being at least coextensive with the effects of the fall. But, on the other hand, it is argued that St. Paul would not have used the phrase oi polloi in vers. 15 and 19 instead of pantev as in vers. 12 and 18, unless he had intended some difference of meaning, and that he varied his expression in order to avoid the necessary inference that all would be saved in fact. Certainly he teaches that the redemption is available and intended for all, as in ver. 18 where it is said to be eiv pantav anyrwpouv, eiv dikaiwsin ; and this, it may be said, is enough to satisfy the view of its effects (i.e. in purpose and potentially) being coextensive with the effects of the fall But it does not seem to follow that man"s resistance to grace might not come in as a bar to the entire fulfilment of the Divine purpose; and hence these passages cannot be pressed as conclusive for the doctrine of universal final salvation. But in vers. 16, 17 (to be taken together, ver. 16 being introduced by kai , so as to suggest a new idea, and ver. 17 being connected with it by gar) the extent to which grace thus abounded, so as to transcend the effects of the original transgression, is distinctly set forth. The thought of these verses may, perhaps, be expressed otherwise, thus: The one trespass of the one original transgressor did indeed render all mankind liable to condemnation; but the free gift in Christ annulled the effect, not only of that one trespass, but also of all subsequent trespasses of mankind; an immense debt, accumulating through the ages of human history, in addition to the original debt, was by that one free grant obliterated. And further, while the original trespass introduced a temporary reign of death, the free gift of righteousness introduced life, in which the partakers of the gift themselves triumphant over Death, who reigned before shall reign; and, as in ver. 15 the idea was that God"s grace must be more powerful than man"s sin, so here it is implied that life in Christ must be more powerful than death in Adam. Life means here (as elsewhere when the life in Christ is spoken of) more than the present life in the flesh more than the life breathed into. man when he first "became (egeneto eiv ) a living soul". (1Co_15:45) It means the higher life imparted by "the last Adam," who "became a quickening Spirit"; (1Co_15:45) eternal life with God, in the life of Christ risen, swallowing up mortality. (2Co_5:4; cf. also Joh_11:25) Thus the "free gift" not only reverses the far-reaching effects of the original transgression, but even transcends what is intimated in Genesis as given to man in Paradise before his fall.
The next two verses (18, 19), introduced by ara oun , are a summing up of what has been already said or implied.
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Vers. 15-17. The abounding life.
It is evident that all are condemned, because death reigns; and it is proved that the condemnation of all is through the sin of one, because even where no express law is, there is death. But we have hope in Christ. Is our hope valid? Does the justification through Christ reach over as wide a range as the condemnation through Adam? And is the consequent life to prevail coextensively with the death? The argument here is to prove the certainty of each coextension.
I AN ABOUNDING GRACE.
1. The originating cause of the condemnation was the
(1) severity of God;
(2) working because of trespass a trespass which was (literally) a fall through weakness;
(3) and working, for one trespass, death to all.
2. The originating cause of the justification is the
(1) grace of God;
(2) working by a gift of grace viz. Christ; and by the grace of this Christ a love unto death;
(3) and working because many trespasses call forth compassion. Surely, "not as the trespass, so also is the free gift.
II AN INDIVIDUAL APPROPRIATION OF THE ABOUNDING GRACE,
1. The participation in the sentence of condemnation was passive on the part of the many, for the sin of one the unchoosing heirs of a sad inheritance.
2. The participation in the decree of life is active on the part of many, for the sacrifice of the One they "receive" the grace of righteousness, laying hold of it by the voluntary activity of faith.
Infinite love is the fount of our life; and Jesus Christ, a Man, is he in whom all fulness dwells. The certainty is irrefragable. Do we make it ours? "As many as received him". T.F.L. (Joh_1:12)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv15–20 But not as the offence, so also is the…
Rom_5:15
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift.
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The offence and the free gift
1. The offence originated with man, the free gift in the grace of God.
2. The offence operated necessarily by a just law, the gift is free through Jesus Christ.
3. The offence results in death, the free gift abounds unto everlasting life. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
The offence and the free gift
If from the offense of one--so insignificant in its way--there could go forth an action which spread over the whole multitude of mankind, will not the conclusion hold a fortiori that from the grace of God, and the gift through this grace of one man, acting on the opposite side, so powerful and rich as they are, there must result an action, the extension of which shall not be less than that of the offence, and shall, consequently, reach the whole of that multitude? If a very weak spring could inundate a whole meadow, would it not be safe to conclude that a much more abundant spring, if spread over the same space of ground, would not fail to submerge it entirely? (Prof. Godet.)
The first and second Adam compared in reference
I. To the universality of their influence. The first Adam destroyed all, the second has obtained grace for all--with this difference, that in the former case the ruin came inevitably, but the reception of the grace is suspended upon mans free choice.
II. To the intensity of their influence. The first Adam has by one sin given occasion to all sin; the second has by one act of grace expiated all sin--with this difference, that Adams sin in itself was not greater than any other sin, but the grace of Christ outweighs the aggregate guilt of all sin.
III. To the final results of their influence. The first Adam has subjected mankind to the bondage of death, the second confers upon all, who will receive it, dominion in life--with this difference, that the fulness of grace in Christ not only meets the curse in Adam, but far surpasses the grace originally conferred upon man. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Life in Christ contrasted with death in Adam
Note--
I. The intrinsic nature of the things here contrasted; and we shall see that if the one arrangement could be adopted by God, much more likely is it that the other would be also, as being more strictly congenial with all that we know of His glorious character. God might permit us to sin and suffer in Adam, with reference to some future good to come out of it: He might permit it in harmony with His wisdom, holiness, and love; but still He could have no delight in it for its own sake. Yet we find that He has seen it right to permit these things to transpire: how much more, then, may we believe in the arrangement of grace, by which salvation is brought to our ruined race! But how do we know the feelings of the Most High in reference to this matter? What reason have we for supposing that it pleases Him more to give us life in Christ than to see us die in Adam? We take our views from His own word (Exo_34:6-7; Psa_86:5; Psa_86:15; Psa_145:8-9; Eze_18:23; Eze_18:31-32; Eze_33:11; Joh_3:16; Joh_4:16). Say not, then, complainingly that God has permitted you to die in Adam, but rather believe that He delights to give you life in Christ.
II. That grace relates to a larger number of transgressions than did the first condemnation (Rom_5:16). The gift by one is quite unlike the sin by one, inasmuch as in the sin there was but one offence committed, and instantly judgment upon it; whereas, in the matter of the gift by grace, there is forgiveness ensured for many offences. Hitherto, we have been regarding the sin of mankind as one, and in that one sin all men became guilty before God. Let us, then, look at the nature and the number of our offences, all of which need to and can be forgiven through the atoning work of Christ. There are the sins of our ungodly life; there are also our sins since we entered on a godly career. We are daily guilty of omissions of duty, or grievous shortcomings in the mode of fulfilling our obligations. But beyond all this, there are positive faults and evils in the best of us. Yet--blessed be God!--these sins, however numerous, may be all pardoned through the blood of Christ; for the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
III. That grace is essentially a stronger principle than sin (Rom_5:17). Life is more mighty than death. The range of death is limited; it can only ravage that which already exists. But life is a creative power to whose possible achievements we can assign no limits. Death is a negative principle, life a positive one. Death is a condition of the creature, life has its source and fulness in the infinite Creator. Under the domination of death we are made its groaning and unwilling victims; but under the reign of life we are caught up to the throne, and share with gladness in the monarchs might and joy. (T. G. Horton.)
The grace of God
I. Transcends sin.
1. In its origin. Sin proceeds from the offence of one man and destroys many; grace proceeds from God through one man, Jesus Christ, and therefore not only reaches many, but abounds.
2. In its operation. One offence brought condemnation, but grace not only counteracts the effects of that one offence but of many others.
3. In its results. One offence brought death, but grace wherever received not only gives back life, but gives it more abundantly.
II. Is coextensive with sin.
1. It cannot reach further because it presupposes sin.
2. It does reach as far, because the free gift unto justification of life is unto all men, because the many made sinners might also be made righteous.
3. If grace anywhere fails it is not through any limitation of its action, but through the wilful impenitency of man. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Honey from a lion
This text affords many openings for controversy. It can be made to bristle with difficulties. It would be easy to set up a thorn hedge and keep the sheep out of the pasture, or to so pelt each other with the stones as to leave the fruit untasted. I feel more inclined to chime in with that ancient father against whom a clamorous disputant shouted, Hear me! Hear me! No, said the father, I will not hear you, nor shall you hear me, but we will both be quiet and hear what Christ has to say. Note--
I. The appointed way of our salvation is by the free gift of God. Salvation is bestowed--
1. Without regard to any merit, supposed or real. Grace is not a fit gift for the righteous, but for the undeserving. It is according to the nature of God to pity the miserable and forgive the guilty, for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever.
2. Irrespective of any merit which God foresees will be in man. Foresight of the existence of grace cannot be the cause of grace. God Himself does not foresee that there will be any good thing in any man, except what He foresees that He will put there.
3. Without reference to conditions which imply any desert. But I hear one murmur, God will not give grace to men who do not repent and believe. I answer, God gives men grace to repent and believe, and no man does so till first grace is given him. Repentance and faith may be conditions of receiving, but they are not conditions of purchasing, for salvation is without money and without price.
4. Over the head of sin and in the teeth of rebellion, God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, etc. Many of us have been saved by grace of the most abounding and extraordinary sort.
5. Through the one man Jesus Christ. People talk about a one man ministry. I was lost by a one man ministry when father Adam fell in Eden, but I was saved by a one man ministry when Jesus bore my sin in His own body on the tree.
II. It is certain that great evils have come to us by the fall.
1. We have lost the Garden of Eden and all its delights, privileges, and immunities, its communion with God, and its freedom from death.
