Passage

Romans 5.12-21

"Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned... For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:12, 19, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (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. 20. 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 (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. 20. 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 (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. 20. 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 (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. 20. 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)

Romans 5:12-21 is the New Testament's most extended treatment of Adam-Christ typology and the textual cradle of the doctrines of original sin and federal headship. Paul argues that two representative individuals, Adam and Christ, each performed a single representative act whose consequences run to "the many" who belong to them. Adam's disobedience brought sin and death to the human race; Christ's obedience brings righteousness and life to those united to Him. The argument is asymmetric (vv. 15-17 stack "much more" comparisons showing grace exceeds the damage), and it presupposes both a historical Adam and a corporate-solidarity ontology that classical Western culture takes seriously but post-Enlightenment Western culture instinctively resists. The passage stands behind Augustinian original sin, Reformation imputation theology, and the entire structure of substitutionary atonement.

Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle (Paul the Apostle), writing in his most theologically developed letter
Audience: the Christian congregation in Rome, a mixed Jewish-Gentile community Paul has not yet visited, which he is preparing for his coming visit and (implicitly) for a Spanish mission
Location: likely composed from Corinth during Paul's three-month winter stay (Acts 20:2-3)
Time period: composed c. AD 56-57, late in Paul's third missionary journey

Theological reading

The passage is structurally a sustained Adam-Christ comparison built on a single grammatical move: "just as... so also" (hōsper... houtōs kai) governing the whole stretch from v. 12 to v. 21. Paul interrupts himself in v. 13 to clarify the law's place, then resumes in v. 18 with the houtōs kai he abandoned in v. 12. The interruption is itself theologically loaded, Paul has to explain why people who lived before Sinai still died (v. 14: "death reigned from Adam until Moses"), which would be inexplicable if death were simply the consequence of individual lawbreaking. Death's universal reign even where there was no codified law is Paul's evidence that something else is operating: federal solidarity with Adam.

The hinge interpretive question is v. 12c, the famously contested eph' hō pantes hēmarton ("because all sinned" / "in whom all sinned"). Augustine, working from the Latin Vulgate's in quo, read the phrase as "in whom [Adam] all sinned", the textual basis for the doctrine that all humanity was somehow present in Adam and sinned in his sin (realist / Augustinian original sin). Modern Greek scholarship has largely rejected the in quo rendering; eph' hō is a causal "because" or "on the ground that." But even on the causal reading, vv. 18-19 make Adam's single act of disobedience the cause of the many being "made / constituted sinners" (katestathēsan hamartōloi). The Reformed-federal reading takes this as imputation: Adam represented humanity as covenant head, so his guilt is imputed to those he represents, exactly parallel to how Christ's righteousness is imputed to those He represents (the structural symmetry of vv. 18-19 makes this the most exegetically natural reading).

The asymmetric stacking in vv. 15-17 ("much more," pollō mallon) is doing the theology's hardest work. The two heads are not parallel in extent or weight. Adam's act produced condemnation for many; Christ's act produces much more than reversal, abundance, reign in life, justification from many trespasses (not just from one). The "all men" of v. 18 in both directions is the locus of the universalist temptation; Paul's actual argument in Romans as a whole rules out universalism (cf. 5:17's "those who receive" clause), but the rhetorical reach is real: Christ's representative obedience has at least as much scope as Adam's representative disobedience.

Scholarly debates: (a) the eph' hō pantes hēmarton clause, realist (Augustinian), federal (Reformed-Hodge), conditional (Pelagian-Arminian-imitative), each producing a different doctrine of original sin. (b) Adam's historicity, whether Paul's argument requires a historical Adam or can survive if Adam is a literary-theological figure; classical theology insists it requires historicity (Paul's "from Adam until Moses" is calendrical), and most contemporary evangelical exegetes hold this line. (c) The "all" in v. 18, does Christ's act objectively secure justification for all humans, or potentially for all whom He represents? Reformed: the latter (definite atonement); Arminian: the former (potential / available to all). (d) The relation of v. 12-21 to v. 1-11, is justification (the v. 1-11 theme) the consequence of Adam-Christ headship, or the prior reality the headship explains?

Apologetic significance. The passage is the cornerstone of any theological account of why the cross was necessary. If Adam's federal act incurred guilt for the race, then no individual moral effort can undo it; only an equally representative federal act in the other direction can. This grounds the Necessity of the Incarnation argument (only a second Adam could un-do what the first Adam did, and only a divine person could be the second Adam representing more than himself). It also frames the response to "Why doesn't God just forgive without the cross?", under federal headship, forgiveness requires a representative human act of obedience matching the representative act of disobedience that broke the relationship.

Key words

H0120 - adam, adam, "man, Adam." Paul's Greek is Adam, but the OT background controls his meaning.
G3667 - homoioma, homoiōma, "likeness." V. 14's "in the likeness of Adam's transgression" uses the same word Philippians 2:7 uses for Christ's "likeness of men", the parallel is deliberate.
H4194 - mavet, mavet, "death", the Hebrew word Paul's thanatos corresponds to in the Genesis 3 background that controls his argument.

Theological themes

Federal headship. Two representative individuals act on behalf of the populations they head; the populations bear the consequences of the heads' acts.
Original sin. Adam's single transgression brought sin and death not merely as bad example but as covenantal-legal status; this is the textual cradle of the doctrine.
Adam-Christ typology. Adam is "a type of the one to come" (v. 14); Christ is the second Adam who succeeds where the first failed.
Asymmetric grace. "Much more" stacks (vv. 15, 17) insist that Christ's act exceeds Adam's not just in reversal but in magnitude.
Necessity of the Incarnation. The passage is the textual foundation for arguing that only a representative human could un-do Adam's representative human act, and only a divine person could be that representative for more than himself.

Cross-references

Romans 5.12, the verse-level treatment of the opening clause and the eph' hō debate.
Romans 5.18-19, the resumed "just as / so also" pair that completes the v. 12 argument.
1 Corinthians 15.21-22, Paul's other major Adam-Christ statement: "as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."
1 Corinthians 15.45-49, the "first Adam / last Adam" / "earthy / heavenly" pairing, the cosmic-Adam expansion.
Genesis 3, the historical referent, without an actual disobedience by an actual Adam, Paul's argument fails on its own terms.

Quoted in

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.