English Standard Version
Romans 7:1
1Or 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?
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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now, dear brothers and sisters—you who are familiar with the law—don’t you know that the law applies only while a person is living?
Context of Romans 7:1
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? 2For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
Read all of Romans 7Romans 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 6:3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
- Romans 9:3For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
- Romans 10:1Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
- Romans 2:17But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
- Ezra 7:25"And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.
- Proverbs 6:23For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,
- 1 Corinthians 9:8Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same?
- Galatians 4:21Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
- Romans 7:6But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
- Romans 6:14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
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
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries