New English Translation
Romans 7:5
5For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.
Romans 7:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
- New International Version (NIV)For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
Context of Romans 7:5
3So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress. 4So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code. 7What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
Read all of Romans 7Romans 7:5 word by word
ὅτε γὰρ ἦμεν ἐν τῇ σαρκί, τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰ διὰ τοῦ νόμου ἐνηργεῖτο ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ καρποφορῆσαι τῷ θανάτῳ·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Forγάρgar · forG1063
- whenὅτεhote ho te hē te tō te · whenG3753
- we wereεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- the fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561
- the motionsπάθημαpathēma · sufferingG3804
- of sinsἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
- byδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
- the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
- did workἐνεργέωenergeō · be activeG1754
- ourἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- membersμέλοςmelos · memberG3196
- toεἰςeis · towardG1519
- bring forth fruitκαρποφορέωkarpophoreō · to bear fruitG2592
- unto deathθάνατοςthanatos · deathG2288
Cross-references for Romans 7:5
- Romans 8:8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
- John 3:6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- Galatians 5:16But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
- Ephesians 2:3among whom all of us also formerly lived out our lives in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath even as the rest…
- Romans 1:26For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones,
- Romans 3:20For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
- Romans 4:15For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either.
- Romans 5:20Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more,
- 1 Corinthians 15:56The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
- 2 Corinthians 3:6who made us adequate to be servants of a new covenant not based on the letter but on the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
- Galatians 3:10For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”
- James 2:9But if you show prejudice, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as violators.
- 1 John 3:4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness.
- Romans 7:8But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
- Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
- Galatians 5:19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity,
Commentaries on Romans 7:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5For, when we were in the flesh - When we were without the Gospel, in our carnal and unregenerated state, though believing in the law of Moses, and performing the rites and offices of our religion. The motions of sins, which were by the law - ̔, the passions of sins, the evil propensities to sins; to every particular sin there is a propensity: one propensity does not excite to all kinds of sinful acts; hence the apostle uses the plural number, the Passions…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5For when - The illustration in this verse and the following is designed to show more at length the effect of the Law, whenever and whereever applied; whether in a state of nature or of grace. It was always the same. It was the occasion of agitation and conflict in a man‘s own mind. This was true when a sinner was under conviction; and it was true when a man was a Christian. In all circumstances where the Law was applied to the corrupt mind of man, it…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5the flesh: The word flesh can sometimes refer to the human body in a neutral way. For example, Paul speaks of Christ coming “in the flesh” (see 8:3). More often, however, Paul uses flesh in a negative sense. It describes human life lived apart from God. To live according to the flesh means to be ruled by sin and opposed to God. the sinful passions aroused by the law: God’s law is good in itself (see 7:12). However, because people have sinful hearts (inner…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. For when we were in the flesh--in our unregenerate state, as we came into the world. See on Joh 3:6 and Ro 8:5-9. the motions--"passions" (Margin), "affections" (as in Ga 5:24), or "stirrings." of sins--that is, "prompting to the commission of sins." which were by the law--by occasion of the law, which fretted, irritated our inward corruption by its prohibitions. See on Ro 7:7-9. did work in our members--the members of the body, as the instruments by…Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 7:5
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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