Romans 7:2

"Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives?"

Key Reflection

In first-century Judaism, where the Law of Moses was deeply ingrained in daily life and religious practice, this verse emphasizes that the law held legal authority over individuals who were fully committed to it throughout their entire lives. For the original audience, who knew the intricacies of Jewish law, this meant that once a person willingly bound themselves to the covenant, they remained obligated to its commands until death, highlighting the lifelong commitment required in following the Law.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 2. For the woman. This verse is a specific illustration of the general principle in Ro 7:1, that death dissolves those connexions and relations which make law binding in life. It is a simple illustration; and if this had been kept in mind, it would have saved much of the perplexity which has been felt by many commentators, and much of their wild vagaries in endeavouring to show that "men are the wife, the law the former husband, and Christ the new one;" or that "the old man is the wife, sinful desires the husband, sins the children." Beza.

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