Romans 7:1-3

 

 

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Romans 7:1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law ), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives ? (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: e agnoeite, (2PPAI) adelphoi, ginoskousin (PAPMPD) gar nomon lalo, (1SPAI) hoti o nomos kurieuei (3SPAI) tou anthropou eph' oson chronon ze? (3SPAI
Amplified Do you not know, brethren--for I am speaking to men who are acquainted with the Law--that legal claims have power over a person only for as long as he is alive?
 (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: You are bound to know, brothers—for I speak to men who know what law means—that the law has authority over a man only for the duration of his life.  (
Westminster Press)
NLT: Now, dear brothers and sisters – you who are familiar with the law – don't you know that the law applies only to a person who is still living? (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: You know very well, my brothers (for I am speaking to those well acquainted with the subject), that the Law can only exercise authority over a man so long as he is alive.  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Or, are you ignorant, brethren, for I am speaking to those who have an experiential knowledge of law, that the law exercises lordship over the individual as long as he lives?  (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: Are ye ignorant, brethren -- for to those knowing law I speak -- that the law hath lordship over the man as long as he liveth?

REFERENCES

Albert Barnes
Wayne Barber
Wayne Barber
John Calvin
Adam Clarke
Tom Constable
Bob Deffinbaugh
Bob Deffinbaugh
Dave Guzik
Matthew Henry
Jameison, F & B
S Lewis Johnson
John MacArthur
John MacArthur
Middletown Bible
William Newell
John Piper
John Piper
John Piper
John Piper
John Piper
Ray Pritchard
A T Robertson
Ray Stedman
Ray Stedman
Marvin Vincent
Precept Ministries

Romans 7
Romans 7:1-5: Frustration...Under Law
Romans 7:7-13: Frustration...Under Law

Romans 7
Romans 7
Romans PDF Notes
Romans 7:7-13 Loveliness of Law Ugliness of Sin
Romans 7: Sanctification—Humanly Impossible!
Romans 7
Romans 7
Romans 7
Romans 7:1-6
Romans 7:1-6 Dead to the Law

Romans 7:7-13 Sin and the Law
Romans 7

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Romans 7 To be a Mother is a Call to Suffer
Romans 7:1-6 Dead to Law Serving in Spirit

Romans 7:1-6 Dead to Law Serving in Spirit
Romans 7:1-6 Dead to Law Serving in Spirit
Romans 7:1-6 Dead to Law Serving in Spirit
Romans 7:1-6 Remarried & Happy at Last!
Romans 7 Greek Word Studies
Romans 7:1-13: Ten Commandments?
Romans 7:1-6 Free To Win Or Lose?

Romans 7: Greek Word Studies
Download lesson 1 (Romans 6-8)

ROMANS ROAD
to RIGHTEOUSNESS
Romans
1
:18-3:20
Romans
3:21-5:21
Romans
6:1-8:39
Romans
9:1-11:36
Romans
12:1-16:27
SIN SALVATION SANCTIFICATION SOVEREIGNTY SERVICE
NEED
FOR
SALVATION
WAY
OF
SALVATION
LIFE
OF
SALVATION
SCOPE
OF
SALVATION
SERVICE
OF
SALVATION
God's Holiness
In
Condemning
Sin
God's Grace
In
Justifying
Sinners
God's Power
In
Sanctifying
Believers
God's Sovereignty
In
Saving
Jew and Gentile
Gods Glory
The
Object of
Service
Deadliness
of Sin
Design
of Grace
Demonstration of Salvation
Power Given Promises Fulfilled Paths Pursued
Righteousness
Needed
Righteousness
Credited
Righteousness
Demonstrated
Righteousness
Restored to Israel
Righteousness
Applied
God's Righteousness
IN LAW
God's Righteousness
IMPUTED
God's Righteousness
OBEYED
God's Righteousness
IN ELECTION
God's Righteousness
DISPLAYED
Slaves to Sin Slaves to God Slaves Serving God
Doctrine Duty
Life by Faith Service by Faith

Modified from Irving L. Jensen's excellent work "Jensen's Survey of the NT"

OR DO YOU NOT KNOW, BRETHREN: he agnoeite (2PPAI) adelphoi:

Wayne Barber introduces this section writing ...

I believe Paul, in Romans 7, is vividly portraying for us the "frustration of trying to go back and live under law." For years, I did not realize it, but not only was I living as if I was under the law, but I’m sure that I also put others under it through my preaching.

I was miserable so much of the time and could not understand why. I was also critical of those who did not live up to my convictions. For example, we were convicted that TV had become an obsession to our whole family and so we gave it up for over a year. I can still remember how proud I felt when I heard others who watched what I wouldn’t watch. How spiritually superior I sometimes felt. You see, living under the law makes you quick to judge anyone but yourself.

Living under the law doesn’t necessarily mean that you are under the Law of Moses, the Ten Commandments, but you can be bound by the law of the denomination you belong to, or the law that you impose on yourself.

Living under the law doesn’t mean that you are not determined, or self disciplined. It means that you measure your spirituality by these things and if they are not done, then you think you have failed to win the love and favor of God in your life.

