God’s Word Translation
Romans 5:13
13Sin was in the world before there were any laws. But no record of sin can be kept when there are no laws.
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.
- English Standard Version (ESV)for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted 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.
Context of Romans 5:13
11In addition, our Lord Jesus Christ lets us continue to brag about God. After all, it is through Christ that we now have this restored relationship with God. 12Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned. Sin was in the world before there were any laws. But no record of sin can be kept when there are no laws. 14Yet, death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. Adam is an image of the one who would come. 15There is no comparison between ⌞God’s⌟ gift and ⌞Adam’s⌟ failure. If humanity died as the result of one person’s failure, it is certainly true that God’s kindness and the gift given through the kindness of one person, Jesus Christ, have been showered on humanity.
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, won’t you be accepted? But if you don’t do well, sin is lying outside your door ready to attack. It wants to control you, but you must master it.”
- Genesis 6:5The Lord saw how evil humans had become on the earth. All day long their deepest thoughts were nothing but evil.
- Genesis 8:21The Lord smelled the soothing aroma. He said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of humans, even though from birth their hearts are set on nothing but evil. I will never again kill every living creature as I have just done.
- Genesis 13:13(The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against the Lord.)
- Genesis 18:20The Lord also said, “Sodom and Gomorrah have many complaints against them, and their sin is very serious.
- Genesis 19:4Before they had gone to bed, all the young and old male citizens of Sodom surrounded the house.
- Genesis 38:7Er angered the Lord. So the Lord took away his life.
- Romans 4:15The laws in Moses’ Teachings bring about anger. But where those laws don’t exist, they can’t be broken.
- 1 Corinthians 15:56Sin gives death its sting, and God’s standards give sin its power.
- 1 John 3:4Those who live sinful lives are disobeying God. Sin is disobedience.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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