Devine Scripture

Romans 7:1

What does Romans 7:1 mean?

A plain-English look at Romans 7:1 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Romans 7:1 means

Paul appeals to readers who know how law works: law’s authority reaches only as long as a person lives. A statute can bind, command, and condemn while someone remains under its jurisdiction, but death ends that jurisdiction. This simple legal fact prepares his argument about the believer’s relation to God’s law. He is not dismissing the law or its goodness; he is stating its limits. Law can expose guilt and pronounce sentence, but it cannot extend its dominion beyond death. This truth becomes the key image by which Christians understand their new status: through a death that has occurred, the law’s claim over them has been decisively altered.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth?

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Or are ye ignorant, brethren (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law hath dominion over a man for so long time as he liveth?

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Is it not clear, my brothers (I am using an argument to those who have knowledge of the law), that the law has power over a man as long as he is living?

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

Are ye ignorant, brethren--for to those knowing law I speak--that the law hath lordship over the man as long as he liveth?

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Know you not, brethren (for I speak to them that know the law) that the law hath dominion over a man as long as it liveth?

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Are ye ignorant, brethren, (for I speak to those knowing law,) that law rules over a man as long as he lives?

Context

Coming from chapter 6’s theme of release from sin’s mastery and new service to God, Paul now turns to the law’s dominion. He speaks to those familiar with legal principles, introducing a foundational premise: law rules while life remains. This sets up the marriage illustration (verses 2–3) and the application to believers’ union with Christ (verse 4). Understanding this premise is crucial; without it, the shift from bondage to freedom in relation to the law would seem arbitrary. Paul will use this to distinguish between the law’s goodness and its limited, temporary jurisdiction over a person’s standing.

v.1This passage

v.2For the woman that hath a husband is bound by law to the husband while he liveth; but if the husband die, she is discharged from the law of the husband.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • 1 Corinthians 9:8

    Do I speak these things after the manner of men? or saith not the law also the same?

  • Romans 6:3

    Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

  • Romans 1:13

    And I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you (and was hindered hitherto), that I might have some fruit in you also, even as in the rest of the Gentiles.

  • Romans 7:6

    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.

  • Romans 10:1

    Brethren, my heart’s desire and my supplication to God is for them, that they may be saved.

  • Romans 9:3

    For I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

Related questions readers ask

Keep reading

Want to dig deeper? Explore Romans 7

Hand-picked devotionals, topical studies, and pastoral answers that draw on Romans 7.

Keep exploring

Follow this verse across Scripture

Topics, devotionals, original-language word studies, and figures connected to Romans 7:1.

Browse every hub

BibleTopicsBible answersDevotionalsFamous passagesWord studiesPeoplePlacesVerses for…Reading plansCommentary