Skip to main content

Romans 7:13

Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

KJV

τὸ οὖν ἀγαθὸν ἐμοὶ ἐγένετο θάνατος; μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ ἡ ἁμαρτία, ἵνα φανῇ ἁμαρτία, διὰ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ μοι κατεργαζομένη θάνατον· ἵνα γένηται καθ’ ὑπερβολὴν ἁμαρτωλὸς ἡ ἁμαρτία διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς.

Greek NT

Quod ergo bonum est, mihi factum est mors ? Absit. Sed peccatum, ut appareat peccatum, per bonum operatum est mihi mortem : ut fiat supra modum peccans peccatum per mandatum.

Vulgate

Did then that which is good become death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good;—that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.

ASV

Was that then which is good made death unto me? God forbid! But sin, that it may appear sin, by that which is good, wrought death in me: that sin, by the commandment, might become sinful above measure.

Douay-Rheims

Open in reader with connections →

In the original Greek

17 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

γίνομαι
ginomai
verb · 667×
διά
dia
preposition · 633×
θάνατος
thanatos
noun · 120×
κατά
kata
preposition · 470×
κατεργάζομαι
katergazomai
verb · 22×
μή
me
particle · 1033×
οὖν
oun
conjunction · 489×
φαίνω
phaino
verb · 31×
ἀγαθός
agathos
adjective · 102×
ἀλλά
alla
conjunction · 636×
ἁμαρτία
amartia
noun · 173×
ἁμαρτωλός
amartolos
adjective · 47×
ἐγώ
ego
pronoun · 1720×
ἐντολή
entole
noun · 66×
ἵνα
ina
conjunction · 665×
o
article · 19778×
ὑπερβολή
uperbole
noun · 8×

Textual variants

1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

minor
SBLGNT: ἐγένετο | WH/Treg/NIV: ἐγένετο | RP: γέγονεν
  • ἐγένετοSBLGNT
  • ἐγένετοWestcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • γέγονενRobinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Historic Christian voices

6 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210212.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…
Chapter 5.—As the Wicked Make an Ill Use of the Law, Which is Good, So the Good Make a Good Use of Death, Which is an Ill. The apostle, wishing to show how hurtful a thing sin is, when grace does not aid us, has not hesitated to say that the strength of sin is that very law by which sin is prohibited. “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.”583583 1 Cor.…
In this respect, what is true of the light of nature is true also of the Ten Commandments given by God through Moses specifically to the Jews. For human beings cannot obtain saving grace through the Decalogue, because, although it does expose the magnitude of their sin and increasingly convict them of their guilt, yet it does not offer a remedy or enable them to escape from the…

Cross-references

  • Gal 3:21 — Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.
  • Hos 10:15 — So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.
  • Jas 1:13 — Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
  • Jas 1:14 — But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
  • Jas 4:17 — Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
  • Rom 5:20 — Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
  • Rom 7:7 — 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.
  • Rom 7:8 — But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
  • Rom 7:8 — But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
  • Rom 8:3 — For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: