Verse 14. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses] This supposes, as Dr. Taylor very properly observes:-

1. That sin was in the world from Adam to Moses.

2. That law was not in the world from Adam to Moses during the space of about 2500 years; for, after Adam’s transgression, that law was abrogated; and, from that time, men were either under the general covenant of grace given to Adam or Noah, or under that which was specially made with Abraham.

3. That, therefore, the sins committed were not imputed unto them to death, for they did not sin after the similitude of Adam’s transgression; that is, they did not, like him, transgress a law, or rule of action, to which death, as the penalty, was annexed. And yet-

4. Death reigned over mankind during the period between Adam and Moses; therefore men did not die for their own transgressions, but in consequence of Adam’s one transgression.

Who is the figure of him that was to come.] Adam was the figure, , the type, pattern, or resemblance of him who was to come; i.e. of the Messiah. The correspondence between them appears in the following particulars:-

1. Through him, as its spring and fountain, sin became diffused through the world, so that every man comes into the world with sinful propensities: for by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, Ro 5:12. Through Christ, as its spring and fountain, righteousness becomes diffused through the earth; so that every man is made partaker of a principle of grace and truth; for he is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, Joh 1:9.

2. As in Adam all die; so in Christ shall all be made alive, 1Co 15:22. For, since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, 1Co 15:21.

3. As in or through Adam guilt came upon all men, so, through Christ, the free gift comes upon all men unto justification of life, Ro 5:18. These alone seem to be the instances in which a similitude exists between Adam and Christ.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

He proceeds to prove his assertion in the foregoing verse, that sin was in the world before the law, because

death, which is the wages of sin, did reign, and had power over all mankind, from Adam to Moses, which was about two thousand five hundred years.

Even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression; i.e. over very infants, that had not actually sinned as Adam did. But though infants did not sin like Adam, yet they sinned in Adam; the guilt of his sin was imputed to them, else death could have had no power over them. Infants (as one saith) are not altogether innocents; the very first sheet or blanket wherewith they are covered is woven of sin and shame, of blood and filth, Eze 16:4,6.

Who is the figure of him that was to come; of his offspring, (so some), which came of him in after times; his posterity (as before) was represented in his person: but others better expound it of Christ, who is the Second Adam; and of whom Adam was a figure or type, not in respect of such things as were personal to either of them, but of that which by them redounded to others. The first Adam was the original of mans natural and earthly being; the Second Adam, of his spiritual and heavenly. By the first, sin and death came into the world; by the Second, righteousness and life.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

14. Nevertheless death reigned fromAdam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after thesimilitude of Adam’s transgressionBut who are they?a muchcontested question. Infants (say some), who being guiltless ofactual sin, may be said not to have sinned in the way thatAdam did [AUGUSTINE, BEZA,HODGE]. But why shouldinfants be specially connected with the period “from Adam toMoses,” since they die alike in every period? And if the apostlemeant to express here the death of infants, why has he done it soenigmatically? Besides, the death of infants is comprehended in theuniversal mortality on account of the first sin, so emphaticallyexpressed in Ro 5:12; what needthen to specify it here? and why, if not necessary, should we presumeit to be meant here, unless the language unmistakably point toitwhich it certainly does not? The meaning then must be, that”death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those that had not,like Adam, transgressed against a positive commandment, threateningdeath to the disobedient.” (So most interpreters). In this case,the particle “even,” instead of specifying one particularclass of those who lived “from Adam to Moses” (as the otherinterpretation supposes), merely explains what it was that made thecase of those who died from Adam to Moses worthy of specialnoticenamely, that “though unlike Adam and all since Moses,those who lived between the two had no positive threatening of deathfor transgression, nevertheless, death reigned even over them.“

who is the figureor,”a type.”

of him that was tocomeChrist. “This clause is inserted on the first mentionof the name “Adam,” the one man of whom he isspeaking, to recall the purpose for which he is treating of him, asthe figure of Christ” [ALFORD].The point of analogy intended here is plainly the public characterwhich both sustained, neither of the two being regarded in the divineprocedure towards men as mere individual men, but both alikeas representative men. (Some take the proper supplement hereto be “Him [that is] to come”; understanding the apostle tospeak from his own time, and to refer to Christ’s second coming[FRITZSCHE, DEWETTE, ALFORD].But this is unnatural, since the analogy of the second Adam to thefirst has been in full development ever since “God exalted Himto be a Prince and a Saviour,” and it will only remain to beconsummated at His second coming. The simple meaning is, as nearlyall interpreters agree, that Adam is a type of Him who was to comeafter him in the same public character, and so to be “the secondAdam”).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,…. Though the law of Moses was not yet given, death exerted itself, and extended its dominion over all the sons and daughters of Adam, during the interval between Adam and Moses; which clearly shows that sin was in the world, and that there must be a law in being, which that was a transgression of: death is represented as a king, as sin and Satan sometimes are; and indeed, death reigns by sin, and Satan both by sin and death; their empires rise, stand, and fall together. So Bildad calls death “the king of terrors”, Job 18:14; and a very formidable and powerful king he is; his dominion is very large, his power uncontrollable, and the dread of him very great, especially to Christless sinners. The Jews say b, that at the resurrection the world will be renewed, and will not be as at the first, when

, “death reigned in the world”; referring to the same period of time the apostle here does. The subjects of his government were not only adult persons, who had been guilty of many actual transgressions, but he reigned

even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression. This does not exclude the dominion of death over such who had sinned after the likeness of Adam, but rather confirms its power over them; nor does it intend adult Gentiles, who did not sin in the same manner, nor against the same law, as Adam did; but it designs infants, not yet guilty of actual sin; and therefore since death reigns over them, who only holds and exercises his dominion by virtue of sin, it follows, that they must have original sin in them; the guilt of Adam’s transgression must be imputed to them, and the corruption of nature, from him, derived unto them, or it could not reign over them. A child of a year old, the Jewish doctors c say, has not tasted the taste of sin, that is, has not committed actual sin; and observe d, that young children die on account of the sins of their parents: but the true reason of their dying is here suggested by the apostle; which is the transgression of Adam:

who is the figure of him that was to come; meaning, either his posterity that were to come out of his loins, whose figure, type, and representative he was; or rather Christ, who is sometimes called

, “he that was to come”; and the Arabic version reads the words thus, “who was a type of Adam that was expected”; that is, of Christ the second Adam, that was expected to come, according to the promise and prophecy: of him the first Adam was a type, in his human nature, in the formation and quality of it; as the first Adam was made by God of the virgin earth, the second Adam was born of a virgin; as the first, so the second Adam was pure, holy, upright, and wise; in his office, as Lord of the world, head of the woman, priest in his house, and prophet to his posterity; in his marriage with Eve, a figure of the church; but in nothing more clearly than in his being a covenant head to all his offspring: and this is what the apostle chiefly designs, since he runs the parallel between them on this account in the following verses; showing, that as the one conveyed sin and death to all his seed, so the other communicates righteousness and life to all that belong to him. So the Jews say e, that by Adam is intimated the righteous branch, the Messiah; and that , “the secret of Adam is the secret of the Messiah”.

b Tzeror Hammor, fol. 96. 1. c T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 22. 2. d Massecheth Calah, fol. 17. 2. e R. Abraham Seba, Tzeror Hammor, fol. 2. 3. & 3. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression ( ). Adam violated an express command of God and Moses gave the law of God clearly. And yet sin and death followed all from Adam on till Moses, showing clearly that the sin of Adam brought terrible consequences upon the race. Death has come upon infants and idiots also as a result of sin, but one understands Paul to mean that they are not held responsible by the law of conscience.

A figure (). See on Acts 7:43; 1Thess 1:7; 2Thess 3:9; 1Cor 10:6 for this word. Adam is a type of Christ in holding a relation to those affected by the headship in each case, but the parallel is not precise as Paul shows.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses,” (alla ebasileusen ho thanatos apo Adam mechri Mouseos) “But death reigned from Adam to Moses;” Death, held jurisdiction over all men from the period of Adam’s transgression to Moses law, evidenced in his and their death, as welI as deeds of sin, Gen 2:17; Ecc 9:5.

2) “Even over them that had not sinned,” (kai epi tous me hamartesantas) “Even over those not having sinned; From Adam to Moses each man’s life concluded “and he died;” Death is the fruit, not of sin-deeds, but of the inherent sin nature, since Adam. Adam’s death came from the act of his Disobedience; all deaths since then have come because of the sin nature’s weakness inherited, Jas 1:15.

3) “After the similitude of Adams transgression,” (epi to homoiomati tes parabaseos Adam) “After the likeness (similarity) of Adam’s transgression;” according to Adam’s voluntary disobedience to God in partaking of the forbidden fruit. The sin-fruit nature of Adam appeared in all his offspring and incited all to sin, even before the Law. Rom 6:23.

4) “Who is the figure of him that was to come,” (hos estin tupos tou mellontos) “Who exists as a type of the one coming;- And How was Adam a figure or type of Christ? The answer is, “Death came to each because of transgression, Adam’s death because of his own voluntary transgression, and the death of Christ was voluntary for all men, because of Adam’s voluntary transgression, and its effect in causing sin nature and sin deeds in all men, Joh 10:17-18; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 2:9; 2Co 5:14; 1Co 15:21-22; 1Co 15:45; 1Co 15:55-56. Note – in the latter verses that death is the “sting of sin,” so that sin finished or mature in the fallen nature of all (even infants) produces death. If one could get rid of sin he could get rid of natural death Jas 1:15; Heb 9:27.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

14. Even over them, etc. Though this passage is commonly understood of infants, who being guilty of no actual sin, die through original sin, I yet prefer to regard it as referring to all those who sinned without the law; for this verse is to be connected with the preceding clause, which says, that those who were without the law did not impute sin to themselves. Hence they sinned not after the similitude of Adam’s transgression; for they had not, like him, the will of God made known to them by a certain oracle: for the Lord had forbidden Adam to touch the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; but to them he had given no command besides the testimony of conscience. The Apostle then intended to imply, that it did not happen through the difference between Adam and his posterity that they were exempt from condemnation. Infants are at the same time included in their number.

Who is a type of him who was to come. This sentence is put instead of a second clause; for we see that one part only of the comparison is expressed, the other is omitted — an instance of what is called (lang. el) anacoluthon (166) You are then to take the meaning as though it was said, “as by one man sin entered into the whole world, and death through sin, so by one man righteousness returned, and life through righteousness.” But in saying that Adam bore a resemblance to Christ, there is nothing incongruous; for some likeness often appears in things wholly contrary. As then we are all lost through Adam’s sin, so we are restored through Christ’s righteousness: hence he calls Adam not inaptly the type of Christ. But observe, that Adam is not, said to be the type of sin, nor Christ the type of righteousness, as though they led the way only by their example, but that the one is contrasted with the other. Observe this, lest you should foolishly go astray with [ Origen ], and be involved in a pernicious error; for he reasoned philosophically and profanely on the corruption of mankind, and not only diminished the grace of Christ, but nearly obliterated it altogether. The less excusable is [ Erasmus ], who labors much in palliating a notion so grossly delirious.

(166) Ανακόλουθον, not consequent: a figure in grammar when a word or a clause, required by a former one, is not put down. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(14) After the similitude of Adams transgressioni.e., in direct defiance of divine command. They had not incurred just punishment as Adam had, and yet they died. Why? Because of Adams sin, the effects of which extended to them all, just in the same way as the effects of the death of Christ extend to all.

