Romans 7:8 BSB — MannaFest

Romans 7:8

But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead.

KJV

But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

⋯

Commentary

4 voices

Tertullian

Against Marcion Book V (220)

But how high an encomium of the law (do we obtain) from this fact, that by it there comes to light the latent presence of sin! It was not the law, therefore, which led me astray, but "sin, taking occasion by the commandment." Why then do you, (O Marcion, ) impute to the God of the law what His apostle dares not impute even to the law itself? Nay, he adds a climax: "The law is holy, and its commandment just and good.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

But sin - My inbred corruption. Taking occasion by the commandment - Forbidding, but not subduing it, was only fretted, and wrought in me so much the more all manner of evil desire. For while I was without the knowledge of the law, sin was dead - Neither so apparent, nor so active; nor was I under the least apprehensions of any danger from it.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

And it was sin that wrought it, indwelling sin, his corrupt nature (he speaks of a sin that did work sin), and it took occasion by the commandment. The corrupt nature would not have swelled and raged so much if it had not been for the restraints of the law; as the peccant humours in the body are raised, and more inflamed, by a purge that is not strong enough to carry them off.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Sin, taking occasion by the commandment - I think the pointing, both in this and in the 11th verse, to be wrong: the comma should be after occasion, and not after commandment. But sin taking occasion, wrought in me by this commandment all manner of concupiscence. There are different opinions concerning the meaning of the word αφορμη, which we here translate occasion. Dr. Waterland translates the clause, Sin, taking Advantage. Dr. Taylor contends that all commentators have mistaken the meaning of it, and that it should be rendered having received Force.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

18 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἀφορμὴν	aphormēn	An occasion	G874 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
λαβοῦσα	labousa	having taken	G2983 →
ἡ	hē	<the>	G3588 →
ἁμαρτία	hamartia	sin	G266 →
διὰ	dia	through	G1223 →
τῆς	tēs	the	G3588 →
ἐντολῆς	entolēs	commandment	G1785 →
κατειργάσατο	kateirgasato	it produced	G2716 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
ἐμοὶ	emoi	me myself	G1473 →
πᾶσαν	pasan	all	G3956 →
ἐπιθυμίαν·	epithumian	covetousness;	G1939 →
χωρὶς	chōris	apart from	G5565 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
νόμου	nomou	[the] Law	G3551 →
ἁμαρτία	hamartia	sin	G266 →
νεκρά·	nekra	[is] dead;	G3498 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Romans 4:15
because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
leads to
- Romans 5:13
  For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law.
- Galatians 3:10
  All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Romans 3:19–20
  Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:56
  The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
- Romans 7:7–25
  What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting…
Through
1 Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
leads to
- Romans 4:15
  because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
- Galatians 3:10–13
  All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Romans 6:23
  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Romans 7

The Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22–23 names a singular fruit (karpos, not fruits) with nine visible facets. Gifts are distributed; fruit is unified. Every believer bears the whole fruit. The grammar is the theology.

Open the study →

Walks through Romans 7

The Divided Self, MannaFest

Open the study →

Walks through Romans 7

The Flesh

Open the study →

About Romans

The Crucifixion — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Romans: the study guide →Read chapter 7 →The featured study →

Continue: Romans 7 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Romans

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Romans