Romans 7:1

Romans 7:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
• New International Version (NIV)Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?

Context of Romans 7:1

My Christian friends, you know about laws. You know that we have to obey them. The laws have authority over someone while they are still alive. 2So think about this. A woman who has a husband must stay with him as long as he still lives. That is what the law says. But if her husband dies, she becomes free from that law about her marriage. 3While her husband is alive, the law has authority over her. If she goes to live with another man, the law says that she has done something wrong. People will call her an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she becomes free from that law. If she then marries another man, she will not be doing anything wrong.

Romans 7:1 word by word

Ἢ ἀγνοεῖτε, ἀδελφοί, γινώσκουσιν γὰρ νόμον λαλῶ, ὅτι ὁ νόμος κυριεύει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐφ᾽ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ἤē · orG2228
• Know ye notἀγνοέωagnoeō · be ignorantG50
• brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
• to them that knowγινώσκωginōskō · to knowG1097
• the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• how thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• the lawὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• hath dominion overκυριεύωkurieuō · to lord overG2961
• a manἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• ·ἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• asὅσοςhosos · just as/how muchG3745
• longχρόνοςchronos · timeG5550
• he livethζάωzaō · to liveG2198

Cross-references for Romans 7:1

• Romans 6:3Remember what your baptism shows: When they baptized you, it shows that you are united with Christ Jesus. It also shows that, because Christ died, your old life also died.
• Romans 9:3I belong to the same family as they do. They are my own people. I really want them to believe in Christ too. If it would help them, I would even ask God to curse me. I would ask him to make me separate from Christ.
• Romans 10:1My Christian friends, I want God to save Israel's people. I want that very much. I pray to God that he will save them.
• Romans 2:17Do you say that you are a Jew? Maybe you trust in the Law that God gave to Moses. You are proud that you belong to God.
• Ezra 7:25Ezra, your God has helped you to be wise. So you must choose judges and officers who know the laws of your God. Then they will decide things for all the people who live in the region on the west side of the Euphrates river. If the people do not know the laws of your God, you must teach them.
• Proverbs 6:23Their commands and their teaching are like a lamp that gives you light. When they warn you that you are doing wrong things, that helps you to live well.
• 1 Corinthians 9:8I am not just telling you human ideas. God's Law teaches the same thing.
• Galatians 4:21I say this to you people who want God's Law to have authority over you. Think carefully about what that Law really says.
• Romans 7:6But now we have become free from the authority of the law. It is as if we have died. So those rules no longer control us. We do not still try to obey rules that someone has written down. That is the old way. Instead, we serve God in a new way. God's Spirit helps us to please him.
• Romans 6:14Sin will no longer have authority over you. You do not have a new life because you obey the Law which God gave to Moses. You have a new life because God is very kind to you.

Commentaries on Romans 7:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1For I speak to them that know the law - This is a proof that the apostle directs this part of his discourse to the Jews. As long as he liveth? - Or, as long as It liveth; law does not extend its influence to the dead, nor do abrogated laws bind. It is all the same whether we understand these words as speaking of a law abrogated, so that it cannot command; or of its objects being dead, so that it has none to bind. In either case the law has no force.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Know ye not - This is an appeal to their own observation respecting the relation between husband and wife. The illustration Romans 7:2-3 is designed simply to show that as when a man dies, and the connection between him and his wife is dissolved, his Law ceases to be binding on her, so also a separation has taken place between Christians and the Law, in which they have become dead to it, and they are not now to attempt to draw their life and peace from…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Believers are united to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God. (1-6) The use and excellence of the law. (7-13) The spiritual conflicts between corruption and grace in a believer. (14-25) Verses 1-6 So long as a man continues under the law as a covenant, and seeks justification by his own obedience, he continues the slave of sin in some form. Nothing but the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, can make any sinner free from the law of sin and death…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Both Jewish Christians and many Gentile Christians were familiar with the law. Jewish people were taught the law of Moses from birth. Many Gentiles in the church at Rome had previously been God-fearers. These were Gentiles who were interested in Judaism and regularly attended the synagogue. the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives: Paul might be referencing a well-known Jewish saying. One rabbinic tradition says, “If a person is dead, he…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-25Relation of Believers to the Law and to Christ (Ro 7:1-6). Recurring to the statement of Ro 6:14, that believers are "not under the law but under grace," the apostle here shows how this change is brought about, and what holy consequences follow from it. 1. I speak to them that know the law--of Moses to whom, though not themselves Jews (see on Ro 1:13), the Old Testament was familiar.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 7:1

• Death
• Justification
• Law
• Marriage

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