¹tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
²sn Here person refers to a human being.
³tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
⁴tn Grk “husband.”
sn Paul’s example of the married woman and the law of the marriage illustrates that death frees a person from obligation to the law. Thus, in spiritual terms, a person who has died to what controlled us (v. 6) has been released from the law to serve God in the new life produced by the Spirit.
⁵tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
⁶tn Grk “the,” with the article used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
⁷tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
⁸tn Grk “that we might bear fruit to God.”
⁹tn That is, before we were in Christ.
¹⁰tn Or “sinful passions.”
¹¹tn Grk “our members”; the words “of our body” have been supplied to clarify the meaning.
¹²tn Grk “having died.” The participle ajpoqanovnte" (apoqanonte") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
¹³tn Grk “in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
¹⁴sn Romans 7:7-25. There has been an enormous debate over the significance of the first person singular pronouns (“I”) in this passage and how to understand their referent. Did Paul intend (1) a reference to himself and other Christians too; (2) a reference to his own pre-Christian experience as a Jew, struggling with the law and sin (and thus addressing his fellow countrymen as Jews); or (3) a reference to himself as a child of Adam, reflecting the experience of Adam that is shared by both Jews and Gentiles alike (i.e., all people everywhere)? Good arguments can be assembled for each of these views, and each has problems dealing with specific statements in the passage. The classic argument against an autobiographical interpretation was made by W. G. Kümmel, Römer 7 und die Bekehrung des Paulus. A good case for seeing at least an autobiographical element in the chapter has been made by G. Theissen, Psychologische Aspekte paulinischer Theologie [FRLANT], 181-268. One major point that seems to favor some sort of an autobiographical reading of these verses is the lack of any mention of the Holy Spirit for empowerment in the struggle described in Rom 7:7-25. The Spirit is mentioned beginning in 8:1 as the solution to the problem of the struggle with sin (8:4-6, 9).
¹⁵tn Grk “I would not have known covetousness.”
¹⁶sn A quotation from Exod 20:17 and Deut 5:21.
¹⁷tn Or “covetousness.”
¹⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate the result of the statement in the previous verse. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style generally does not.
¹⁹tn Grk “and there was found in/for me the commandment which was for life—this was for death.”
²⁰tn Or “and through it killed me.”
²¹tn Grk “under sin.”
²²tn Grk “but what I hate, this I do.”
²³tn Grk “I agree with the law that it is good.”
²⁴tn Grk “For to wish is present in/with me, but not to do it.”
²⁵tc ‡ Most mss (Í* A 1739 1881 Ï sy) read “I give thanks to God” rather than “Now thanks be to God” (Í1 [B] Y 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), the reading of NA27. The reading with the verb (eujcaristw' tw'/ qew'/, eucaristw tw qew) possibly arose from a transcriptional error in which several letters were doubled (TCGNT 455). The conjunction dev (de, “now”) is included in some mss as well (Í1 Y 33 81 104 365 1506 pc), but it should probably not be considered original. The ms support for the omission of dev is both excellent and widespread (Í* A B D 1739 1881 Ï lat sy), and its addition can be explained as an insertion to smooth out the transition between v. 24 and 25.
²⁶tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.
²⁷tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.
²⁸tn The words “I serve” have been repeated here for clarity.