AISBT ReaderRom 7:1–25
Notes · 12 on Rom 7:1–25
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Notes · Rom 7:1–25

Released from the Law, and the Holy Law Used by Sin

12 approved team notes on Rom 7:1–25.
Read Rom 7:1–25

Rom 7:1

exegeticalRom 7:1–25
Introduction to Romans 7:1–25: released from the law by a death, and the holy law used by sin
  • SaysThe law has authority over a person only as long as he lives, believers died to the law through the body of Christ, and Paul refuses both that the law is sin and that the good law became death (7:1, 4, 7, 13).
  • ImpliesThe chapter takes up 6:14–15 and 5:20: believers are released from the law, yet the law is not sin, and the problem is sin using it.
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exegeticalRom 7:1–6
Released from the law by a death: died to the law through the body of Christ (Romans 7:1–6)
  • SaysThe law has authority over a person only as long as he lives; a wife is released by her husband's death; and believers died to the law through the body of Christ, to belong to the risen Christ and bear fruit to God (7:1–4).
  • Implies'Through the body of Christ' (7:4) refers to his body given up in death on the cross, not to the church (6:3–6; Col 1:22; alternative: the church, 12:5; 1 Cor 12:27).
  • UncertainWhether the marriage picture (7:2–4) illustrates one point, release from the law by a death (lean; in 7:4 the believers, not the husband, die), or maps closely, with the law or the old self as the first husband (alternative).
  • SaysIn the flesh, sinful passions aroused by the law bore fruit for death; now, having died to what bound them, believers are released from the law to serve in newness of πνεῦμα, not oldness of γράμμα (7:5–6).
  • UncertainWhether πνεύματος in 7:6 is God's Spirit (lean; 2:29; 2 Cor 3:6; 8:2–4) or a new inner spirit (alternative).
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historicalRom 7:1–3
Marriage, widowhood, remarriage, and divorce in Roman and Jewish law (7:1–3)
  • SaysRom 7:1–3 says the law has authority over a person only as long as he lives, and a woman whose husband has died is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
  • UncertainWhich law Paul means by 'those who know the law' in Rom 7:1 (Roman law, the law of Moses, or law in general); no lean in this note.
✓ Approved BSB public domain Gaius, Inst. (Poste–Whittuck 1904) public domain Suetonius (Rolfe) public domain Mishnah (Vilna 1913, Sefaria) public domain Josephus (Whiston) public domain
languageRom 7:1; Rom 7:2; Rom 7:3; Rom 7:4; Rom 7:5; Rom 7:6
ὁ νόμος κυριεύει … ἐθανατώθητε τῷ νόμῳ διὰ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ (7:1–6)
  • SaysThe law has authority over a person only as long as he lives, and believers died to the law through the body of Christ and have been released from it (7:1–2, 4, 6).
  • Implies'Through the body of Christ' (7:4) refers to his body given up in death on the cross, not to the church (6:3–6; Col 1:22).
  • UncertainWhether the marriage picture (7:2–4) illustrates one point, release from the law by a death (lean; in 7:4 the believers, not the husband, die), or maps closely, with the law or the old self as the first husband (alternative).
  • UncertainWhether πνεύματος in 7:6 is God's Spirit (lean; γράμμα and πνεῦμα in 2:29; 2 Cor 3:6; 8:2–4) or a new inner spirit (alternative).
✓ Approved SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Abbott-Smith public domain BSB public domain

Rom 7:7

exegeticalRom 7:7–13
Is the law sin? Sin seized its opportunity through the commandment (Romans 7:7–13)
  • SaysPaul refuses that the law is sin; the law made sin known, and 'Do not covet' (οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις) quotes Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21 in the LXX form, without objects (7:7).
  • SaysSin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced every kind of covetous desire, deceived the 'I', and through the commandment put him to death (7:8, 11).
  • UncertainWhat 'Once I was alive apart from the law' (7:9) refers to: a time before the speaker knew the commandment, Adam before the command, or Israel before Sinai; no lean, since each goes with a view of who the 'I' is.
  • UncertainWhether 'the commandment that was meant to bring life' (7:10) echoes Lev 18:5 (quoted by Paul at 10:5; Gal 3:12) or reflects the promise of life in the law generally (Deut 30:15–16); no lean.
  • UncertainWhether ἐξηπάτησέν με (7:11) echoes Gen 3:13 LXX ἠπάτησέν με (lean; 2 Cor 11:3; commandment, desire, deception, and death in 7:8–11) or simply names sin's deceit (alternative; 16:18; 1 Cor 3:18; no serpent named); the echo does not decide who the 'I' is.
  • SaysThe law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good; sin produced death through what was good, so that sin might become utterly sinful (7:12–13).
  • ImpliesThe problem is sin using the commandment, not the law itself (7:7, 12–13).
✓ Approved SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0
exegeticalRom 7:7–25
Who is the "I" of Romans 7:7–25? Three main views and the boundary they share
  • UncertainWho the 'I' of 7:7–25 is, with no team lean: Paul as a believer (Augustine's later view, Luther, Calvin, Cranfield; the present tenses, 7:22, 7:25b), Paul or the Jew under the law before conversion (Greek fathers, Wesley; 7:14 'sold', 7:23–24, the contrast with 8:2), or a representative 'I' for Adam and/or Israel meeting the law (Kümmel, Moo; 7:9–11 echoing Gen 3 and Sinai); mixed views also exist.
  • ImpliesEvery view keeps the law holy, righteous, good, and spiritual (7:12, 14) and keeps 8:1–4; none makes the law sinful, excuses sin, or denies believers real victory.
✓ Approved SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain Augustine, C. du. ep. Pel. (NPNF¹ 5) public domain Luther, Preface to Romans Custom
historicalRom 7:7–25
How the "I" of 7:7–25 has been read: Greek fathers, Augustine, Reformers, Wesley, and Kümmel
  • SaysRom 7:14 says the law is spiritual but the 'I' is unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin; Rom 7:22 says that in the inner being the 'I' delights in God's law.
  • UncertainWho the 'I' of Rom 7:7–25 is (believer, person under the law before conversion, or a representative 'I'); no team lean; every view keeps 7:12, 14 and 8:1–4.
✓ Approved BSB public domain Sanday–Headlam, Romans (ICC) public domain Chrysostom, Hom. Rom. (NPNF¹ 11) public domain Augustine, C. du. ep. Pel. (NPNF¹ 5) public domain Calvin, Romans (Owen) public domain
languageRom 7:7; Rom 7:8; Rom 7:9; Rom 7:10; Rom 7:11; Rom 7:12; Rom 7:13
οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις … ἀφορμὴν δὲ λαβοῦσα … ἐξηπάτησέν με (7:7–13)
  • Says'Do not covet' (οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις, 7:7) quotes Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21 in the LXX form; sin used the commandment to produce every kind of covetous desire; the law and the commandment are holy, righteous, and good (7:7–8, 11–12).
  • UncertainWhat 'I was once alive apart from the law' (7:9) refers to: a time before the speaker knew the commandment, or Adam before the command, or Israel before Sinai; no lean, since each goes with a view of who the 'I' is.
  • UncertainWhether ἐξηπάτησέν με (7:11) echoes Gen 3:13 LXX ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέν με (lean; a related verb with 'me'; 2 Cor 11:3; 1 Tim 2:14) or is the ordinary verb with no allusion (alternative; 16:18; 1 Cor 3:18).
  • UncertainWhether the ἵνα clauses of 7:13 express purpose (lean; as in 5:20) or result (alternative).
  • ImpliesThe problem is sin using the commandment, not the law itself (7:7, 12–13).
✓ Approved SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Abbott-Smith public domain BSB public domain LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0
languageRom 7:7; Rom 7:11
Rom 7:7, 11: "You shall not covet" (Exod 20:17; Deut 5:21) and "deceived me" (Gen 3:13), MT and LXX
  • SaysRom 7:7 quotes Οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις without an object; Swete has the same words in Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.
  • SaysExod 20:17 MT has לֹא תַחְמֹד twice, house first and then wife; חָמַד "desire, take pleasure in" (BDB p. 326).
  • SaysDeut 5:21 MT puts the wife first and has וְלֹא תִתְאַוֶּה (Hitpael of אָוָה, BDB p. 16) in the second clause; the BSB renders both verbs "covet."
  • SaysSwete's Exod 20:17 puts the wife before the house, as in Deut 5:21, and ἐπιθυμήσεις renders חָמַד in both passages and also אָוָה in Deut 5:21.
  • UncertainWhether Rom 7:11 ἐξηπάτησέν με echoes Gen 3:13 הַנָּחָשׁ הִשִּׁיאַנִי (LXX Ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησέν με): lean yes (2 Cor 11:3 ἐξηπάτησεν Εὕαν; commandment, desire, deception, and death in 7:8–11); alternative, the verb simply names sin's deceit (as in Rom 16:18; 1 Cor 3:18; 7:11 names no serpent); the lean does not decide who the "I" is.
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Rom 7:14