2. We have been born to a heritage of sorrow.
3. We came into the world with a bias towards evil.
4. We are made liable to death, and are sure to bow our heads beneath the fatal stroke.
5. While we live we know that the sweat of our brow must pay the price of our bread.
6. Our children must be born with pangs and travail.
III. From the fall we infer the more abundant certainty that salvation by grace through Christ Jesus shall come to believers. For--
1. This appears to be more delightful to the heart of God. I can understand that God, having so arranged it that the human race should be regarded as one, should allow the consequences of sin to fall upon succeeding generations of men; but yet I know that He takes no pleasure in the death of any, and finds no delight in afflicting mankind. If God has so arranged it that in the Second Adam men rise and live, it seems to me most gloriously consistent with His gracious nature and infinite love that all who believe in Jesus should be saved through Him.
2. It seems more inevitable that men should be saved by the death of Christ than that men should be lost by the sin of Adam. It might seem possible that, after Adam had sinned, God might have said, Notwithstanding this covenant of works, I will not lay this burden upon the children of Adam; but it is not possible that after the eternal Son of God has become man, and has bowed His head to death, God should say, Yet after all I will not save men for Christs sake.
3. Look at the difference as to the causes of the two effects. Look at the occasion of our ruin--the offence of one--a finite being, who therefore cannot be compared in power with the grace of the infinite God; the sin of a moment, and therefore cannot be compared for force and energy with the everlasting purpose of Divine love. The grace of God is like His nature, omnipotent and unlimited. God is not only gracious to this degree or to that, but He is gracious beyond measure; we read of the exceeding riches of His grace. He is the God of all grace.
4. The difference of the channels by which the evil and the good were severally communicated to us. In each case it was by one, but what a difference in the persons!
(1) Let us not think too little of the head of the human family. Yet what is the first Adam as compared with the Second? He is but of the earth, earthy, but the Second Man is the Lord from heaven. Surely, then, if Adam with that puny hand of his could pull down the house of our humanity, that greater Man, who is also the Son of God, can fully restore us.
(2) Adam commits one fault and spoils us, but Christs achievements are many as the stars of heaven.
(3) Adam did but eat of the forbidden fruit, but Christ died. Is there any comparison between the one act of rebellion in the garden and the matchless deed of superlative obedience upon the Cross of Calvary which crowned a life of service?
5. From the text you may derive a great deal of comfort.
(1) A babe is born into the world amid great anxiety because of its mothers pains; but while these prove how the consequences of the fall are with us (in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children), they also assure us that the Second Adam can abundantly bring us bliss through a second birth.
(2) Inasmuch as we have seen the thorn and the thistle because of one Adam, we may expect to see a blessing on the earth because of the Second Adam. Therefore with unbounded confidence do I believe the promise: Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree, etc.
(3) Did not the Lord say, In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread? Ought not your labour to be an argument by which your faith shall prove that in Christ Jesus there remaineth a rest for the people of God.
(4) Did the first Adam through his disobedience lift the latch for death? It is surely so. Therefore I believe with the greater assurance that the Second Adam can give life to these dry bones, can awake all these sleepers, and raise them in newness of life.
IV. If from the fall of Adam such great results flow, greater results must flow from the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ. Suppose that Adam bad never sinned, and we were unfallen beings, yet our standing would have remained in jeopardy. We have now lost everything in Adam, and so the uncertain tenure has come to an end; but we that have believed have obtained an inheritance which we hold by a title which Satan himself cannot dispute: All things are yours, and ye are Christs, and Christ is Gods. By the great transgression of Adam we lost our life in him; but in Christ we live again with a higher and nobler life. The Lord Jesus has also brought us into a nearer relationship to God than we could have possessed by any other means. We were Gods creatures, but now we are His sons. We have lost paradise, but we shall possess that of which the earthly garden was but a lowly type: we might have eaten of the luscious fruits of Eden, but now we eat of the bread which came down from heaven; we might have heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, but now, like Enoch, we may walk with God after a nobler and closer fashion. We are now capable of a joy which unfallen spirits could not have known--the bliss of pardoned sin. The bonds which bind redeemed ones to their God are the strongest which exist. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The love of God
is a love which gives another love; it is the grace of a Father giving the love of a Brother. (Prof. Godet.)
The advantages accruing to the race from the fall
How common and bitter is the outcry against our first parent for the mischief he entailed on his posterity; and it were well if the complaint ended there, but it glances from Adam to his Creator. Did not God foresee that he would abuse his liberty, and know all the baneful consequences of the act? Why, then, did He permit it? Because He knew that not as the offence, so is the free gift; that the evil resulting from the former was not as the good resulting from the latter, not worthy to be compared with it. If Adam had not fallen--
I. Christ had not died and the world had missed the most amazing display of Gods love. So--
1. There could have been no such thing as faith in God thus loving the world; nor faith in Christ as loving us, and giving Himself for us; nor faith in the Spirit as renewing the image of God in our hearts.
