Released from the Law to Serve in the Spirit
Romans 7:1-6
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Rom.7.1 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Η: ART,nom,sg,fem
- αγνοειτε: VERB,pres,act,ind,2,pl
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- γινωσκουσιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,pl
- γαρ: PART
- νομον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- λαλω: VERB,pres,act,ind,1,sg
- οτι: CONJ
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- νομος: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- κυριευει: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ανθρωπου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εφ᾽οσον: CONJ
- χρονον: NOUN,acc,sg,m
- ζη: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
Parallels
- 1 Corinthians 7:39 (verbal): Uses the same marriage-analogy language — a wife is 'bound' to her husband while he lives — which Paul develops in Romans 7 to illustrate the law's binding force during life.
- Galatians 3:23-25 (thematic): Describes the law as a guardian/keeper until faith came and then believers are no longer under that custodian; parallels Romans 7's concern with the law's authority and believers' release.
- Romans 6:14 (verbal): Speaks of 'dominion' (κυριεύει/κυριεύσει) and the believer's relation to law and sin — echoes the language of the law's ruling power over a person while they live.
- Romans 8:2 (thematic): Contrasts two 'laws' (Spirit of life vs. law of sin and death) and presents liberation from the law's power — thematically linked to Romans 7's argument that death frees one from the law's dominion.
Alternative generated candidates
- Do you not know, brothers—for I speak to those who know the law—that the law has dominion over a person as long as he lives?
- Do you not know, brothers—for I speak to those who know the law—that the law has dominion over a person as long as he lives?
Rom.7.2 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- η: ART,nom,sg,f
- γαρ: PART
- υπανδρος: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- γυνη: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- ζωντι: VERB,pres,act,part,dat,sg,m
- ανδρι: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- δεδεται: VERB,perf,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- νομω·εαν: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- αποθανη: VERB,aor,act,subj,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- ανηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- κατηργηται: VERB,perf,pass,ind,3,sg
- απο: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ανδρος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
Parallels
- Romans 7:1 (structural): Immediate context: introduces the principle that the law binds a person only as long as he lives, which Romans 7:2 applies to the married woman/husband example.
- Romans 7:3 (structural): Direct continuation of the analogy: states the moral/legal consequence (adultery) if the wife remarries while the husband lives, illustrating the binding force of the husband-law.
- Romans 7:4 (thematic): Paul extends the marriage/death analogy to Christians: believers have 'died to the law' through Christ's body so they may belong to another (Christ), echoing the release by death motif in 7:2.
- 1 Corinthians 7:39 (verbal): A closely parallel statement in Paul: a wife is bound as long as her husband lives; if he dies she is free to marry another, showing the same legal principle applied to Christian marriage ethics.
Alternative generated candidates
- For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if the husband dies she is released from the law of the husband.
- For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband.
Rom.7.3 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- αρα: PART
- ουν: CONJ
- ζωντος: PART,pres,act,gen,m,sg
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- ανδρος: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- μοιχαλις: NOUN,nom,sg,f
- χρηματισει: VERB,fut,act,ind,3,sg
- εαν: CONJ
- γενηται: VERB,fut,mid,ind,3,sg
- ανδρι: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- ετερω·εαν: ADJ,dat,sg,m
- δε: CONJ
- αποθανη: VERB,aor,act,subj,3,sg
- ο: ART,nom,sg,m
- ανηρ: NOUN,nom,sg,m
- ελευθερα: ADJ,nom,sg,f
- εστιν: VERB,pres,act,ind,3,sg
- απο: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- μη: PART
- ειναι: VERB,pres,act,inf
- αυτην: PRON,acc,sg,f
- μοιχαλιδα: NOUN,acc,sg,f
- γενομενην: VERB,aor,mid,part,acc,f,sg
- ανδρι: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- ετερω: ADJ,dat,sg,m
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (allusion): Paul echoes the Mosaic regulation about a woman who marries another after a husband divorces her and the prohibition on returning to the first husband; the logic about being 'free' if the husband dies derives from this law background.
- 1 Corinthians 7:39 (verbal): Paul uses nearly identical language—'a wife is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if her husband dies she is free'—reaffirming the same legal principle about remarriage after a spouse's death.
- Matthew 5:31-32 (thematic): Jesus links divorce and adultery and discusses marital binding and exception clauses; thematically parallels Paul's concern with when remarriage constitutes adultery and when one is 'free' from the marriage bond.
- Romans 7:2 (structural): The immediately preceding verse establishes the principle ('a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives'), which Rom.7:3 applies in the case of remarriage or the husband's death—an internal structural parallel.
Alternative generated candidates
- So then, if while her husband lives she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies she is free from that law, so that she is not an adulteress though she marries another man.
- So then, if while her husband lives she is joined to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is not an adulteress if she becomes another man's wife.
Rom.7.4 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- Ωστε: CONJ
- αδελφοι: NOUN,nom,pl,m
- μου: PRON,gen,sg,1
- και: CONJ
- υμεις: PRON,nom,pl,2
- εθανατωθητε: VERB,aor,pass,ind,2,pl
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- νομω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
- δια: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- σωματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- Χριστου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- εις: PREP
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- γενεσθαι: VERB,aor,mid,inf
- υμας: PRON,acc,pl,2
- ετερω: ADJ,dat,sg,m
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- εκ: PREP
- νεκρων: NOUN,gen,pl,m
- εγερθεντι: VERB,aor,pass,ptc,dat,sg,m
- ινα: CONJ
- καρποφορησωμεν: VERB,aor,act,sub,1,pl
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- θεω: NOUN,dat,sg,m
Parallels
- Romans 6:2-4 (verbal): Speaks of being baptized into Christ's death and walking in newness of life — same logic of dying with Christ so one may belong to him and live anew.
- Romans 6:6-7 (thematic): Declares that the body of sin was crucified so that we are no longer enslaved to sin — parallels the idea of being put to death (to the law/sin) through Christ’s body.
- Galatians 2:19-20 (verbal): Paul says he has been crucified with Christ and now lives by faith in the risen Son — personal formulation of the union with Christ (death and new life) implied in Rom 7:4.
- Colossians 2:12-13 (allusion): Describes believers being buried and raised with Christ in baptism and God making them alive — echoes the death-with-Christ/raised-with-Christ motif in Rom 7:4.
- Colossians 3:1-3 (thematic): Exhorts believers to seek the things above because they have been raised with Christ — connects the purpose of union with the risen Lord to bearing spiritual fruit for God.
Alternative generated candidates
- Likewise, my brothers, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another—him who was raised from the dead—so that we might bear fruit for God.
- Likewise, my brothers, you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another—him who was raised from the dead—so that we might bear fruit for God.
Rom.7.5 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- οτε: CONJ
- γαρ: PART
- ημεν: VERB,impf,act/ind,1,pl
- εν: PREP
- τη: ART,dat,sg,f
- σαρκι: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- παθηματα: NOUN,nom,pl,n
- των: ART,gen,pl,m
- αμαρτιων: NOUN,gen,pl,f
- τα: ART,acc,pl,n
- δια: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- ενηργειτο: VERB,impf,mid/pass,ind,3,sg
- εν: PREP
- τοις: ART,dat,pl,n
- μελεσιν: NOUN,dat,pl,n
- ημων: PRON,gen,pl,1
- εις: PREP
- το: ART,acc,sg,n
- καρποφορησαι: VERB,aor,act,inf
- τω: ART,dat,sg,m
- θανατω·: NOUN,dat,sg,m
Parallels
- Rom.7.8-11 (verbal): Same argument that the commandment (law) provoked sin, with sin working death—direct continuation and verbal parallels (sin found occasion through the commandment and produced death).
- Rom.8.3-4 (thematic): Contrasts the law's role in provoking sin in the flesh with God's sending of Christ to condemn sin in the flesh so that the righteous requirement might be fulfilled in believers—resolution of the problem described in 7:5.
- Rom.6.21 (verbal): Uses similar language about the 'result' or 'fruit' of former behavior being death, echoing the phrase 'fruit unto death' in 7:5.
- Gal.5.19-21 (thematic): Lists the 'works of the flesh' and warns that those who practice them will not inherit the kingdom—parallels the idea that sinful passions active in the body produce deadly fruit.
- James 1.14-15 (structural): Presents a causal sequence (desire/temptation → sin → death) that parallels Paul’s depiction of sinful passions working in the members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Alternative generated candidates
- For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.
- For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, stirred up by the law, were at work in our members to produce fruit for death.
Rom.7.6 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- νυνι: ADV
- δε: CONJ
- κατηργηθημεν: VERB,aor,pass,ind,1,pl
- απο: PREP
- του: ART,gen,sg,n
- νομου: NOUN,gen,sg,m
- αποθανοντες: PART,aor,act,nom,pl,m
- εν: PREP
- ω: PRON,dat,sg,m
- κατειχομεθα: VERB,pres,mid/pass,ind,1,pl
- ωστε: CONJ
- δουλευειν: VERB,pres,act,inf
- ημας: PRON,acc,pl,1
- εν: PREP
- καινοτητι: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- πνευματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
- και: CONJ
- ου: PART,neg
- παλαιοτητι: NOUN,dat,sg,f
- γραμματος: NOUN,gen,sg,n
Parallels
- Romans 7:4 (structural): Immediate context: explains Christians 'died to the law' so they may belong to Christ and bear fruit for God — the premise for being 'released from the law' in 7:6.
- Romans 6:6 (thematic): Speaks of the old self being crucified so that sin's body is rendered powerless; parallels the motif of death to a former regime and living in newness.
- Romans 6:14 (verbal): Affirms believers are not 'under law' but 'under grace,' echoing the contrast between the old legal order and the new status in Rom 7:6.
- Galatians 5:18 (verbal): States that being led by the Spirit means one is not under the law, closely matching Rom 7:6's pairing of newness of Spirit with release from the law.
- 2 Corinthians 3:6 (verbal): Contrasts ministry 'not of the letter but of the Spirit,' directly paralleling Rom 7:6's 'newness of the Spirit and not the oldness of the letter.'
Alternative generated candidates
- But now we have been released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
- But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Do you not know, brothers—for I speak to those who know the law—that the law has authority over a person only as long as he lives?
For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives; but if the husband dies, she is released from the law that bound her to him. So then, while her husband lives, she would be called an adulteress if she became another man's wife; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and is not an adulteress though she marries another man.
Likewise, brothers, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another—who was raised from the dead—so that we might bear fruit for God.
For when we were in the flesh, our sinful passions, stirred up by the law, worked in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.