Who is the figure.Better, type. There is thus hinted at the parallelism which was omitted in Rom. 5:12. Adam was the type of Christ, his sin and its effects the type of Christs death and its effects. No doubt the way in which this point is introduced is, in a mere rhetorical sense, faulty. St. Paul was, however, much above caring for rhetoric. And beside, it must be remembered that he wrote by dictation, and, probably, never revised what the amanuensis had written. This fact has very rightly been insisted on by Dr. Vaughan (Preface to Third Edition, p. 22), We must picture to ourselves in reading this profound Epistle to the Romans a man full of thought, his hands, perhaps, occupied at the moment in stitching at the tent-cloth, dictating one clause at a time to the obscure Tertius beside him, stopping only to give time for the writing, never looking it over, never, perhaps, hearing it read over, at last taking the style into his hand to add the last few words of affectionate benediction.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

14. Nevertheless, death reigned The previous verse assumed that there was sin during the patriarchate; this verse proves it from the existence of death. That death implies sin he assumes from the account of the fall in Genesis. Changing the order of the steps of the apostle’s reasoning in these two verses, we arrange it thus: During the patriarchate there was death, therefore sin, therefore law. The inference is, if that period is covered by death, sin, and law, it is included in the parallel ruin from Adam and redemption by Christ; and the Messiah and justification must not be monopolized by Judaism.

Sinned after Adam’s transgression Referring not to infants, but to all who lived during the patriarchate. They did not, like Adam, (nor like the Jews,) transgress a revealed law, but only the inner law written on the heart. (See note Rom 2:14.)

Paul now specifies three particulars of the antithesis, namely, the quality, the number, and the results, showing in each the excess of the good in Christ over the evil in Adam.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a figure of him who was to come.’

Nevertheless, in spite of men being unable to impute sin before the giving of the Law, the fact that all men had sinned was demonstrated by the fact that all men died. Death reigned over all, even though they had not openly flouted a direct command of God like Adam had. And this of course demonstrated what Adam’s sin had done to mankind. It had in some way tainted all men with sin, with the final result being that all sinned and came under God’s judgment on sin. The universality of death demonstrated the universality of sin. Thus by the trespass of this one man all were made sinners, and all died. The consequences of his sin brought condemnation on all men, and the resulting reign of death (Rom 5:18-20).

Note that Paul does not deny that all men had sinned. He simply indicates that they had not sinned quite as directly as Adam. They had not sinned in such a way that men could point the finger at them as direct God-rejecters. But the fact that death reigned over all, demonstrated that sin also reigned over all, the sin that was the fruit of Adam’s sinfulness. The essence of what Paul is saying is once again that all men, both Jew and Gentile, have sinned.

‘Death reigned.’ Initially this signifies physical death, for that was what was observable by man. But behind physical death, unhealed, lies eternal death. Thus both must be seen as finally included, for the death described is in the end the death of those who do not receive eternal life.

It may then be asked. ‘What of those who died in infancy?’ If individual sin is indicated why should they have died? The answer must lie in the idea that in some way the sin of mankind was accounted to them also. They were also seen as ‘sinners’. And why? Because by nature they were born with the same tendency to sin as all men and would therefore undoubtedly have sinned. ‘The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies’ (Psa 58:3). This tendency to sin found in all men is something which can hardly be denied unless we can introduce into the equation men who have never actually sinned, which is of course a total impossibility. It is why the One Who was to save could not be born in the ordinary way.

‘Who is a figure of him who was to come.’ Paul then points out that Adam can be seen as pointing forward to Jesus Christ. Just as Adam, as one man, had brought sin and death into the world, so Jesus Christ, as one man, has brought grace and reconciliation and deliverance. ‘Him Who was to come’ may well in context have in mind the seed of the Man who was to bruise the serpent’s head in Gen 3:15 (compare Rom 16:20). Or it may prefigure the ‘second Man’, the ‘last Adam’ of Jewish tradition, as interpreted by Paul (1Co 15:45-47). Or it may have in mind great David’s greater Son, the Messiah (Rom 1:2-4; Mat 11:3 – ‘are you he who is coming’; Luk 7:19-20; Joh 1:19-22). Or indeed it may incorporate all three.

But why should he add this comment here? The answer would appear to be that it is transitional to the verses that follow. Having temporarily diverted to deal in more depth with the effects of sin, he is now reverting back to his intended comparison with the ‘Coming One’ (compare Mat 11:3). From now on each reference to sin will be paralleled by a reference to the deliverance that has been made available from that sin through ‘the Coming One’.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Rom 5:14. Who is the figure of him that was to come Adam is said to be the figure of him who was to come, that is, of Christ the Messiah; for this is one of the marks or names by which the Jews signified the expected Messiah. See Luk 24:21. Joh 6:14-15; Joh 11:27. Heb 10:37. In the Greek it is , the type of him that was to come. A type signifies such a mark or impression as is made by a stamp or a seal. It is used, Joh 20:25 to signify the mark which the nails made in our Saviour’s hands when he was nailed to the tree, and it is rendered the print of the nails. See also Act 7:44. Heb 8:5. A type therefore is arelative word, signifying a thing to which another is to answer or agree, as the figure upon the wax answers, is like to, and agrees with, the figure upon the seal; or as the thing which is made, answers to the pattern after which it is made. Hence St. Paul several times applies it to moral action, under the notion of an example, namely, when the behaviour of one man is made the seal or stamp to be impressed upon another man; or when one man’s actions are made a pattern to be copied after by another man, as Php 3:17. 1Th 1:7. 2Th 3:9. 1Ti 4:12. Tit 2:7. In the place before us, when Adam is said to be a type of him that was to come, no doubt can be made that St. Paul intends thereby to denote, that there was something with reference to Christ which was to bear a correspondence or to answer to something with reference to Adam; or that he draws a comparison between something which Adam did, and the consequencesthereof,and something which Christ did, and the consequences thereof. This comparison he begins at Rom 5:12 and carries on to the end of the chapter; and itconsistsofthreeparts,twoaffirmativepropositions,and the connection or relation between them, thus:PROPOSITION I. “By Adam’s disobedience death came upon all men.” CONNECTION: Adam in this was a type or figure of Christ; or in respect to this, Christ is the counterpart to Adam. PROPOSITION II. “By Christ’s obedience life is restored to all men.” The attentive reader will observe how methodically the Apostle proceeds in clearing the first proposition and the connection, before he advances to the second proposition. It may be proper just to remark, that this and the preceding verse form an instance of the perspicuous brevity for which St. Paul was remarkable. One shall hardly find in any other author an argument so justly managed, so fully established, attended with such a variety of instructive sentiments, in the compass of thirty words:for, setting aside the articles, there are no more in the Greek. It is by this unparallelled art that the Apostle has brought such a variety of arguments, instructions, and sentiments, all stated, proved, and sufficiently guarded, explained, and defended, within the limits of this Epistle, as have made it a magazine ofthe most real, extensive, useful, and pleasant knowledge.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Ver. 14. Death reigned ] From the reign of death, he concludes the reign of sin. Infants are no innocents; the first sheet or blanket wherein they are covered is woven of sin, shame, blood, and filth, Eze 16:4-6 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

14. ] But (notwithstanding the last assertion that sin is not fully reckoned where the law is not) death reigned (was a power to which all succumbed) from Adam to Moses ( . = above): i.e. although the full of sin did not take place between Adam and Moses, the universality of death is a proof that all sinned , for death is the consequence of sin: in confirmation of Rom 5:12 .

. . ] even (notwithstanding the different degrees of sin and guilt out of, and under, the law) over those who sinned not according to the similitude (reff.) of the TRANSGRESSION of Adam. (1) . belongs to . and not to (as Chrys., Theophyl., Bengel, Elsn., al.), for that would bring in, in the words , an absolute contradiction to , by asserting that there were some who did not sin . (2) The emphasis lies on , as distinguished from . Photius (in De W.), ( .) . . . They all sinned: but had not, like Adam, transgressed a positive revealed command. (3) There is no reference here, as some Commentators (Beza, al.) have supposed, to the case of children and idiots , nor (as Grot., Wetst.) to those who lived pious lives . The aim is to prove, that the seed of sin planted in the race by the one man Adam, has sprung up and borne fruit in all, so as to bring them under death; death temporal, and spiritual; of these, some have sinned without the law, i.e. not as Adam did, and as those after Moses did: and though sin is not formally reckoned against them, death, the consequence of sin, reigned, as matter of historical fact, over them also. It is most important to the clear understanding of this weighty passage to bear in mind, that the first member of the comparison, as far as it extends, is this: ‘As by Adam’s transgression, of which we are by descent inheritors, we have become (not by imputation merely, but by propensity) sinners , and have thus incurred death , so &c.’ (see below).

. . ] who is a figure (or type: not thus used by LXX, see Umbreit’s note) of the future (Adam [the second Adam, viz. Christ]). This clause is inserted on the first mention of the name Adam, the one man of whom he has been speaking, to recall the purpose for which he is treating of him, as the figure (ref.) of Christ . ., not ‘qui futurus erat,’ as Beza [and E. V.], Reiche; but spoken from the Apostle’s present standing, ‘ who is to come .’ The fulfilment of the type will then take place completely, when, as 1Co 15:22 , . Still less, with Koppe, can be taken by attr. for , and be interpreted ‘ of that which is to come ,’ viz. life and salvation: see 1Co 15:45 .

Many suppose these words . . . . to be the apodosis of Rom 5:12 ; but see there.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

to = until. Greek. mechri.

Moses. Occurs twenty-two times in the Epistles. Compare Mat 8:4.

similitude = likeness. See Rom 1:23.

transgression. Greek. parabasis. See Rom 2:23.

the = a. figure. Greek. tupos. See Joh 20:25.

Him . . . come = The Coming One. A well-known Hebraism for the Messiah. See Mat 11:3. Adam was a type (App-6) as the federal head of a new-created race.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

14.] But (notwithstanding the last assertion that sin is not fully reckoned where the law is not) death reigned (was a power to which all succumbed) from Adam to Moses ( . = above): i.e. although the full of sin did not take place between Adam and Moses, the universality of death is a proof that all sinned,-for death is the consequence of sin:-in confirmation of Rom 5:12.

. .] even (notwithstanding the different degrees of sin and guilt out of, and under, the law) over those who sinned not according to the similitude (reff.) of the TRANSGRESSION of Adam. (1) . belongs to . and not to (as Chrys., Theophyl., Bengel, Elsn., al.),-for that would bring in, in the words , an absolute contradiction to , by asserting that there were some who did not sin. (2) The emphasis lies on , as distinguished from . Photius (in De W.),- (.) . . . They all sinned: but had not, like Adam, transgressed a positive revealed command. (3) There is no reference here, as some Commentators (Beza, al.) have supposed, to the case of children and idiots,-nor (as Grot., Wetst.) to those who lived pious lives. The aim is to prove, that the seed of sin planted in the race by the one man Adam, has sprung up and borne fruit in all, so as to bring them under death;-death temporal, and spiritual;-of these, some have sinned without the law, i.e. not as Adam did, and as those after Moses did: and though sin is not formally reckoned against them, death, the consequence of sin, reigned, as matter of historical fact, over them also. It is most important to the clear understanding of this weighty passage to bear in mind, that the first member of the comparison, as far as it extends, is this: As by Adams transgression, of which we are by descent inheritors, we have become (not by imputation merely, but by propensity) sinners, and have thus incurred death, so &c. (see below).

. .] who is a figure (or type: not thus used by LXX, see Umbreits note) of the future (Adam [the second Adam, viz. Christ]). This clause is inserted on the first mention of the name Adam, the one man of whom he has been speaking, to recall the purpose for which he is treating of him,-as the figure (ref.) of Christ. ., not qui futurus erat, as Beza [and E. V.], Reiche; but spoken from the Apostles present standing, who is to come. The fulfilment of the type will then take place completely, when, as 1Co 15:22, . Still less, with Koppe, can be taken by attr. for , and be interpreted of that which is to come, viz. life and salvation: see 1Co 15:45.

Many suppose these words . . . . to be the apodosis of Rom 5:12; but see there.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rom 5:14. , reigned) Chrysostom says, ; . How did it reign? in the likeness of Adams transgression. He therefore construed in the likeness with reigned; and no doubt [death] reigned, I say, may be supplied [before the words in the likeness of Adams transgression]; comp. Rom 6:5. A reign is ascribed to death, as well as power, Heb 2:14. Scarcely indeed has any sovereign so many subjects, as are the many even kings whom death has taken away. It is an immense kingdom. This is no Hebraism; sin rules; righteousness rules.–, from-until) The dispensation respecting the whole human race is threefold. 1. Before the law. 2. Under the law. 3. Under grace. Men severally experience the power of that dispensation, chap. 7.-, even) The particle indicates a species of persons subject to death, whom death might have seemed likely to spare in preference to all others; and so therefore it establishes the universality of death. [Not only against those, he says, who committed many sins after the age of Moses, which were to be reckoned to them according to the law, but even against those, long before, who did not commit such sins-V. g.].-, over) This is a paradox; death reigned over those who had not sinned. Paul shows an inclination to use such paradoxes in speaking of this mystery, comp. v. 19; 2Co 5:21; Rom 4:5.- , those who had not sinned) All indeed from Adam to Moses have committed sins, although some were virtuous, others profligate; but because they sinned without law, without which sin is not reckoned, they are spoken of as those, who had not sinned: but Adam is spoken of as the one who sinned, Rom 5:16. Observe, if these seven precepts of Noah, were what they are said to be, Paul would have described those who had not sinned, from Adam to Noah, not to Moses.-, in the likeness) As Adam, when he transgressed the law, died, in like manner also they died, who did not transgress, or rather, who did not sin; for Paul varies the words in speaking of Adam, and of all others. This is the conclusion; That men died before the law, is a thing which befell them on account of the similitude of Adams transgression; that is. Because the ground on which they stood, and on which Adam stood, [their footing and that of Adam] was one and the same:-they died on account of another guilt, not on account of that, which they themselves had contracted, namely, the guilt which had been contracted by Adam. In fact, the death of many is ascribed directly to the fall of the one, Rom 5:15. Thus it is not denied, that death is the wages of any sin whatever; but it is proved, that the primary cause of death was the first sin. It is this fact, which has brought us to destruction, just as the robber, who has plundered his victim, after having murdered him, is punished for the murder, and yet he did not commit the robbery with impunity, since the punishment of the robbery merged in the punishment of the murder; but, as compared with the greater punishment of murder, it was scarcely taken into account.-, of Adam) In this one verse we have the name of the individual , in all the others, the appellative noun, man. But, while the name of Adam is consigned to oblivion, the name of Jesus Christ is distinctly preached [proclaimed] Rom 5:15; Rom 5:17.- ) for , which thing, agrees in gender with : that which was to come, , is in the neuter gender [But Eng. vers., of Him, that was to come.] Hence what is said respecting the future, Rom 5:17; Rom 5:19. This paragraph from Rom 5:12 by implication contains the whole comparison of the first and second Adam, so far as they correspond to each other; for what follows refers to the differences between them, and the apodosis should be inferred from the protasis in this manner at Rom 5:12 : [As by one man sin entered-and death, etc.], so in like manner by one man righteousness entered into the world and by righteousness life; and so life passed upon all men, because all are justified. And at Rom 5:14, All shall reign in life, after the similitude of Christ, who has rendered all obedience; although those who thus reign have not by themselves fulfilled all righteousness [answering to the words even over them, etc., and nevertheless in Rom 5:14.] Again Chrysostom says, ; . , , . , , , , . How is he a type or figure? because just as that man [Adam] has become the source of death, which was brought in by the eating of the forbidden fruit, to those descended from him, although they had not eaten of the fruit of that tree, so also Christ has become the provider of righteousness to those belonging to Him, although they have not performed what is righteous; and this righteousness He has freely bestowed upon us all by the cross; therefore IN EVERY DIRECTION AND ON ALL OCCASIONS he maintains this One thing, and perpetually brings it into view. We may farther add; as the sin of Adam, independently of the sins, which we afterwards committed, brought death upon us, so the righteousness of Christ, independently of good works, which are afterwards performed by us, procures for us life; nevertheless, as every sin receives its appropriate punishment, so every good action receives a suitable reward.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Rom 5:14

Rom 5:14

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses,- Adams transgression was setting aside a positive law. From Adam to Moses, even those that had not sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression. Adams transgression was setting aside a positive law. From Adam to Moses there was no code of laws, so they did not sin as Adam did. Yet they were wicked beyond measure; so God destroyed them. The sin of transgressing law was not imputed, but the sin and wickedness prevented God giving law, and they perished without law. (See Gen 6:11-13).

even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adams transgression,-There are several respects in which the sins of Adams posterity are not like his transgression: He sinned the first time tempted, with surroundings most favorable, with specific warning of God that he should die if he sinned. He breathed, the atmosphere of innocence and purity, in every breath of which the Spirit of God floated, and which was impregnated with the aroma of divine goodness and heavenly love. By virtue of his transgression the dominion of the world passed under the evil one. The world was sin-defiled. The spirit of the evil one was infused into the whole atmosphere of earth, and poisoned it with the virus of sin and death. No individual down through the ages could sin under similar circumstances. Not one has been at liberty to choose life or death, as Adam had the privilege of doing. All must suffer death. We have no choice as to this.

who is a figure of him that was to come.-Adam, through whom sin and death came, is a figure of Jesus Christ. [The resemblance between Adam and Christ was their acts and the consequences of their acts. The one act of Adam affected the whole human family; that of Christ did likewise. That of Adam brought death to all men; the obedience of Christ brings all out of the grave alive (Joh 5:28-29; Act 24:15; 1Co 15:22)-that is, whatever evils Adam’s sin brought upon the world without our agency are all counteracted and remedied by the one act of Christ without our agency.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

Adam to Moses

Broadly, the contrast is: Adam: sin, death; Christ: righteousness, life. Adam drew down into his ruin the old creation Rom 8:19-22 of which he was lord and head. Christ brings into moral unity with God, and into eternal life, the new creation of which he is Lord and Head. Eph 1:22; Eph 1:23. Even the animal and material creation, cursed for man’s sake. Gen 3:17 will be delivered by Christ.; Isa 11:6-9; Rom 8:19-22.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

death: Rom 5:17, Rom 5:21, Gen 4:8, Gen 5:5-31, Gen 7:22, Gen 19:25, Exo 1:6, Heb 9:27

even: Rom 8:20, Rom 8:22, Exo 1:22, Exo 12:29, Exo 12:30, Jon 4:11

who is the figure: Or “type (pattern, or resemblance, [Strong’s G5179]), of him who was to come,” i.e., THE MESSIAH. Mr. Baxter remarks, It is indeed interesting to compare, on Scripture authority, Adam as the root of sin and death to all, with CHRIST, who is to all true Christians the root of holiness and life.

Reciprocal: Rom 6:9 – death 1Co 10:6 – examples 1Co 15:55 – is thy victory Heb 9:9 – a figure Heb 11:19 – from the 1Pe 3:21 – like

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

:14

Rom 5:14. It might be (erroneously) concluded from the foregoing, that since men were not adjudged as sinners before the law was given, therefore nobody died before that. Yet the apostle affirms that death did reign through all that period, even over those who had not sinned after the simili-tude–after the manner–of Adam’s transgression. This shows that sin in this verse as applied to all mankind is used in the same sense as it is in verse 12. That is, they had to suffer the physical death that resulted from Adam’s sin, because it caused them to be born outside the garden of Eden and away from the tree of life. The last clause, who is the figure of him that was to come, is introduced to prepare the reader for the comparison a little later on, that deals with the principle of sharing in the results of one man’s righteousness in the same sense as sharing in the results of one man’s sin.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rom 5:14. Nevertheless. Although sin is not fully reckoned when the law is absent.

Death reigned. Lorded it. The consequence of sin (death through sin, Rom 5:12) was universal, even before the law: from Adam until Moses. The word until represents here a different word from that used in Rom 5:13, but there is no appreciable difference in sense.

Even over them that, etc. Death, which here includes more than physical death, as the penalty of sin, lorded it over even such as did not sin, etc., i.e., were not guilty of a definite transgression, the transgression of a definite command of God. The Apostles argument is that death came upon these as a consequence of the sin of Adam, and thus he proves that death came through unto all men, because all sinned in that transgression. The class that did not sin, etc., is not further described. Infants are doubtless included, though not specially referred to. In the period between Adam and Moses divine commands were given; those who transgressed them were punished accordingly, but even those, whoever they were, who had not received positive command came under the consequence of sin, thus proving that Adams sin was the cause.

Who if a type of the coming One, i.e., the second Adam, Jesus Christ (Rom 5:15). Here we have suggested the second member of the parallel begun in Rom 5:12. The first Adam, the one man through whom sin and death entered into the world, is the type of the one man Jesus Christ. The word type is derived from the verb meaning to strike, and hence signifies first, a blow, an impression, then form, figure, pattern, model; at length we find the technical sense, a person or thing bearing a designed resemblance to some higher person or thing, foreshadowing or symbolizing an antitype. Christ is here spoken of as the coming One, as historically related to the first Adam. Comp. 1Co 15:45, where Paul directly contrasts the first and second Adam.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

The apostle had asserted, That sin was in the world before the written law of Moses; here he proves it thus: “Death, the wages of sin, did reign in the world, and had power over all mankind from Adam to Moses; therefore sin was in the world from Adam to Moses.” By them that have not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, infants are generally understood; the guilt of Adam’s sin is imputed to them, else death could have no power over them.

The argument runs thus: Death is a punishment of sin, but infants die who never sinned actually, therefore they die for Adam’s sin: Sin brought mortality into their nature, and the wages of sin is death: They brought a sinful nature into the world with them, which God gave the Jews of old an intimation of, by appointing the sacrament of circumcision signifying that infants brought something into the world with them, which was early to be cut off; he also signifies the same to us Christians, by appointing the ordinance of baptism for children, which he calls the laver of regeneration: Now, a laver supposes uncleanness; what is pure, needs no laver.

Learn hence, That infants, as soon as they live, have in them the seeds of death: Sin is the seed of death, the principle of corruption. God doth infants no wrong when they die: their death is of themselves, for they have the seeds of death in themselves. All death is the wages of sin, and therefore can be no injustice to the sinner; thus death reigned form Adam to Moses, yea, even to this day; and, like an insatiable tyrant, will continue to reign and slay universally, and beyond number, from the infant to the aged, from the dunghill to the throne, sparing neither age nor sex, neither great nor small, neither sacred nor profane.

From whence to the end of the chapter, the apostle enters upon a comparison betwixt Adam and Christ, whom he here calls a figure or resemblance of him that was to come, that is, of Christ. As Adam was the root of sin and death to all his natural seed, so Christ is the root of holiness and life to all his spiritual seed.

