How 5:12 was read: in quo, Ambrosiaster, Augustine, Pelagius, WCF 6.3
Says "Death was passed on to all men, because all sinned" (5:12, BSB): ἐφʼ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον.
The Latin Bible rendered ἐφʼ ᾧ as in quo, "in whom," which mistranslates the Greek. Ambrosiaster, usually dated to the fourth century, explains: In quo, id est, in Adam, omnes peccaverunt, taking the relative as Adam, and adds that all sinned in Adam quasi in massa, "as in a lump" (our rendering). Augustine concluded that in quo means Adam (C. du. ep. Pelag. 4.4.7; Nupt. 1.1). Pelagius read 5:12 as sin passing to all by imitation of Adam. The Westminster Confession teaches that, Adam and Eve being the root of mankind, their guilt was imputed and a corrupted nature conveyed to all their posterity by ordinary generation (WCF 6.3). Reformed writers later divided: Charles Hodge defended immediate imputation against the mediate view, in which guilt follows inherited corruption, and W. G. T. Shedd argued realism: humanity sinned in Adam as one nature.
Implies Sin, death, and condemnation came to all humanity through Adam's one trespass, and righteousness and life come to those in Christ through his one act of obedience (5:12, 15–19).
Uncertain Whether ἐφʼ ᾧ means "because" (BSB), "with the result that," or "on the basis of which" is debated (note.language.Rom.5.12.eph-ho).
Uncertain How Adam's sin reaches all is debated. The team leans to federal headship with immediate imputation (WCF 6.3), and reads "were made sinners" (5:19a) forensically (note.language.Rom.5.12.eph-ho). Realism and mediate imputation are described above; Pelagian imitation lies outside the core.
Claims
- SaysRom 5:12 says death was passed on to all men ἐφʼ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον, 'because all sinned' (BSB).
- ImpliesRom 5:12, 15–19 implies that sin, death, and condemnation came to all humanity through Adam's one trespass, and righteousness and life come to those in Christ through his one act of obedience.
- UncertainThe meaning of ἐφʼ ᾧ in Rom 5:12 ('because', 'with the result that', 'on the basis of which').
- UncertainThe mechanism by which Adam's sin reaches all, including 'were made sinners' (Rom 5:19a); team lean: federal headship with immediate imputation (WCF 6.3), 5:19a forensic; grounds in note.language.Rom.5.12.eph-ho; realism and mediate imputation named; Pelagian imitation outside the core.
Citations
- BSB public domain Rom 5:12, 15–19
- SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Rom 5:12
- 🔒︎ Vulgate (Clem.) public domain Rom 5:12 (the two words in quo only; by reference)
- Ambrosiaster, Comm. Rom. (PL 17) public domain PL 17 (1845), col. 92 (scan leaf n52; checked on the page image 2026-10-30). English: team rendering
- Augustine, C. du. ep. Pel. (NPNF¹ 5) public domain Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.4.7, p. 419 (trans. Wallis; scan selectlibraryofn05auguuoft, leaf n494, checked on the page image; paraphrased)
- NPNF1 5 public domain On Marriage and Concupiscence 1.1.1, p. 263 (trans. Holmes; scan selectlibraryofn05auguuoft, leaf n338, checked on the page image; verse is Rom 5:12, though footnote 2 prints 'v. 5')
- Pelagius, Expos. (Souter) public domain vol. 2 (1926), p. 45, ll. 10–23, on Rom 5:12 (by reference; not displayed)
- WCF public domain 6.3 (paraphrased)
- Hodge, Romans public domain 1864 ed., on Rom 5:12–21 (by reference; not checked)
- Shedd, Romans public domain on Rom 5:12 (by reference; not checked)
2026-10-31
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