Passage

Romans 5.18

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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.

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: (Romans 5:16-20, ASV)

WEB

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.

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; (Romans 5:16-20, WEB)

KJV

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}

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: (Romans 5:16-20, KJV)

YLT

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;

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, (Romans 5:16-20, 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

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.

The verse is the completion of the sentence begun at verse 12, and it is the strongest textual foothold for Universalism in Paul. The two all men clauses are grammatically parallel, and if the first is unrestricted then the second appears to be as well.

Three considerations tell against the universalist reading without dismissing it as unserious. First, the immediate context conditions the gift: verse 17 speaks of those who receive the abundance of grace, which introduces a limiting term that verse 18 does not repeat but presupposes. Second, Paul's usage elsewhere in the letter is emphatic that faith is the means, from 3:22 onward, and a universal justification independent of faith would make the letter's central argument idle. Third, the parallel may be one of scope of availability rather than of headcount, so that what Adam did affects the race and what Christ did is offered to the race.

What the verse does establish, and what should not be conceded away in the anxiety to avoid universalism, is that the second Adam's work is at least as wide in reach as the first Adam's. Paul is not arguing that grace barely repairs a portion of the damage. He has just said four times that the gift exceeds the trespass. Any reading that leaves Christ's achievement narrower than Adam's failure has reversed his rhetoric.

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.

G2222 - zoe, zoe, Strong's G2222
G1520 - heis, heis, Strong's G1520
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Adam and Eve Historicity, via Romans 5.12-19, Romans 5.12-21
Atheism, via Romans 5.12-21
Atonement, via Romans 5.12-21
Atonement Theory Spread, via Romans 5.12-19
Augustine-Pelagius Controversy, via Romans 5.12-21
Cains Wife, via Romans 5.12-19
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
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, via Romans 5.12-19, Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.18-19
Genesis Hermeneutics, via Romans 5.12-21
Hell and Eternal Punishment
Imputation Doctrine, via Romans 5.18-19
Inherited Guilt and Visiting Iniquity, via Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.18-19
Muslim Objections to the Divinity of Christ, via Romans 5.18-19
Original Sin, via Romans 5.12-19, Romans 5.12-21, Romans 5.17-19, Romans 5.18-19
Origins and Cosmology, via Romans 5.12-21
Sin, via Romans 5.18-19
Theistic Evolution, via Romans 5.12-21
Tree of Knowledge Objection, via Romans 5.12-21
Universalism
Universals, via Romans 5.12-21
Young Earth Creationism, via Romans 5.12-21

People:

Ken Ham, via Romans 5.12-19

Lexicon:

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.