We must understand the difference of living "under law" and living "under grace." In Romans 7:1-5, if you look carefully, Paul clearly shows us how it was when we had no choice but to be under the law. In verses 1-4 we see that the law ruled over us to control and condemn the works of our flesh when we were in union with Adam. We were not married to the law before our union with Christ. We were in union with Adam, and the LAW had jurisdiction over us as long as we were in this union with Adam. (Romans 7:1-5: Frustration...Under Law )

Regarding the little word "or" Newell writes that...

The King James, by its failure to translate the chapter’s opening word “Or,” (KJV "7:1 Don't you realize, brothers and sisters") to which God gives the emphatic position in this argument, obscures the whole meaning of the passage and context. Unless we connect Chapter 7:1 with Chapter 6:14, (as the proper translation “or” does), we cannot properly understand the passage. (Romans 7)

Do you not know (50) (agnoeo from a = not + noéo = perceive, understand) not have information about, to not know, to be unaware of, to be ignorant of, ignorance. "Know" is a key word in Ro 6 (see exposition of Romans 6:3)

Someone has quipped that when Paul begins a sentence with "do you not know" (or "are ye ignorant") concerning the saints, it often turns out that they are ignorant!

William Newell observes in Romans 7...

"we have a chapter of two sections, (1) verses I through 6 and (2) verses 7 through 25: both of which we are prone to misunderstand and misapply, unless we exercise much prayerful care...The King James, by its failure to translate the chapter's opening word "Or, " to which God gives the emphatic position in this argument, obscures the whole meaning of the passage and context. Unless we connect Chapter 7.1 with Chapter 6.14, (as the proper translation "or" does), we cannot properly understand the passage." (Romans 7)

FOR I AM SPEAKING TO THOSE WHO KNOW THE LAW: ginoskousin (PAPMPD) gar nomon lalo (1SPAI): (Ro 2:17-18; Ezra 7:25; Pr 6:23; 1Cor 9:8; Gal4:21) (Ro 7:6; 6:14)

He speaks to those who have a knowledge of a general principle of ALL law (definite article not before "nomon" so not just "The Law" of Moses for example although it certainly would include that source.) It is quite possible that Paul is not interested so much in identifying the law he has in mind as in pointing to its character as law, that which has binding force, which is the fundamental character of any law or regulation.
.
THAT THE LAW HAS JURISDICTION OVER  A PERSON AS LONG AS HE LIVES: hoti o nomos kurieuei (3SPAI) tou anthropou eph oson chronon ze:

Jurisdiction (2961) (kurieuo from kurios = master - power of control rather than physical strength) means to have dominion over, to be lord of, to exercise lordship over. In Scripture kurieuo personifies various things which control human life such as Law, Sin, Death, emphasizing that each of these entities has dominion over or exerts mastery over fallen mankind. Here clearly Paul personifies the Law as that which controls human life. 

Already in this initial statement we have a clue for determining the thought that Paul is about to develop. The law has authority over a person only for his lifetime. Since it has been established that the believer died with Christ, one can anticipate the conclusion--that whatever authority the law continues to exercise over others, for the believer that power has been abrogated.

Ironside comments that Paul's

argument here is that the law has dominion over men until death ends its authority or ends their relationship to it. But he has just been showing us in the clearest possible way that we have died with Christ; therefore we died not only to sin, but we have died to the law as a rule of life. Is this then to leave us lawless? Not at all: for we are now, as he shows elsewhere (1Cor 9:21 ), "under the law to Christ", or "enlawed" - that is, legitimately subject - to Christ our new Head. He is husband as well as Head, even as Ephesians 5 so clearly shows. (Romans Commentary)

Though freed from the LAW with its stern demands--
No longer ruled by its harsh commands--
I'm bound by Christ's love and am truly free
To live and to act responsibly - D J De Haan

Romans 7 depicts the law as actually awakening rebellious desires within (see note Romans 7:5). Being told not to do something excites our old man, our flesh to desire to express itself. By daily walking and talking with Christ, we can go from ''NO'' power in the law to ALL power in Christ. Remember that walking is simply placing one foot before another and then repeating the process. That is how believers can learn to walk in the Spirit of Christ and in His power. In Christ, God's love was expressed and His law was satisfied (Gal 3:13) and our call now is to work out our salvation in Christ with fear and trembling (see note Philippians 2:12)

 

Romans 7:2  For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: e gar hupandros gune to zonti (PAPMSD) andri dedetai (3SRPI) nomo; ean de apothane (3SAAS) o aner, katergetai (3SRPI) apo tou nomou tou andros. 
Amplified For [instance] a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is loosed and discharged from the law concerning her husband.
 (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: Thus, a married woman remains bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive; but, if her husband dies, she is completely discharged from the law concerning her husband.  (Westminster Press)
NLT: Let me illustrate. When a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her.
 (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: A married woman, for example, is bound by law to her husband so long as he is alive. But if he dies, then his legal claim over her disappears.  (
Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: For the woman subject to a husband is permanently bound by law to her husband during his lifetime. But if her husband dies she is released from the law of her husband.  (Erdmans
Young's Literal: for the married woman to the living husband hath been bound by law, and if the husband may die, she hath been free from the law of the husband;