2. The same blank could have been left in our love. We might have loved God as our Creator and Preserver, but we could not have loved Him under the nearest and dearest relation. We might have loved the Son of God as being the brightness of His Fathers glory, but not as having borne our sins. We could not have loved the Spirit as revealing to us the Father and the Son, as opening our eyes and turning us from darkness to light, etc.
3. Nor could we have loved our neighbour to the same extent: If God so loved us we ought to love one another.
II. We had missed the innumerable benefits which flow through our sufferings. Had there been no suffering, a considerable part of religion, and in some respects the most excellent part, could have had no place.
1. Upon this foundation our passive graces are built; yea, the noblest of them--the love which endureth all things. Here is the ground for resignation, for confidence in God, for patience, meekness, gentleness, long suffering, etc.
2. These afford opportunities for doing good which could not otherwise have existed.
III. Heaven would have been less glorious.
1. We should have missed the fruit of those graces which could not have flourished but for our struggle with sin here. Superior nobleness on earth means superior happiness in heaven.
2. We should have missed the reward which will accrue to innumerable good works which could not otherwise have been wrought, such as relief of distress, etc.
3. We should have missed the exceeding and eternal weight of glory which is to be the recompense of our light affliction.
IV. Our salvation would have been less secure. Unless in Adam all had died, every man must have personally answered for himself, and, as a consequence, if he had once sinned there would have been no possibility of his rising again. Now who would wish to hazard eternity on one stake? But under the economy of redemption if we fall we may rise again. Conclusion: See, then, how little reason there is to repine at the fall of our first parents, since here from we may derive such unspeakable advantages. If God had decreed that millions should suffer in hell because Adam sinned it would have been a different matter; but on the contrary, He has decreed that every man may be a gainer by it, and no man can be a loser but through his own choice. (J. Wesley, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv14–21 14. Death reigned from Adam to Moses. None could…
14. Death reigned from Adam to Moses. None could escape his universal dominion. He reigned, (1) although law had not come; (2) and those over whom he reigned had not repeated Adam's sin. (3) Unconscious infants could not have sinned against natural law. Hence the inference is that all had sinned in Adam. Hence, again, Adam is a representative man, a representative of all the race, a figure of him that was to come. A type of Christ, likewise a representative of all the race. Through the one all have sinned; through the other all are made righteous, as far as the sin in Adam is involved.
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.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv15–21 15. “Not as the offense so is also the…
15. “Not as the offense so is also the free gift; for if by the offense of one many died, much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded unto the many.” We have here the Greek phrase “the many,” in both cases used in a superlative sense. The simple meaning is, all died in Adam and all live in Christ (1Co 15:22), i. e., all died seminally in Adam and all live personally in Christ. When?
“Except every one be born from above (not again) he can not see the kingdom of God” (Joh 3:5).
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Here we see the absolute necessity of the new life on the part of every human being who shall enter God’s kingdom. “He tasted death for every one” (Heb 2:9), not “every man” as E. V. Christ not only certifies that all infants are in the kingdom, but holds them up as paragon members (Matthew 18). The prodigal son was born in his Father’s house, i. e., in the kingdom of God. Hence all are born there, as humanity is uniform.
Then when do we pass out of Adam into Christ? The moment soul and body united constitute personality, i. e., in the prenatal state, we are “born from above,” before we are born physically. The fall of Adam is seminal and the redemption of Christ personal. Hence all are fallen in Adam and redeemed in Christ. The death penalty of Adam’s transgression is physical, spiritual and eternal.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v21
Romans
THE WARRING QUEENS
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Rom 5:21.
I am afraid this text will sound to some of you rather unpromising. It is full of well-worn terms, ‘sin,’ ‘death,’ ‘grace,’ ‘righteousness,’ ‘eternal life,’ which suggest dry theology, if they suggest anything. When they welled up from the Apostle’s glowing heart they were like a fiery lava-stream. But the stream has cooled, and, to a good many of us, they seem as barren and sterile as the long ago cast out coils of lava on the sides of a quiescent volcano. They are so well-worn and familiar to our ears that they create but vague conceptions in our minds, and they seem to many of us to be far away from a bearing upon our daily lives. But you much mistake Paul if you take him to be a mere theological writer. He is an earnest evangelist, trying to draw men to love and trust in Jesus Christ. And his writings, however old-fashioned and doctrinally hard they may seem to you, are all throbbing with life-instinct with truths that belong to all ages and places, and which fit close to every one of us.
I do not know if I can give any kind of freshness to these words, but I wish to try. To begin with, I notice the highly-imaginative and picturesque form into which the Apostle casts his thoughts here. He, as it were, draws back a curtain, and lets us see two royal figures, which are eternally opposed and dividing the dominion between them. Then he shows us the issues to which these two rulers respectively conduct their subjects; and the question that is trembling on his lips is ‘Under which of them do you stand?’ Surely that is not fossil theology, but truths that are of the highest importance, and ought to be of the deepest interest, to every one of us. They are to you the former, whether they are the latter or not.
