Romans 4:15

Romans 4:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
• New International Version (NIV)because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
• New King James Version (NKJV)because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Context of Romans 4:15

13For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. 16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may rest on grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the presence of God, in whom he believed, the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being what does not yet exist.

Romans 4:15 word by word

ὁ γὰρ νόμος ὀργὴν κατεργάζεται· οὗ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν νόμος, οὐδὲ παράβασις.Read the interlinear

• becauseγάρgar · forG1063
• theὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• bringsκατεργάζομαιkatergazomai · to workout/produceG2716
• wrathὀργήorgē · wrathG3709
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• whereοὗhou · whitherG3757
• there isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• noοὐou · noG3756
• noοὐδέoude · norG3761
• transgressionπαράβασιςparabasis · transgressionG3847

Cross-references for Romans 4:15

• Romans 1:17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
• Romans 2:5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
• Romans 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
• Romans 5:13For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
• Romans 7:7What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
• Numbers 32:14Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
• Deuteronomy 29:20The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven
• 2 Kings 22:13“Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah concerning the words in this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the LORD that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book by doing all that is written about us.”
• Jeremiah 4:8So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
• Lamentations 2:22You summoned my terrors on every side, as for the day of an appointed feast. In the day of the LORD’s anger no one escaped or survived; my enemy has destroyed those I nurtured and reared.
• Ezekiel 7:19They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will seem unclean. Their silver and gold cannot save them in the day of the wrath of the LORD. They cannot satisfy their appetites or fill their stomachs with wealth, for it became the stumbling block that brought their iniquity.
• Zephaniah 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
• John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
• John 15:22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.
• Acts 17:30Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
• 1 Corinthians 15:56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

Commentaries on Romans 4:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Because the law worketh wrath - For law , any law, or rule of duty. No law makes provision for the exercise of mercy, for it worketh wrath, , punishment, for the disobedient. Law necessarily subjects the transgressor to punishment; for where no law is - where no rule of duty is enacted and acknowledged, there is no transgression; and where there is no transgression there can be no punishment, for there is no law to enforce it. But the Jews have a law…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Because the law - All law. It is the tendency of law. Worketh wrath - Produces or causes wrath. While man is fallen, and a sinner, its tendency, so far from justifying him, and producing peace, is just the reverse. It condemns, denounces wrath, and produces suffering. The word “wrath” here is to be taken in the sense of punishment. Romans 2:8. And the meaning is, that the Law of God, demanding perfect purity, and denouncing every sin condemns the sinner…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-22Verses 13-22 The promise was made to Abraham long before the law. It points at Christ, and it refers to the promise, Ge 12:3. In Thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. The law worketh wrath, by showing that every transgressor is exposed to the Divine displeasure. As God intended to give men a title to the promised blessings, so he appointed it to be by faith, that it might be wholly of grace, to make it sure to all who were of the like precious…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15where there is no law, neither is there transgression: Paul always uses the word transgression to mean not obeying a plain commandment of God (see also 2:23; 5:14; Galatians 3:19; 1 Timothy 2:14). So, transgression can only exist where the law exists. This is why violating the law always brings punishment. The law that God gave to the Israelites had detailed requirements. This made the people more accountable for sin than before their law existed. When…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1513-15. For the promise, &c.--This is merely an enlargement of the foregoing reasoning, applying to the law what had just been said of circumcision. that he should be the heir of the world--or, that "all the families of the earth should be blessed in him." was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law--in virtue of obedience to the law. but through the righteousness of faith--in virtue of his simple faith in the divine promises.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 4:15

• Abraham
• Bigotry
• Catholicity
• Faith
• Justification
• Salvation
• Works

In the dictionaries

• Flesh
• Impute
• Quicken
• Raise
• Reckon
• Sin
• Stagger
• Unbelief
• Void
• Accountability

Commentaries on Romans 4

• 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