Devine Scripture

Romans 7:10

What does Romans 7:10 mean?

A plain-English look at Romans 7:10 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Romans 7:10 means

Paul states the paradox: “the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death.” God’s law promises life to the one who truly keeps it, for it expresses God’s will. But for a sinner, the commandment exposes failure and brings condemnation. The problem is not the law’s aim; it is our inability. What should guide to life becomes, through sin’s presence, the occasion of death. This experience shows the law’s limitation: it can direct and demand, but it cannot impart the power to obey. Therefore, the commandment stands as a truthful witness to God’s righteousness, while also pronouncing the sentence that sinners deserve.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And I made the discovery that the law whose purpose was to give life had become a cause of death:

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and the command that <FI>is<Fi> for life, this was found by me for death;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And I died. And the commandment that was ordained to life, the same was found to be unto death to me.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

And the commandment, which [was] for life, was found, [as] to me, itself [to be] unto death:

Context

Following verse 9’s account of conviction, verse 10 explains how the commandment’s life-giving intention resulted in death for the sinner. This deepens the tension that verse 11 will attribute to sin’s deceitful working through the commandment. Verse 12 will then clear the law from blame, declaring it holy, righteous, and good. The flow is carefully building to show both the integrity of God’s law and the treachery of sin, setting up the need for rescue that emerges more personally in verses 14–25.

v.9And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;

v.10This passage

v.11for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.

Cross references

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

  • Ezekiel 20:11

    And I gave them my statutes, and showed them mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live in them.

  • 2 Corinthians 3:7

    But if the ministration of death, written, and engraven on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory was passing away:

  • Leviticus 18:5

    Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and mine ordinances; which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am Jehovah.

  • Ezekiel 20:21

    But the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

  • Romans 10:5

    For Moses writeth that the man that doeth the righteousness which is of the law shall live thereby.

  • Ezekiel 20:13

    But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.

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