I. So, first, look at the two Queens who rule over human life.
Sin and Grace are both personified; and they are both conceived of as female figures, and both as exercising dominion. They stand face to face, and each recognises as her enemy the other. The one has established her dominion: ‘Sin hath reigned.’ The other is fighting to establish hers: ‘That Grace might reign.’ And the struggle is going on between them, not only on the wide field of the world; but in the narrow lists of the heart of each of us.
Sin reigns. The truths that underlie that solemn picture are plain enough, however unwelcome they may be to some of us, and however remote from the construction of the universe which many of us are disposed to take.
Now, let us understand our terms. Suppose a man commits a theft. You may describe it from three different points of view. He has thereby broken the law of the land; and when we are thinking about that we call it crime. He has also broken the law of ‘morality,’ as we call it; and when we are looking at his deed from that point of view, we call it vice. Is that all? He has broken something else. He has broken the law of God; and when we look at it from that point of view we call it sin. Now, there are a great many things which are sins that are not crimes; and, with due limitations, I might venture to say that there are some things which are sins that are not to be qualified as vices. Sin implies God. The Psalmist was quite right when he said; ‘Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned’; although he was confessing a foul injury he had done to Bathsheba, and a glaring crime that he had committed against Uriah. It was as to God, and in reference to Him only, that his crime and his vice darkened and solidified into sin.
And what is it, in our actions or in ourselves considered in reference to God, that makes our actions sins and ourselves sinners? Remember the prodigal son. ‘Father! Give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.’ There you have it all. He went away, and ‘wasted his substance in riotous living.’ To claim myself for my own; to act independently of, or contrary to, the will of God; to try to shake myself clear of Him; to have nothing to do with Him, even though it be by mere forgetfulness and negligence, and, in all my ways to comport myself as if I had no relations of dependence on and submission to him-that is sin. And there may be that oblivion or rebellion, not only in the gross vulgar acts which the law calls crimes, or in those which conscience declares to be vices, but also in many things which, looked at from a lower point of view, may be fair and pure and noble. If there is this assertion of self in them, or oblivion of God and His will in them, I know not how we are to escape the conclusion that even these fall under the class of sins. For there can be no act or thought, truly worthy of a man, situated and circumstanced as we are, which has not, for the very core and animating motive of it, a reference to God.
Now, when I come and say, as my Bible teaches me to say, that this is the deepest view of the state of humanity that sin reigns, I do not wish to fall into the exaggerations by which sometimes that statement has been darkened and discredited; but I do want to press upon you, dear brethren, this, as a matter of personal experience, that wherever there is a heart that loves, and leaves God out, and wherever there is a will that resolves, determines, impels to action, and does not bow itself before Him, and wherever there are hands that labour, or feet that run, at tasks and in paths self-chosen and unconsecrated by reference to our Father in heaven, no matter how great and beautiful subsidiary lustres may light up their deeds, the very heart of them all is transgression of the law of God. For this, and nothing else or less, is His law: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.’ I do not charge you with crimes. You know how far it would be right to charge you with vices. I do not charge you with anything; but I pray you to come with me and confess: ‘We all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.’
I suppose I need not dwell upon the difficulty of getting a lodgment for this conviction in men’s hearts. There is no sadder, and no more conclusive proof, of the tremendous power of sin over us, than that it has lulled us into unconsciousness, hard to be broken, of its own presence and existence. You remember the old stories-I suppose there is no truth in them, but they will do for an illustration-about some kind of a blood-sucking animal that perched upon a sleeping man, and with its leathern wings fanned him into deeper drowsiness whilst it drew from him his life-blood. That is what this hideous Queen does for men. She robes herself in a dark cloud, and sends out her behests from obscurity. And men fancy that they are free whilst all the while they are her servants. Oh, dear brethren! you may call this theology, but it is a simple statement of the facts of our condition. ‘Sin hath reigned.’
And now turn to the other picture, ‘Grace might reign.’ Then there is an antagonistic power that rises up to confront the widespread dominion of this anarch of old. And this Queen comes with twenty thousand to war against her that has but ten thousand on her side.
Again I say, let us understand our terms. I suppose, there are few of the keywords of the New Testament which have lost more of their radiance, like quicksilver, by exposure in the air during the centuries than that great word Grace, which is always on the lips of this Apostle, and to him had music in its sound, and which to us is a piece of dead doctrine, associated with certain high Calvinistic theories which we enlightened people have long ago grown beyond, and got rid of. Perhaps Paul was more right than we when his heart leaped up within him at the very thought of all which he saw to lie palpitating and throbbing with eager desire to bless men, in that great word. What does he mean by it? Let me put it into the shortest possible terms. This antagonist Queen is nothing but the love of God raying out for ever to us inferior creatures, who, by reason of our sinfulness, have deserved something widely different. Sin stands there, a hideous hag, though a queen; Grace stands here, ‘in all her gestures dignity and love,’ fair and self-communicative, though a sovereign. The love of God in exercise to sinful men: that is what the New Testament means by grace. And is it not a great thought?
Notice, for further elucidation of the Apostle’s conception, how he sacrifices the verbal correctness of his antithesis in order to get to the real opposition. What is the opposite of Sin? Righteousness. Why does he not say, then, that ‘as Sin hath reigned unto death, even so might Righteousness reign unto life’ ? Why? Because it is not man, or anything in man, that can be the true antagonist of, and victor over, the regnant Sin of humanity; but God Himself comes into the field, and only He is the foe that Sin dreads. That is to say, the only hope for a sin-tyrannised world is in the out-throb of the love of the great heart of God. For, notice the weapon with which He fights man’s transgression, if I may vary the figure for a moment. It is only subordinately punishment, or law, or threatening, or the revelation of the wickedness of the transgression. All these have their places, but they are secondary places. The thing that will conquer a world’s wickedness is nothing else but the manifested love of God. Only the patient shining down of the sun will ever melt the icebergs that float in all our hearts. And wonderful and blessed it is to think that, in whatsoever aspects man’s sin may have been an interruption and a contradiction of the divine purpose, out of the evil has come a good; that the more obdurate and universal the rebellion, the more has it evoked a deeper and more wondrous tenderness. The blacker the thundercloud, the brighter glows the rainbow that is flung across it. So these two front each other, the one settled in her established throne-
‘Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell-’
the other coming on her adventurous errand to conquer the world to herself, and to banish the foul tyranny under which men groan. ‘Sin hath reigned.’ Grace is on her way to her dominion.
II. Notice the gifts of these two Queens to their subjects.
‘Sin hath reigned in death’ {as the accurate translation has it}; ‘Grace reigns unto eternal life.’ The one has established her dominion, and its results are wrought out, her reign is, as it were, a reign in a cemetery; and her subjects are dead. If you want a modern instance to illustrate an ancient saw, think of Armenia. There is a reign whose gifts to its subjects are death. Sin reigns, says Paul, and for proof points to the fact that men die.
Now, I am not going to enter into the question here, and now, whether physical death passes over mankind because of the fact of transgression. I do not suppose that this is so. But I ask you to remember that when the Bible says that ‘Death passed upon all men, for all have sinned,’ it does not merely mean the physical fact of dissolution, but it means that fact along with the accompaniments of it, and the forerunners of it, in men’s consciences. ‘The sting of death is sin,’ says Paul, in another place. By which he implies, I presume, that, if it were not for the fact of alienation from God and opposition to His holy will, men might lie down and die as placidly as an animal does, and might strip themselves for it ‘as for a bed, that longing they’d been sick for.’ No doubt, there was death in the world long before there were men in it. No doubt, also, the complex whole phenomenon gets its terror from the fact of men’s sin.
But it is not so much that physical fact with its accompaniments which Paul is thinking about when he says that ‘sin reigns in death,’ as it is that solemn truth which he is always reiterating, and which I pray you, dear friends, to lay to heart, that, whatever activity there may be in the life of a man who has rent himself away from dependence upon God-however vigorous his brain, however active his hand, however full charged with other interests his life, in the very depth of it is a living death, and the right name for it is death. So this is Sin’s gift-that over our whole nature there come mortality and decay, and that they who live as her subjects are dead whilst they live. Dear brethren, that may be figurative, but it seems to me that it is absurd for you to turn away from such thoughts, shrug your shoulders, and say, ‘Old-fashioned Calvinistic theology!’ It is simply putting into a vivid form the facts of your life and of your condition in relation to God, if you are subjects of Sin.
Then, on the other hand, the other queenly figure has her hands filled with one great gift which, like the fatal bestowment which Sin gives to her subjects, has two aspects, a present and a future one. Life, which is given in our redemption from Death and Sin, and in union with God; that is the present gift that the love of God holds out to every one of us. That life, in its very incompleteness here, carries in itself the prophecy of its own completion hereafter, in a higher form and world, just as truly as the bud is the prophet of the flower and of the fruit; just as truly as a half-reared building is the prophecy of its own completion when the roof tree is put upon it. The men that here have, as we all may have if we choose, the gift of life eternal in the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ His Son, must necessarily tend onwards and upwards to a region where Death is beneath the horizon, and Life flows and flushes the whole heaven. Brother! do you put out your whole hand to take the poisoned gift from the claw-like hand of that hideous Queen; or do you turn and take the gift of life eternal from the hands of the queenly Grace?
III. How this queenly Grace gives her gifts.
You observe that the Apostle, as is his wont-I was going to say-gets himself entangled in a couple of almost parenthetical or, at all events, subsidiary sentences. I suppose when he began to write he meant to say, simply, ‘as Sin hath reigned unto death, so Grace might reign unto life.’ But notice that he inserts two qualifications: ‘through righteousness,’ ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ What does he mean by these?
He means this, first, that even that great love of God, coming throbbing straight from His heart, cannot give eternal life as a mere matter of arbitrary will. God can make His sun to shine and His rain to fall, ‘on the unthankful and on the evil,’ and if God could, God would give eternal life to everybody, bad and good; but He cannot. There must be righteousness if there is to be life. Just as sin’s fruit is death, the fruit of righteousness is life.
He means, in the next place, that whilst there is no life without righteousness, there is no righteousness without God’s gift. You cannot break away from the dominion of Sin, and, as it were, establish yourselves in a little fortress of your own, repelling her assaults by any power of yours. Dear brethren, we cannot undo the past; we cannot strip off the poisoned garment that clings to our limbs; we can mend ourselves in many respects, but we cannot of our own volition and motion clothe ourselves with that righteousness of which the wearers shall be worthy to ‘pass through the gate into the city.’ There is no righteousness without God’s gift.
And the other subsidiary clause completes the thought: ‘through Christ.’ In Him is all the grace, the manifest love, of God gathered together. It is not diffused as the nebulous light in some chaotic incipient system, but it is gathered into a sun that is set in the centre, in order that it may pour down warmth and life upon its circling planets. The grace of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him is life eternal; therefore, if we desire to possess it we must possess Him. In Him is righteousness; therefore, if we desire our own foulness to be changed into the holiness which shall see God, we must go to Jesus Christ. Grace reigns in life, but it is life through righteousness, which is through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So, then, brother, my message and my petition to each of you are-knit yourself to Him by faith in Him. Then He who is ‘full of grace and truth’ will come to you; and, coming, will bring in His hands righteousness and life eternal. If only we rest ourselves on Him, and keep ourselves close in touch with Him; then we shall be delivered from the tyranny of the darkness, and translated into the Kingdom of the Son of His love.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv14–21 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over…
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come . [The comparison opened in Rom_5:12 is carried through various contrasts and correlations until it closes, as modified by the intervening verses, in Rom_5:18 . Adding to Rom_5:12 the modifications which appear in Rom_5:18 ; and skipping the intervening correlations, that we may get the connection, and have the central thought clearly before us, we would paraphrase thus: Now, since Christ is the source of justification and all its benefits, we submit to you a comparison between him and Adam, who is the source of condemnation and all its hardships, thus: As through the act of the one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and as through this one sin death also entered, so that for this one sin the sentence of death passed upon us all, even so through the one act of the one, Christ (viz.: his suffering on the cross), the free gift of being accounted righteous came unto all men to justify them (i. e., to release them from the sentence of death which came upon them by Adam's sin), that they might live. Such is the central thought of the remainder of this chapter. But we have anticipated the full comparison, and the reader must bear in mind, in the perusal of what follows, that Paul is working it out, and does not complete it until Rom_5:18 . With Rom_5:13 Paul enters on a proof that all sinned in Adam, and incurred the death penalty by reason of his sin as their federal head, and not by reason of their own individual sins. To understand his argument, we must remember that God gave a law of life and death to Adam, and then refrained from giving any law like it until the days of Moses. The law of Moses was also one of life and death. It provided that those who kept it should live, and that those who failed to keep it should die. But as none kept it, it became a general law, involving all under it in the condemnation of death. It is clear, therefore, that Adam died for his own sin, and equally clear that those who lived under the Mosaic law might have died for their own sin as well as for Adam's sin. But for whose sin did those die who lived in the twenty-five centuries between Adam and Moses? Clearly they died for the sin committed by Adam, their head. Keeping these things before us, we follow Paul's reasoning thus: It is clear that men die because they sinned in Adam, their federal head, and not because they committed sin in their individual capacity; for though it is true that the people living in the world from the days of Adam until the giving of the law committed sin, yet where there is no law condemning to death (and there was none such in those days) sin is not imputed so as to incur the sentence of death. Therefore, in this absence of law, the people of that day would have lived in spite of their own individual sins; nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not broken any law having a death penalty attached to it, as did Adam, who, in his representative capacity as head of the race, was a figure or a type of the coming Christ, who was also to be manifested as a representative head of the race. It may be noted here that some, by reason of their gross wickedness, may have been specially punished by death, as, for instance, those who were obliterated by the deluge, or those who were burned in the flames of Sodom, etc., and also it may be observed that murderers should suffer death for their sin (Gen 9:6). But there was no general law involving all in the death penalty, and such special instances in no way weakened Paul's argument, for these, indeed, died by special dispensation of providence, on account of their peculiar wickedness; but they would have died just the same, under the decree passed upon Adam, if they had never been guilty of this peculiar wickedness, just as all others died who were not thus guilty. In other words, individual guilt did not bring the death sentence, for it already rested on all; it only brought a sudden, summary and peculiar mode of death upon these particular sinners, so as to stamp them as abnormally wicked.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21 Adam to Moses
Adam to Moses
Broadly, the contrast is: Adam: sin, death; Christ: righteousness, life. Adam drew down into his ruin the old creation Rom 8:19-22 of which he was lord and head. Christ brings into moral unity with God, and into eternal life, the new creation of which he is Lord and Head. Eph 1:22; Eph 1:23. Even the animal and material creation, cursed for man’s sake. Gen 3:17 will be delivered by Christ.; Isa 11:6-9; Rom 8:19-22.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv15, 18 Parallelism and contrast:
Parallelism and contrast:
v. 15. But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
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v. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.
