So then if ... - compare Matthew 5:32.She shall be called - She will be. The word used here χρηματίσει chrēmatisei is often used to denote being called by an oracle or by divine revelation. But it is here employed in the simple sense of being commonly called, or of being so regarded. read more
Wherefore - This verse contains an application of the illustration in the two preceding. The idea there is, that death dissolves a connection from which obligation resulted. This is the single point of the illustration, and consequently there is no need of inquiring whether by the wife the apostle meant to denote the old man, or the Christian, etc. The meaning is, as death dissolves the connection between a wife and her husband, and of course the obligation of the law resulting from that... read more
Romans 7:1-3. Know ye not, brethren The apostle, having shown that justified and regenerated persons are free from the dominion of sin, shows here that they are also free from the yoke of the Mosaic law, it being dead to them, Romans 7:6; and they to it, Romans 7:4: for I speak to them that know the law To the Jews or proselytes chiefly here; that the law The Mosaic dispensation in general, to which you were espoused by Moses; hath dominion over a man Over a Jew married to it, and... read more
Romans 7:4. Wherefore, my brethren Hence it follows, or by this comparison it appears; ye also Believing Jews, and much more believing Gentiles; are become dead to the law Taken off from all hopes of justification by it, and confidence in your obedience to it: and so likewise it has become dead to you, and has no life or efficacy in these respects; by the body of Christ By the offering up of Christ’s body on the cross; that is, by the merit of his death, by which it evidently... read more
The law cannot help (7:1-25)Through Christ, believers have not only died to sin, they have died to the law also, which means that their lives are now different. Paul gives an example. If a husband dies, the wife is no longer bound to him and is free to marry again. Likewise believers have died to the law so that the bond between them and the law is broken. However, they have been raised to new life and are now united to another, the living Christ (7:1-4). Formerly, they found that the more the... read more
Know ye not . See Romans 6:3 . speak . App-121 . know . App-132 . the . Omit. law . Greek. nomas . Occurs over 190 times, of which about two-thirds are in Paul's Epistles, the greater number being in Romans and 31 in Galatians. There are 23 in this chapter. dominion over . See Romans 6:9 , Romans 6:14 . a = the. man . Greek. anthropos. App-123 . The general term, meaning either man or woman. as long = for ( App-104 .) such time (Greek. chronos) . read more
which hath, &c . Greek. hupandros. Only here. husband . App-123 . so long, &c. Literally while living. if . App-118 . be dead = should have died. loosed = free. Greek. katargeo. See Romans 3:3 . from . App-104 . he = the. read more
be married to . Literally become for. another . App-124 . man . App-123 . be called . Greek. chrematizo. See Luke 2:26 . that = the. no = not ( App-105 ) an This is an illustration of the fact that death breaks all bonds; husband and wife, master and servant. read more
are become dead = were put to death. Greek. thanatoo. See Matthew 10:21 .Mark 13:12 . 2Co 6:9 . 1 Peter 3:18 . the law . Compare Romans 2:12-14 . by . App-104 .Romans 7:1 . the body : i.e. the crucified body, not the body of Christ mystical (Ephesians 1:23 ). Christ . App-98 . that = to the end ( App-104 .) that. raised . App-178 .:4. from the dead . Greek. ek nekron . App-139 . that = in order that. Greek. hina. should = may. unto = to. God . App-98 . No analogy here with the... read more
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Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Romans 7:2
For the woman - This verse is a specific illustration of the general principle in Romans 7:1, that death dissolves those connections 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 endeavoring to show that “men are the wife, the law of the former husband, and Christ the new one;” or that “the old man is the wife,... read more