Rom 7:1-25 KJV –
1 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?
(Enthymema 167)
2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to [her] husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of [her] husband.
(Enthymema 167)
3 So then if, while [her] husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress,
though she be married to another man.
(Ellipsis 55; Enthymema 167)
4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, [even] to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
(Enthymema 167)
5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins,A which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
(Enthymema 167; AntimereiaA 500)
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.
(Enthymema 167)
7 What shall we say then? [Is]E the lawE sinM? God forbidP. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law:
for I had not known lustE, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
(EllipsisE 102; MetonymyM565; ProlepsisP 981)
8 ButE sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence .
For without the law sin [was]E dead.
(EllipsisE 102)
9 For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment cameM, sin revived, and I died.
(MetonymyM 572)
10 And the commandment, which [was ordained] to life, I found [to be] unto death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew [me].
12 Wherefore the law [is] holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid.
But sinA , that it might appear sinA , working death in me by that which is good;
that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
(AntanaclasisA 291)
14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
(Metastasis 967)
15 For that which I do I allowM not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
(MetonymyM 553)
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I findS not.
(SynecdocheS 631)
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another lawA/C in my members, warring against the lawA of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the lawC of sin which is in my members.
(AntanaclasisA 291; CatachresisA/C676)
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death(A/M/H/Ec/Er)?
(Ellipsis 86; Antimereia 500; Hypallage 536; MetonymyM565; Ecphonesis 928; Erotesis 952)
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Italicized words in [brackets] were added by the King James Version translators.
Notes:
Verse 1-6 Enthymema: see comments in book on pages 167-168.
Verse 3 Ellipsis: “So then if, while [her] husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man”[and I need not say that if she be dead, she is, of course, free from that law].
(see page 55; Rom. 6:1-11; 8:2; Gal. 2:19; 5:18; 6:13-14; Col. 2:14; 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:24)
Verse 5 Antimereia: τα παθηματα, ta páthēmata, the motions (neuter noun)
(Emotional hardship or pain undergone; suffering).
των αμαρτιων, tōn hamartiōn, the sins (feminine noun).
Here, with the figure Antimereia, two nouns are given with one used as an adjective. The laws of God are holy and just and good, but they convict man of his sinful nature. No sinful man was ever saved by the law, but rather convicted. The law, therefore, makes painfully apparent man’s complete lack of worthiness of God’s mercy in judgement. Nevertheless, God’s love and goodness extend His grace to all through Jesus the Christ.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for pathēma (Strong’s 3804)“.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 29 Jun 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3804&
amp;t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for hamartia (Strong’s 266)“.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 29 Jun 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G266&
amp;t=KJV >
Verse 7 Ellipsis: “What shall we say then? [Is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin,
but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet”. (KJV)
7 “What shall we say then? [that] the law [is] sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by (through) the law: for I had not known lust [to be sin], except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet”.
8 “But [I say that] sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence (desire). For without the law sin was [is] dead. (EWB)
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for dia (Strong’s 1223)“.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 1 Jul 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1223&t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for epithymia (Strong’s 1939)“.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 1 Jul 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1939&
amp;t=KJV >
Verse 7 Metonymy: the effect given for the cause of the effect. “Is the law (the cause) of sin? ”
or “Is sin the effect of the law? ” The answer, of course, is no.
Dr. Bullinger translates as follows. “Is sin the effect of the law? God forbid. But yet I knew not sin except through the law!”
The word nay is the word alla, αλλα in the Greek and should be translated as but.
The law reveals sin, much as a flashlight reveals what is within the darkness. The law of God given by way of Moses revealed man’s complete inability to save himself.
Verse 7 Prolepsis/Occupatio/Aperta:
Prolepsis (anticipation)/ Addressing an argument before it is presented.
Occupatio/Meaning. Principle in Roman law. Taking control of a debated issue.
Aperta: (open). Not only is the objection stated, it is also answered.
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029277047#page/n1033/mode/2up
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/occupatio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupatio
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924029277047#page/n1035/mode/2up
Verse 8 Ellipsis: see note for verse 7 above.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for epithymia (Strong’s 1939)“.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 6 Jul 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1939&
amp;t=KJV >
Verse 9 Metonymy: “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment cameM, sin revived, and I died”. The commandments, of course, were given long before Paul was born.
What he is refering to is that the law reveals all men’s inescapable need for grace.
In Gal. 3:23 we read “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” We know from Hebrews 11 that faith existed and was demonstrated thoughout the Old Testament. What he is saying here is that a new object of faith came, that is, the good news of Jesus Christ and God’s loving grace toward us.
Verse 13 Antanaclasis: the word “sin”, ἁμαρτία, is used more than once, and with more than one meaning.
13 “Was then that which is good made death unto me?…”
Here “that which is good” refers to the law.
“God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin,…”
The first sin in the verse refers to our old nature which we received from Adam because of the first, or original, sin. It here refers back to the law of God, and the second use of sin refers to the results of the sin nature. The nature we were born with attempts to make that which is good (God’s commandments) look evil.
“…working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful”.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for phainō (Strong’s 5316)“.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 7 Jul 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5316&
amp;t=KJV >
Verse 14 Metastasis: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
A transferring of blame from self to another. Paul is aware that we have the sin nature with us until Jesus Christ returns and we are changed.
Verse 15 Metonymy: “allow” is the verb γινώσκω, ginōskō, gē-nō’-skō which means to get to know, come to know, learn to know. Ginōskō is an experiential knowledge. The translators used the word allow, thereby translating the Metonymy of know out of the verse, but rendering its essence.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for ginōskō (Strong’s 1097)”. Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 23 Jun 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1097&
amp;t=KJV >
Verse 18 Synecdoche: “find”.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for heuriskō (Strong’s 2147)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2018. 7 Jul 2018.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2147&
amp;t=KJV >
Verse 23 The one word “law” is used to mean two different things. This figure is called Antanaclasis, or word clashing, and is the use of the same word in the same sentence, but with different meanings. The first and the third use of the word law here refer to sin nature, while the second time it is used it refers to the law of God. (see page 291)
Catachresis: the word “law” in reference to the old nature of sin is an incongruence. The law of God is holy, and just, and good, but the nature of sin is the contrary.
Verse 24 “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death”(A/M/H/Ec/Er)?
Antimereia: body of death. The noun death is treated as an adjective, or “this dying body”.
Hypallage: see page 535 and 536 which seem to contradict the Antimereia.
“the body of this death” as “this body of death”.
Metonymy: effect put for the cause. Death being the result or effect of the sin nature,
put as the cause of it.
Ecphonesis: exclamation. See page 928 for a full explanation of verse 24.
Erotesis: sometimes called a rhetorical question, wherein an answer is not expected.
Verse 24-25
Ellipsis: see page 86.
Thanks go to Blue Letter Bible and Internet Archive and The Cornell University Library
for providing public domain material.
Thanks also to E. W. Bullinger for his work
“Figures Of Speech Used In The Bible”, and thanks to you for taking the time here.
See original at link. Stream Download.
(Note: the book’s listing of vii 31 should be viii 31, as chapter 7 has but 25 verses.)
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