exegeticalRom 7:14–25
The law is spiritual, but I am of flesh: willing and doing, and the thanksgiving (Romans 7:14–25)
  • SaysThe law is spiritual, but the 'I' is σάρκινος (BSB 'unspiritual'), sold as a slave to sin; from 7:14 the main verbs are present, after the past tenses of 7:7–13 (7:14).
  • UncertainWhether the present tenses of 7:14–25 describe the speaker's state as he writes or portray another state vividly; part of who the 'I' is; no lean.
  • UncertainWhether σάρκινος (7:14) means 'made of flesh,' frail (lean; the -ινος ending of material; 2 Cor 3:3) or 'carnal' in an ethical sense like σαρκικός (alternative; BSB 'unspiritual').
  • SaysThe 'I' does not do what he wants but does what he hates, says it is sin living in him that does it, and delights in God's law in his inner being (7:15–22).
  • UncertainWhether τὸν νόμον in 7:21 is a rule or principle (lean; the ὅτι clause states a rule of experience) or the Mosaic law (alternative; 7:22).
  • UncertainWhether 'another law' (7:23) is a different power, the law of sin in the members (lean; same verse; 8:2), or the Mosaic law as sin uses it (alternative; 7:5, 8, 11).
  • SaysThe 'I' cries out for rescue from this body of death and gives thanks to God through Jesus Christ our Lord (7:24–25a).
  • UncertainWhether 7:25b, after the thanksgiving, sums up 7:14–24 (lean; ἄρα οὖν) or stands displaced (alternative; conjectural rearrangement with no manuscript support).
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languageRom 7:14; Rom 7:15; Rom 7:16; Rom 7:17; Rom 7:18; Rom 7:19; Rom 7:20; Rom 7:21; Rom 7:22; Rom 7:23; Rom 7:24; Rom 7:25
ἐγὼ δὲ σάρκινός εἰμι … εὑρίσκω ἄρα τὸν νόμον … ἕτερον νόμον (7:14–25)
  • SaysThe law is spiritual, and from 7:14 the main verbs are present, after the past tenses of 7:7–13 (7:14–25).
  • UncertainWhether the present tenses of 7:14–25 describe the speaker's state as he writes or portray another state vividly; part of who the 'I' is; no lean.
  • UncertainWhether σάρκινος (7:14) means 'made of flesh,' frail (lean; the -ινος ending of material; 2 Cor 3:3) or 'carnal' in an ethical sense like σαρκικός (alternative; BSB 'unspiritual').
  • UncertainWhether τὸν νόμον in 7:21 is a principle or rule (lean; the ὅτι clause states a rule of experience) or the Mosaic law (alternative; 7:22).
  • UncertainWhether 'another law' (7:23) is a different power, the law of sin in the members (lean; same verse; 8:2), or the Mosaic law as sin uses it (alternative; 7:5, 8, 11).
  • UncertainWhether 7:25b, after the thanksgiving, sums up 7:14–24 (lean; ἄρα οὖν) or stands displaced (alternative; conjectural rearrangement).
  • ImpliesOn any view of the 'I', nothing in 7:14–25 makes the law sinful or excuses sin (7:12, 14; 8:1–4).
✓ Approved SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Abbott-Smith public domain BSB public domain
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