Passage
Romans 5.12-19
Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
ASV
10. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life; 11. and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
12. Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin; and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned:, 13. for until the law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come. 15. But not as the trespass, so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many. 16. And not as through one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification. 17. For if, by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ. 18. So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life. 19. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.
- And the law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly: 21. that, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:10-21, ASV)
WEB
10. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
12. Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. 13. For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come. 15. But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 16. The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification. 17. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 18. So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life. 19. For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly; 21. that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:10-21, WEB)
KJV
10. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. atonement: or, reconciliation
12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: for that: or, in whom 13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) by one man's: or, by one offence 18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. by the offence: or, by one offence by the righteousness: or, by one righteousness 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
- Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:10-21, KJV)
YLT
10. for if, being enemies, we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in his life. 11. And not only [so], but we are also boasting in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom now we did receive the reconciliation;
12. because of this, even as through one man the sin did enter into the world, and through the sin the death; and thus to all men the death did pass through, for that all did sin; 13. for till law sin was in the world: and sin is not reckoned when there is not law; 14. but the death did reign from Adam till Moses, even upon those not having sinned in the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of him who is coming. 15. But, not as the offence so also [is] the free gift; for if by the offence of the one the many did die, much more did the grace of God, and the free gift in grace of the one man Jesus Christ, abound to the many; 16. and not as through one who did sin [is] the free gift, for the judgment indeed [is] of one to condemnation, but the gift [is] of many offences to a declaration of 'Righteous,' 17. for if by the offence of the one the death did reign through the one, much more those, who the abundance of the grace and of the free gift of the righteousness are receiving, in life shall reign through the one, Jesus Christ. 18. So, then, as through one offence to all men [it is] to condemnation, so also through one declaration of 'Righteous' [it is] to all men to justification of life; 19. for as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were constituted sinners: so also through the obedience of the one, shall the many be constituted righteous.
- And law came in, that the offence might abound, and where the sin did abound, the grace did overabound, 21. that even as the sin did reign in the death, so also the grace may reign, through righteousness, to life age-during, through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:10-21, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: Paul the Apostle
- Audience: the mixed Jewish and Gentile house churches at Rome, a congregation Paul had neither founded nor yet visited
- Location: composed at Corinth, addressed to Rome
- Time period: c. AD 57
Theological reading
The Adam and Christ comparison, and the passage on which the doctrine of original sin principally rests.
The structure is a comparison Paul interrupts and completes. Verse 12 begins as through one man sin entered into the world, then breaks off for a parenthesis about death reigning before the law, and resumes at verse 18 with the answering clause. The controlling idea is representation: two men, two acts, two humanities.
The hardest phrase is at the end of verse 12, eph' ho pantes hemarton. The Vulgate rendered it in quo, "in whom all sinned," which Augustine took as teaching that all humanity sinned in Adam, and that reading shaped Western theology through the Reformation. Most modern grammarians read the Greek as causal, "because all sinned." The doctrinal stakes are real but smaller than they look, because verses 13 and 14 make Paul's own point independently: death reigned from Adam to Moses over people who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, so death is not simply the tally of individual sins. Something is inherited. See Original Sin and Federal Headship.
The comparison is deliberately unbalanced. Five times Paul says the gift is not like the trespass: it is much more, it abounded, it came after many trespasses rather than one. Grace is not presented as restoring a balance but as overwhelming it.
Verse 19 gives the cleanest statement: by one man's disobedience the many were constituted sinners, by one man's obedience the many will be constituted righteous. The verb is the same in both halves, which is why any account of how Adam's sin is imputed must be able to run in parallel for how Christ's righteousness is.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.