FOR THE MARRIED WOMAN IS BOUND BY LAW TO HER HUSBAND WHILE HE IS LIVING: e gar hupandros gune to zonti (PAPMSD) andri dedetai (3SRPI) nomo: (Ge 2:23,24; Nu 30:7,8; 1Cor 7:4,39)

Married (5220) (hupandros from hupo = under + aner = a husband) literally means "under (subject to) a husband" which is God's ordained design to assure proper order. But these husbands are to love their wives enough to die for them (see note Ephesians 5:25) so this does not make the wife a "doormat"! So if you are telling your wife "Woman you need to submit" then you need to understand submission in the whole context of scripture and not use isolated passages out of context which results in a pretext and an improper application. (See related topic: word study on hupotasso: be subject to or submit to)

Woman (1135) (gune) can mean wife or woman.

Bound (1210) (deo) means literally to tie objects together tie up. In this context the use is figurative and means to cause someone to be under authority of someone or something else, to restrict, to place under (the jurisdiction of). It means to put under obligation. Deo is in the perfect tense meaning that she “has been bound and remains bound " The perfect tense pictures "permanence" until he dies.

Lives (2198) (zao) (Click noun form zoe) means to be alive physically and refers to existence as opposed to death or nonexistence. Figuratively zao means to enjoy real life or to have true life, as  God meant it to be lived, although that is not the primary meaning in this context.

BUT IF HER HUSBAND DIES SHE IS RELEASED FROM THE LAW CONCERNING THE HUSBAND: ean de apothane (3SAAS) o aner katergetai (3SRPI) apo tou nomou tou andros:

"If" = Subjunctive used in 3rd-class condition = this condition is a real possibility.

Newell remarks that...

Here Paul uses the fundamental law of domestic relationship to illustrate the fact that only death breaks a legal bond. This is the evident, simple meaning in this passage. This husband-and-wife illustration is marvelously chosen. It is of world-wide application—instantly understood everywhere; and it sets forth perfectly what the apostle desired—that is, to describe the dissolution of a relationship by death, thus making possible a new relationship. (Romans 7)

We have died (599) (apothnesko from apo = marker of dissociation implying a rupture from a former association,  separation, departure, cessation + thnesko = die) literally means to die off and can speak of physical (as here) or literal death.

Released (2673) (katargeo from kata = intensifies meaning + argeo = be idle) means to make the power or force of something ineffective. It means to render powerless. To reduce to inactivity.  Do away with. To put out of use. The basic idea of katargeo is to cause something to be idle or useless,  inoperative or ineffective and in this verse is translated "released".

Katargeo is in the perfect tense which means that the wife has been released and continues in this state of release, thus speaking of the fact that she is permanently released. She is bound to him by marriage as her husband while he lives, and obviously his death frees her from that marriage.

From the law concerning the husband - literally  “from the law of the man”

 

Romans 7:3   So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. (NASB: Lockman)

Greek: ara oun zontos (PAPMSG) tou andros moichalis chrematisei (3SFAI) ean genetai (3SAMS) andri hetero; ean de apothane (3SAAS) o aner, eleuthera estin (3SPAI) apo tou nomou, tou me einai (PAN) auten moichalida genomenen (AMPFSA) andri hetero
Amplified Accordingly, she will be held an adulteress if she unites herself to another man while her husband lives. But if her husband dies, the marriage law no longer is binding on her [she is free from that law]; and if she unites herself to another man, she is not an adulteress.
 (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
Barclay: Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she marries another man while her husband is still alive; but, if her husband dies, she is free from the law, and she is no longer an adulteress if she marries another man.  (
Westminster Press)
International Children's Bible: But if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, the law says she is guilty of adultery. But if her husband dies, then the woman is free from the law of marriage. So if she marries another man after her husband dies, she is not guilty of adultery.
NLT: So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries. (
NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: This means that, if she should give herself to another man while her husband is alive, she incurs the stigma of adultery. But if, after her husband's death, she does exactly the same thing, no one could call her an adulteress, for the legal hold over her has been dissolved by her husband's death. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: So then, while her husband is living, an adulteress she will be called if she is married to another man. But if her husband is dead, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress, though being married to another man.  (
Erdmans
Young's Literal: so, then, the husband being alive, an adulteress she shall be called if she may become another man's; and if the husband may die, she is free from the law, so as not to be an adulteress, having become another man's.

SO THEN IF, WHILE HER HUSBAND IS LIVING: ara oun zontos (PAPMSG) tou andros: (Ex 20:14; Lev 20:10; Nu 5:13-31; Dt 22:22-24; Mt 5:32; Mk 10:6-12; John 8:3-5)

So then (686) (ara) is an inference drawn from that which precedes and means so, therefore, then, now, consequently. Ara marks transition to what naturally follows from the preceding.

Alive (2198) (zao) (