Romans 7:1

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?
• English Standard Version (ESV)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?
• 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?

Context of Romans 7:1

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? 2For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her. 3So while her husband is alive, she would be committing adultery if she married another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law and does not commit adultery when she remarries.

Romans 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 6:3Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?
• Romans 9:3for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.
• Romans 10:1Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.
• Romans 2:17You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him.
• Ezra 7:25“And you, Ezra, are to use the wisdom your God has given you to appoint magistrates and judges who know your God’s laws to govern all the people in the province west of the Euphrates River. Teach the law to anyone who does not know it.
• Proverbs 6:23For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life.
• 1 Corinthians 9:8Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing?
• Galatians 4:21Tell me, you who want to live under the law, do you know what the law actually says?
• Romans 7:6But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
• Romans 6:14Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s 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

• Death
• Justification
• Law
• Marriage

In the dictionaries

• Appear
• Captivity
• Concupiscence
• Condescend
• Consent
• Delight
• Member
• Mind
• Occasion
• Revive

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