As by the first Adam, sin, and by sin death came upon all men; so by the second Adam came righteousness, and by righteousness life on all believers. As the fist Adam merited death, so the second Adam life for all his offspring: Thus, Adam was the figure of him that was to come.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Rom 5:14. Nevertheless Though the law was not yet given by Moses, yet sin was in the world, and was imputed, as appears by this, that death, which is the punishment of sin, was in the world at that time, and reigned Brought all under its power, from Adam to Moses As Rom 5:21, and Rom 6:12, even over them, &c. Not only over them that had sinned after the similitude of Adams transgression, but also over infants that had not committed actual sin, as Adam had done, and over others who had not, like him, sinned against an express law. Who is the figure of him that was to come A lively type of Christ in his public capacity, each of them being a public person, and a federal head of mankind: the one the fountain of sin and death to mankind by his offence, the other of righteousness and life by his free gift. Thus far the apostle shows the agreement between the first and second Adam: afterward he shows the difference between them. The agreement may be summed up thus: As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; so by one man righteousness entered into the world, and life by righteousness. As death passed upon all men, in that all had sinned; so life passed upon all men, (who are in the second Adam by faith,) in that all are justified. And as death, through the sin of the first Adam, reigned even over them who had not sinned after the likeness of Adams transgression: so through the righteousness of Christ, even those who have not obeyed after the likeness of his obedience, shall reign in life. We may add, as the sin of Adam, without the sins which we afterward committed, brought us death: so the righteousness of Christ, without the good works which we afterward perform, brings us life, although still every good as well as evil work will receive its due reward.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Vv. 14. : and nevertheless; a strongly emphasized contrast to the idea of non-imputation (Rom 5:13).

The word reign denotes a power firmly established, resting on the immovable foundation of the divine sentence pronounced over the whole race. Death cannot denote more here than the loss of life in the ordinary sense of the word. There is no reference either to spiritual death (sin, Gess), or to the sufferings and infirmities of life (Hodge), but simply to the fact that between Adam and Moses men died though there was no law. This imputation of Adam’s sin, as the cause of death to every individual man, would be absolutely incomprehensible and incompatible with the justice of God, if it passed beyond the domain of natural life marked off by the mysterious relation between the individual and the species. The sequel will show that as soon as we rise to the domain of spiritual life, the individual is no longer dependent on this solidarity of the species, but that he holds his eternal destiny in his own hands.

The words: also, or (even) over them that had not sinned, are taken by Meyer as referring to a part only of the men who lived between Adam and Moses, those, namely, who did not enjoy the positive revelations granted during this period, the Noachian commandments, for example, Gen 9:1-17. Thus understood, Paul reminds us of the fact that the men of that time who were without those precepts were, as well as their contemporaries who enjoyed such light, subjected to death. But the whole passage, on the contrary, implies the absence of all positive law which could have been violated between Adam and Moses; consequently, the phrase: even over them who sinned not, etc., embraces the whole human species from Adam to Moses without distinction; mankind during this interval are contrasted with Adam on the one hand, and with the people of Israel from Moses on the other. All these who were not under conditions of a capitally penal kind (Rom 5:13) died nevertheless.

The words: after the resemblance of Adam’s transgression, are certainly not dependent, as the old Greek expositors thought, on the word reigned: death reigned on the ground of a sin similar to that of Adam. This sense leaves the words: even over them that sinned not, without any reasonable explanation. We must therefore bring this clause under , in this sense: even over them that did not sin after the fashion of Adam’s sin, that is to say, by transgressing as he did, a positive prohibition.

Hofmann insists on the strict meaning of the word which Paul uses, , the object like (differing from , the resemblance), and, taking the genitive as a subjective genitive, he explains: according to the form which was that of…or on the type presented by the transgression of…To render this shade into English, we must translate, not after the resemblance, but after the fashion of Adam’s transgression.

From this whole argument it appeared that Adam had been the sole author of the reign of death, and herein precisely was he the counterpart of Him who was to come to be the sole principle of life here below. Thus it is easy to understand why the apostle, after explaining the origin of death, closes with these words, appropriately introducing the statement of the other member of the parallel: who is the type of the Adam that was to come. It is improper, with Bengel, to give to the participle the neuter sense: of that which was to come (by regarding the masculine as a case of attraction from ). The word Adam, immediately preceding, more naturally leads us to make a masculine. One might more easily, with Hofmann, regard this participle as a masculine substantive: Him who should come, in the sense in which the Messiah is called the , the coming one. The meaning is not essentially different. If the Rabbinical sayings in which the Messiah is designated as the second or the last Adam were older than the seventh century of our era (Targum of the Psalms), or the sixteenth (Nev schalom), it might be inferred from these passages that the description of the Messiah as the Adam to come was already received in the Jewish schools, and that the phrase of the apostle is a reference to this received notion. But it is quite possible that these sayings themselves were influenced by the texts of the New Testament. So Renan says positively: In the Talmudic writings Adam ha-rischn simply denotes the first man, Adam. Paul creates Ha-adam ha-aharn by antithesis. We must certainly set aside De Wette’s idea, which applies the phrase: the future Adam, to Christ’s final advent. The term , future, is related to the time of the first Adam, not to the time when the apostle writes.

The word type denotes in Scripture language (1Co 10:11) an event, or a person realizing a law of the kingdom of God which will be realized afterward in a more complete and striking manner in a corresponding future event or person. Adam is the type of the Messiah, inasmuch as, to quote Ewald, each of them draws after him all mankind, so that from what the one was to humanity we may infer what the other is to it (Hofmann).

This proposition is a sort of provisional apodosis to the even as of Rom 5:12. It reminds the reader of the comparison which has been begun, and keeps the thought present to his mind till the comparison can be finished and grammatically completed by the true principal clause (Rom 5:18).

