Passage

Romans 7.7-8

Book: Romans · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"5. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were through the law, wrought in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. 6. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that wherein we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter."

"7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet: 8. but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead."

"9. And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died; 10. and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:" (Romans 7:5-10, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"5. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. 6. But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter."

"7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” 8. But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead."

"9. I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10. The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death;" (Romans 7:5-10, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"5. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. ^{motions: Gr. passions} 6. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. ^{that being: or, being dead to that}"

"7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. ^{lust: or, concupiscence} 8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead."

"9. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." (Romans 7:5-10, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"5. for when we were in the flesh, the passions of the sins, that [are] through the law, were working in our members, to bear fruit to the death; 6. and now we have ceased from the law, that being dead in which we were held, so that we may serve in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter."

"7. What, then, shall we say? the law [is] sin? let it not be! but the sin I did not know except through law, for also the covetousness I had not known if the law had not said: 8. 'Thou shalt not covet;' and the sin having received an opportunity, through the command, did work in me all covetousness, for apart from law sin is dead."

"9. And I was alive apart from law once, and the command having come, the sin revived, and I died; 10. and the command that [is] for life, this was found by me for death;" (Romans 7:5-10, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

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.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

Concupiscence

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.