- G3667 - homoioma, homoioma, Strong's G3667
- G5218 - hypakoe, hypakoe, Strong's G5218
- G1342 - dikaios, dikaios, Strong's G1342
- G1343 - dikaiosyne, dikaiosyne, Strong's G1343
- G2288 - thanatos, thanatos, Strong's G2288
- G2222 - zoe, zoe, Strong's G2222
Quoted in
Arguments and defeaters:
- All-Do-Good World POE Defeater, via Romans 5.12
- Argument from the Universal Storytelling Convergence, via Romans 5.12-21
- Christian God is the Only True God, via Romans 5.12
- Christians Not Under Mosaic Law, via Romans 5.13-14
- Cursed Messiah Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.18-19
- Davids Census 70000 Dead Objection Defeater, via Romans 5, Romans 5.12-21
- Evil as Privation of Good, via Romans 5.12
- Free Will Argument from Love, via Romans 5.12
- Genetic Entropy Argument, via Romans 5.12
- God Causes Cancer Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12
- God Showed No Love in Eden Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12-21
- Inherited Guilt and Visiting Iniquity Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.15-21, Romans 5.18-19, Romans 5.19
- Misogyny in the Bible Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12
- Necessity of the Incarnation, via Romans 5.12-14, Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.18-19
- No One Can Die For Another Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.15-21, Romans 5.18-19
- Original Sin Is Foreign to Judaism Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12
- Population Genetics for Historical Adam Argument, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- Problem of Evil, Free Will Defense, via Romans 5.12
- Top 20 Adam and Eve Objections and Their Defeaters, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.18-19
- Why Doesnt God Stop Satan Objection Defeater, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-15, Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.18-19
Concepts:
- 20 Arguments for Old Earth, via Romans 5.12
- Adam and Eve Historicity
- Atheism, via Romans 5.12-21
- Atonement, via Romans 5.12-21
- Atonement Theory Spread
- Augustine-Pelagius Controversy, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- Cains Wife
- Cains Wife Objection, via Romans 5.12-21
- Christian Muslim Defender, via Romans 5.18-19
- Christianity, via Romans 5.12-21
- Christology, via Romans 5.12-21
- Conditional Immortality, via Romans 5.12-15, Romans 5.17, Romans 5.18
- Covenant Theology, via Romans 5.12-21
- Eschatology, via Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.18-19
- Failed Messianic Prophecy Objections, via Romans 5.12-21
- Federal Headship
- Free Will and Determinism, via Romans 5.12
- Genesis Hermeneutics, via Romans 5.12-21
- Genesis Interpretation Spread, via Romans 5.12
- Hell and Eternal Punishment, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.18
- Imputation Doctrine, via Romans 5.18-19
- Inherited Guilt and Visiting Iniquity, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.18-19
- Mary Sinless, via Romans 5.12
- Muslim Objections to the Divinity of Christ, via Romans 5.18-19
- Old Earth Creationism, via Romans 5.12
- Original Sin
- Origins and Cosmology, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- Pelagianism, via Romans 5.12
- Privation, via Romans 5.12
- Sin, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-15, Romans 5.18-19
- Theistic Evolution, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- Tree of Knowledge Objection, via Romans 5.12-21
- Universalism, via Romans 5.18, Romans 5.18-19
- Universals, via Romans 5.12-21
- Young Earth Creationism, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- Young's Literal Translation, via Romans 5.12
People:
- Augustine, via Romans 5.12
- Henri Blocher, via Romans 5.12
- Henry Morris, via Romans 5.12
- Ken Ham
- Paul the Apostle, via Romans 5.12
Lexicon:
- G0266 - hamartia, via Romans 5.12
- G1342 - dikaios, via Romans 5.19
- G1343 - dikaiosyne, via Romans 5.17
- G2222 - zoe, via Romans 5.18
- G2288 - thanatos, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.14
- G2673 - katargeo, via Romans 5.18-19
- G3551 - nomos, via Romans 5.12
- G3667 - homoioma, via Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.14
- G5218 - hypakoe, via Romans 5.18-19, Romans 5.19
- G5219 - hypakouo, via Romans 5.19
- G5485 - charis, via Romans 5.15
- H0120 - adam, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- H1285 - berith, via Romans 5.12
- H4191 - mut, via Romans 5.12
- H4194 - mavet, via Romans 5.12, Romans 5.12-21
- H8451 - torah, via Romans 5.12
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.