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam’s transgression, who is a figure of him that was to come. [The comparison opened in Rom 5:12 is carried through various contrasts and correlations until it closes, as modified by the intervening verses, in Rom 5:18 . Adding to Rom 5:12 the modifications which appear in Rom 5:18; and skipping the intervening correlations, that we may get the connection, and have the central thought clearly before us, we would paraphrase thus: Now, since Christ is the source of justification and all its benefits, we submit to you a comparison between him and Adam, who is the source of condemnation and all its hardships, thus: As through the act of the one man, Adam, sin entered into the world, and as through this one sin death also entered, so that for this one sin the sentence of death passed upon us all, even so through the one act of the one, Christ (viz.: his suffering on the cross), the free gift of being accounted righteous came unto all men to justify them (i. e., to release them from the sentence of death which came upon them by Adam’s sin), that they might live. Such is the central thought of the remainder of this chapter. But we have anticipated the full comparison, and the reader must bear in mind, in the perusal of what follows, that Paul is working it out, and does not complete it until Rom 5:18 . With Rom 5:13 Paul enters on a proof that all sinned in Adam, and incurred the death penalty by reason of his sin as their federal head, and not by reason of their own individual sins. To understand his argument, we must remember that God gave a law of life and death to Adam, and then refrained from giving any law like it until the days of Moses. The law of Moses was also one of life and death. It provided that those who kept it should live, and that those who failed to keep it should die. But as none kept it, it became a general law, involving all under it in the condemnation of death. It is clear, therefore, that Adam died for his own sin, and equally clear that those who lived under the Mosaic law might have died for their own sin as well as for Adam’s sin. But for whose sin did those die who lived in the twenty-five centuries between Adam and Moses? Clearly they died for the sin committed by Adam, their head. Keeping these things before us, we follow Paul’s reasoning thus: It is clear that men die because they sinned in Adam, their federal head, and not because they committed sin in their individual capacity; for though it is true that the people living in the world from the days of Adam until the giving of the law committed sin, yet where there is no law condemning to death (and there was none such in those days) sin is not imputed so as to incur the sentence of death. Therefore, in this absence of law, the people of that day would have lived in spite of their own individual sins; nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not broken any law having a death penalty attached to it, as did Adam, who, in his representative capacity as head of the race, was a figure or a type of the coming Christ, who was also to be manifested as a representative head of the race. It may be noted here that some, by reason of their gross wickedness, may have been specially punished by death, as, for instance, those who were obliterated by the deluge, or those who were burned in the flames of Sodom, etc., and also it may be observed that murderers should suffer death for their sin (Gen 9:6). But there was no general law involving all in the death penalty, and such special instances in no way weakened Paul’s argument, for these, indeed, died by special dispensation of providence, on account of their peculiar wickedness; but they would have died just the same, under the decree passed upon Adam, if they had never been guilty of this peculiar wickedness, just as all others died who were not thus guilty. In other words, individual guilt did not bring the death sentence, for it already rested on all; it only brought a sudden, summary and peculiar mode of death upon these particular sinners, so as to stamp them as abnormally wicked.]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Verse 14

Death reigned, &c.; thus showing that, as Paul had maintained in the Romans 5:18-23, God regarded these generations of men as amenable to a law written upon their hearts.–That had not sinned after the similitude, &c.; that is, being without a revelation, they did not, like Adam, and like the Jews who lived after Moses, break laws distinctly promulgated from God. They sinned only against the light of nature. Still they sinned, and were subjected to death, the penalty of sin; and their case is accordingly included in this survey of the consequences which ensued from the transgression of Adam.–The figure of him that was to come; Jesus Christ. Figure means, in this case, type. The representing Christ as the antitype of Adam, seems to furnish the key to the meaning of this passage, (Romans 5:12-21,) which has always been considered one of great difficulty. The general design of the parallel drawn between Jesus and Adam, appears to be, to show that the redemption by Christ was not a mere Jewish redemption,–the counterpart and consummation of the Mosaic law,–as the Jewish Christians were prone to consider it, but that it had far wider connections and bearings. It was the counterpart and remedy for evils introduced by Adam, and affecting the whole human race; and as the consequences of his transgression brought spiritual ruin and death upon all nations, even though they had not, like Adam, sinned against a revealed law,–the remedy, now at length provided, must not be I limited to the Jews, but must be regarded as coxtensive, in its applicability, with the ruin which it was intended to repair. If, through the greatness of the divine displeasure against sin, the transgression of Adam, the head, and in some sense the representative, of the human family, was allowed, in its results, to involve all his descendants in ruin,–much more would God, who is more ready to pardon than to punish, give to the offers of salvation by Christ a similar extension. This general idea is expressed in various forms in the Romans 5:15-21, but with a certain degree of reserve and indirectness in all, prompted, apparently, by a desire which the apostle had manifested already in other cases, not to come too abruptly into collision with the prejudices of the Jews. Some of the verses (Romans 5:15,16) exhibit contrasts; others, (Romans 5:17-19,) analogies; but both contrasts and analogies answer the purpose intended, namely, to show that salvation by Christ was correlative to the ruin of the fall, and so, coxtensive with it in respect to its influences, being intended to afford the offer of salvation to the whole human family.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

5:14 {12} Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over {q} them that had not sinned after the {r} similitude of Adam’s transgression, {13} who is the figure of him that was to come.

(12) But that this law was not the universal law, and that death did not proceed from any actual sin of everyone particularly, it appears by this, that the very infants which neither could ever know nor transgress that natural law, are nonetheless dead as well as Adam.

(q) Our infants.

(r) Nor after the manner of sin of those who are older, following their lusts: but yet the whole posterity was corrupted in Adam when he knowingly and willingly sinned.

(13) Now that first Adam corresponds to the latter, who is Christ, as it is afterward declared.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes