English Standard Version
Romans 7:12
12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Romans 7:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
- New International Version (NIV)So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
- New Living Translation (NLT)But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
Context of Romans 7:12
10The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
Read all of Romans 7Romans 7:12 word by word
ὥστε ὁ μὲν νόμος ἅγιος καὶ ἡ ἐντολὴ ἁγία καὶ δικαία καὶ ἀγαθή.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Romans 7:12
- Romans 7:14For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
- Romans 3:31Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
- Romans 12:2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
- Deuteronomy 4:8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
- Deuteronomy 10:12"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
- Nehemiah 9:13You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments,
- Psalms 19:7The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
- Psalms 119:38Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.
- Psalms 119:140Your promise is well tried, and your servant loves it.
- 1 Timothy 1:8Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully,
- Romans 7:7What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet."
Commentaries on Romans 7:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12Wherefore the law is holy - As if he had said, to soothe his countrymen, to whom he had been showing the absolute insufficiency of the law either to justify or save from sin: I do not intimate that there is any thing improper or imperfect in the law as a rule of life: it prescribes what is holy, just, and good; for it comes from a holy, just, and good God. The Law, which is to regulate the whole of the outward conduct, is holy; and the Commandment, Thou…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Wherefore - So that. The conclusion to which we come is, that the Law is not to be blamed, though these are its effects under existing circumstances. The source of all this is not the Law, but the corrupt nature of man. The Law is good; and yet the position of the apostle is true, that it is not adapted to purify the heart of fallen man. Its tendency is to excite increased guilt, conflict, alarm, and despair. This verse contains an answer to the question…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more numerous than he had before thought, but it did not contain any…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. 12-1312-13. Wherefore--"So that." the law is--"is indeed" good, and the commandment--that one so often referred to, which forbids all lusting. holy, and just, and good.Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 7:12
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
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Commentaries