Amplified Bible
Romans 5:13
13Sin was [committed] in the world before the Law [was given], but sin is not charged [against anyone] when there is no law [against it].
Romans 5:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
- New International Version (NIV)To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.
- English Standard Version (ESV)for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
- New King James Version (NKJV)(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Context of Romans 5:13
11Not only that, but we also rejoice in God [rejoicing in His love and perfection] through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received and enjoy our reconciliation [with God]. 12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned. Sin was [committed] in the world before the Law [was given], but sin is not charged [against anyone] when there is no law [against it]. 14Yet death ruled [over mankind] from Adam to Moses [the Lawgiver], even over those who had not sinned as Adam did. Adam is a type of Him (Christ) who was to come [but in reverse—Adam brought destruction, Christ brought salvation]. 15But the free gift [of God] is not like the trespass [because the gift of grace overwhelms the fall of man]. For if many died by one man’s trespass [Adam’s sin], much more [abundantly] did God’s grace and the gift [that comes] by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, overflow to [benefit] the many.
Read all of Romans 5Romans 5:13 word by word
ἄχρι γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία ἦν ἐν κόσμῳ, ἁμαρτία δὲ οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται μὴ ὄντος νόμου·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Romans 5:13
- Genesis 4:7If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.”
- Genesis 6:5The Lord saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually.
- Genesis 8:21The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma [a soothing, satisfying scent] and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intent (strong inclination, desire) of man’s heart is wicked from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
- Genesis 13:13But the men of Sodom were extremely wicked and sinful against the Lord [unashamed in their open sin before Him].
- Genesis 18:20And the Lord said, “The outcry [of the sin] of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.
- Genesis 19:4But before they lay down [to sleep], the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house, all the men from every quarter;
- Genesis 38:7But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord killed him [in judgment].
- Romans 4:15For the Law results in [God’s] wrath [against sin], but where there is no law, there is no violation [of it either].
- 1 Corinthians 15:56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin [by which it brings death] is the law;
- 1 John 3:4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].
Commentaries on Romans 5:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13For until the law sin was in the world - As death reigned from Adam to Moses, so also did sin. Now, as there was no written law from Adam to that given to Moses, the death that prevailed could not be the breach of that law; for sin, so as to be punished with temporal death, is not imputed where there is no law, which shows the penalty of sin to be death. Therefore, men are not subjected to death for their own personal transgressions, but for the sin of…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12-21Verses 12-21 Romans 5:12-21 has been usually regarded as the most difficult part of the New Testament. It is not the design of these notes to enter into a minute criticism of contested points like this. They who wish to see a full discussion of the passage, may find it in the professedly critical commentaries; and especially in the commentaries of Tholuck and of Professor Stuart on the Romans. The meaning of the passage in its general bearing is not…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-14Verses 12-14 The design of what follows is plain. It is to exalt our views respecting the blessings Christ has procured for us, by comparing them with the evil which followed upon the fall of our first father; and by showing that these blessings not only extend to the removal of these evils, but far beyond. Adam sinning, his nature became guilty and corrupted, and so came to his children. Thus in him all have sinned. And death is by sin; for death is the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-14Paul continues his explanation of "all sinned"(5:12) by stating that people who died between the times of Adam and Moses were not subject to specific commandments from God. Therefore, their condemnation was not only because of their own sin. It was because of their union with Adam, who sinned by violating a clear commandment of God.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1413-14. For until the law sin was in the world--that is during all the period from Adam "until the law" of Moses was given, God continued to treat men as sinners. but sin is not imputed where there is no law--"There must therefore have been a law during that period, because sin was then imputed"; as is now to be shown.Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 5:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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