Romans 7:20

Romans 7:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
• New International Version (NIV)Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Context of Romans 7:20

18And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22I love God’s law with all my heart.

Romans 7:20 word by word

εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ θέλω ἐγὼ τοῦτο ποιῶ, οὐκέτι ἐγὼ κατεργάζομαι αὐτὸ ἀλλ᾽ ἡ οἰκοῦσα ἐν ἐμοὶ ἁμαρτία.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Nowδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• ·οὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• I doποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• Iἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• notοὐou · noG3756
• it is no moreοὐκέτιouketi · not any moreG3765
• doκατεργάζομαιkatergazomai · to workout/produceG2716
• itαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• sinἁμαρτίαhamartia · sinG266
• that dwellethοἰκέωoikeō · to dwellG3611
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722

Cross-references for Romans 7:20

• Romans 7:17So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

Commentaries on Romans 7:20

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20It is no more I - My will is against it; my reason and conscience condemn it. But sin that dwelleth in me - the principle of sin, which has possessed itself of all my carnal appetites and passions, and thus subjects my reason and domineers over my soul. Thus I am in perpetual contradiction to myself. Two principles are continually contending in me for the mastery: my reason, on which the light of God shines, to show what is evil; and my passions, in which…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Now if I do … - This verse is also a repetition of what was said in Romans 7:16-17.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 18-22Verses 18-22 The more pure and holy the heart is, it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desires to obey, increase as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he often does evil, though against the fixed determination of his will…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. 19-2119-21. For, &c.--The conflict here graphically described between a self that "desires" to do good and a self that in spite of this does evil, cannot be the struggles between conscience and passion in the unregenerate, because the description given of this "desire to do good" in Ro 7:22 is such as cannot be ascribed, with the least show of truth, to any but the renewed.Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 7:20

• Conscience
• Depravity of Man
• Good and Evil
• Justification
• Man
• Stoicism

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