Romans 7:19

Romans 7:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
• New International Version (NIV)For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.

Context of Romans 7:19

17So now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 18For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 21So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.

Romans 7:19 word by word

οὐ γὰρ ὃ θέλω ποιῶ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ οὐ θέλω κακὸν τοῦτο πράσσω.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• the goodἀγαθόςagathos · goodG18
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• I wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• I doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• notοὐou · noG3756
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• the evilκακόςkakos · evil/harm: evilG2556
• thatοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• I doπράσσωprassō · to do/requireG4238

Commentaries on Romans 7:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19For the good that I would I do not - Here again is the most decisive proof that the will is on the side of God and truth. But the evil which I would not - And here is equally decisive proof that the will is against, or opposed to evil. There is not a man in ten millions, who will carefully watch the operations of this faculty, that will find it opposed to good and obstinately attached to evil, as is generally supposed. Nay, it is found almost uniformly on…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19For the good … - This is substantially a repetition of what is said in Romans 7:15. The repetition shows how full the mind of the apostle was of the subject; and how much inclined he was to dwell upon it, and to place it in every variety of form. It is not uncommon for Paul thus to express his intense interest in a subject, by placing it in a great variety of aspects, even at the hazard of much repetition.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-22Verses 18-22 The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he often does evil, though against the fixed determination of his will…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-25What then (see study note on 6:1): Paul has just spoken in strong terms about the law. Now he explains that God’s law is good. He does this to prevent people from thinking that the law itself is evil.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-2119-21. For, &c.--The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 7:19

• Conscience
• Depravity of Man
• Good and Evil
• Justification
• Man
• Sin
• Stoicism

In the dictionaries

• Appear
• Captivity
• Concupiscence
• Condescend
• Consent
• Delight
• Member
• Mind
• Occasion
• Revive

Commentaries on Romans 7

• 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
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• 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