English Standard Version
Romans 5:13
13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.
Context of Romans 5:13
11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. 12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for 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, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it."
- Genesis 6:5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
- Genesis 8:21And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, "I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.
- Genesis 13:13Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
- Genesis 18:20Then the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave,
- Genesis 19:4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.
- Genesis 38:7But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord put him to death.
- Romans 4:15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
- 1 Corinthians 15:56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
- 1 John 3:4Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
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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Commentaries