v. 17. For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
The apostle here explains his statement as to Adam’s being a type of Christ. But not as the offense, the transgression, so also is the gift of grace, the gift which is freely provided for sinners in the Gospel, in its effects upon men. The emphasis upon righteousness and life, in which the salvation in Christ consists, is brought very strongly by the apostle. The fall is not like the gracious restoration. It is true, of course, that through the fall of the one, of Adam, the many, all the other people in the world, have become subject to death and have died; but, on the other hand, it is true, also, that the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ has much more, much more certainly, abounded to those same people, the many. The regrettable mistake, the transgression of the one man indeed had evil, terrible consequences, but the blessings procured by Christ are infinitely greater than the evils caused by Adam. And not only that, but the grace of God and that gift which is expressed in, consists in, the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, by which we have salvation, is much more certainly to be relied upon. The one thing has indeed happened—condemnation is come upon all men; but the other fact has such indubitable evidence on its side that we can safely place our trust in it in life and death. And closely connected with this thought is another: Not as through one that sinned the gift. On the side of the type, Adam, that which was done, which came upon all men, was occasioned by the one person that sinned. On the other side, in the antitype, in the gift of Christ, the same condition does not obtain. The sentence of condemnation which passed on all men for the sake of Adam was for one offense of one man, whereas we are justified by Christ for many offenses. For the judgment is from one man unto a sentence of condemnation, but the gift of grace from the trespasses of many unto a condition of righteousness, a judgment of justification. God judged the people, all men, and His finding has resulted in a sentence of condemnation on account of the one man, Adam. Since the sin of Adam has been imputed to all men, therefore the curse of sin, death, resulted as the consequence of the condemnatory sentence upon sin. On the other hand, the gift of grace has resulted in the condition of righteousness from the trespasses of many. That was the former condition of the many, of all men: they were in trespasses and sins, Eph 2:1. But that condition has now been left behind, and they have entered into a new, a different status, that of imputed righteousness, of justification, not only is the one transgression of Adam, which was imputed to them all, forgiven, but they are absolved from all their individual sins and transgressions, they have been pronounced just. This fact, that we are justified through Christ not only from the guilt of Adam’s first sin, but from our own innumerable transgressions, receives further confirmation: For if, through the trespass of one, death has reigned through the one, much more, much sooner, much more certainly, those that receive the abundance of the grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. On the one hand we have the type: Through the one man, Adam, through his offense or trespass, it has come to pass that death now has sovereign power on earth; his offense was the cause of death’s coming upon all men, his sin was the ground of the sentence of condemnation, which has been passed upon all mankind. But now, on the other hand, if this is really the case, therefore the other will happen all the more certainly, namely, that we shall reign in life. Eternal life is deliverance, liberty; it elevates those that receive it to a position of authority and dominion, 1Co 4:8; 1Co 6:2-3; 2Ti 2:12. This right and authority is transmitted to us because me receive by faith the abundance of the grace and of the gift of righteousness. The grace of God has abounded toward us, we receive it richly and daily; and it is the source of the gift of righteousness, righteousness itself being the gift offered and received. And all this is ours through Jesus Christ, for He it is that merited life for us, that has prepared the fullness of righteousness for us. And the dominion of life is much more certain than the dominion of death. Christ has not only repaired the damage inflicted by Adam, but also justified all men from their individual transgressions; and therefore it is much more certain that they that receive this incomparable gift and blessing of righteousness will reign in life than that the sin of the one has brought death to all the children of men. There is only one thing more certain to the believer, that has been justified through the merits of Christ, than the fact that he must die, and that is the fact that he will live and reign with Christ, in the life which is his by the free gift of God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 18, 20 Nevertheless, death
Nevertheless, death
"Even though what I have just said is true, death" or "There was no written law from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, but death." (See: Romans 5:13)
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death ruled from Adam until Moses
Paul is speaking of death as if it were a king who ruled. AT: "people continued to die from the time of Adam until the time of Moses as a consequence of their sin" (See: Personification and Metaphor)
even over those who did not sin like Adam's disobedience
"even people whose sins were different from Adam's continue to die"
who is a pattern of him who was to come
Adam was a pattern of Christ, who appeared much later. He had much in common with him.
For if by the trespass of one the many died
Here "one" refers to Adam. AT: "For if by one man's sin, many died" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound for the many
Here "grace" refers to God's free gift that he made available to everyone through Jesus Christ. AT: "even more through the man Jesus Christ, who died for us all, did God kindly offer us this gift of everlasting life, although we do not deserve it" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Adam
Moses
disobey
gift
trespass
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 On vv15, 17, 18, 20 5:15 Paul uses the word many in contrast with…
5:15 Paul uses the word many in contrast with one. Many does not always mean all, but it can include all people if the context suggests it. Clearly, the many who suffer death because of Adam includes everyone (see 5:12), but Paul makes it clear elsewhere that the many who receive the gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ, sadly, does not include everyone (see 11:1-5).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.