Romans 7:11 kjv
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Romans 7:11 nkjv
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
Romans 7:11 niv
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
Romans 7:11 esv
For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
Romans 7:11 nlt
Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me.
Romans 7 11 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Romans 5:12 | For as through one man sin entered into the world... | Sin entered through Adam |
| Genesis 2:17 | but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat... | God's command and death |
| Genesis 3:4-5 | The serpent said... "You will not surely die." | Deception by Satan |
| Genesis 3:6 | ...she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. | Disobedience |
| Genesis 3:19 | For dust you are, and to dust you shall return. | Consequence of sin: death |
| 1 Corinthians 15:56 | The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. | Law exposes sin's power |
| Galatians 3:21 | Was the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! | Law does not nullify promise |
| 1 Timothy 1:8 | We know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully... | Goodness of the law |
| Romans 3:20 | ...by the works of the law no flesh will be justified... | Law cannot save |
| Romans 7:7 | What then shall we say? Is the law sin? By no means! | Law is not sin |
| Romans 7:8 | but sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. | Sin uses commandment |
| Romans 7:9 | I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. | Death through commandment |
| Romans 7:10 | the very commandment that was intended to bring life I found to be death. | Intended life, actual death |
| Romans 7:12 | So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. | Law's true nature |
| Romans 7:13 | Then did that which is good become death to me? By no means! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good... | Sin the true cause of death |
| Psalm 19:7 | The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. | Law's perfection |
| Leviticus 18:5 | You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD. | Obedience brings life |
| Deuteronomy 27:26 | “Cursed be anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by doing them.” | Cursed for disobedience |
| John 1:17 | For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. | Law vs. Grace |
| Romans 6:14 | For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. | Freedom from sin's dominion |
| Hebrews 12:15 | ...lest any root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. | Roots of sin |
Romans 7 verses
Romans 7 11 Meaning
Sin deceived me and, through the commandment, killed me. This highlights how sin used God's perfectly good law as the instrument of death.
Romans 7 11 Context
This verse is part of a larger section in Romans (chapters 6-8) dealing with life in the Spirit, contrasted with life under the law and the power of sin. Paul is explaining the ineffectiveness of the Mosaic Law to bring righteousness or life. He uses a first-person, possibly representative, account to illustrate that sin, an external force, exploits the internal conviction and prohibition provided by the Law to bring about a greater awareness of sin and ultimately death. The argument builds upon the idea that the Law itself is not sinful but serves to expose sin.
Romans 7 11 Word Analysis
- ἀπάτη (apatē): Deceit, deception, guile. It signifies the trickery or cunning employed by sin.
- καὶ (kai): And, also, even. A conjunction connecting "deceived" and "killed."
- διὰ (dia): Through, by means of. Indicates the instrument through which sin operates.
- τῆς ἐντολῆς (tēs entolēs): The commandment. Specifically refers to a divine command, highlighting God's law.
- ἀπέκτεινεν (apektenen): Killed. The aorist tense indicates a completed action, emphasizing the decisive outcome of sin's deception via the commandment.
Word Group Analysis
- Sin deceived me: Sin is portrayed as an active, intelligent agent of deceit. This echoes the serpent's temptation in Genesis 3.
- through the commandment, killed me: The commandment, though holy, becomes the tool for sin to accomplish its deadly work. It reveals sin's presence and nature, leading to condemnation when obeyed imperfectly.
Romans 7 11 Bonus Section
The Greek term "entole" (commandment) refers specifically to divine instruction. In Romans 7:11, Paul focuses on the concept of prohibition, where sin thrives by being forbidden. This psychological mechanism, known as the "forbidden fruit effect," amplifies desire. God's command to Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge (Gen. 2:17) exemplifies this, where the prohibition itself became the enticement, leading to disobedience and death, as described in Genesis 3. Paul masterfully employs this universal human experience to illustrate his theological point about the Law and sin.
Romans 7 11 Commentary
Sin is a masterful deceiver, using God's good law to achieve its destructive ends. The Law, intended to guide and reveal God's will, instead highlights human sinfulness. When a person is under the Law and attempts to keep it, sin capitalizes on their inability to do so perfectly. This inability, when measured against the Law's perfect standard, reveals the presence and power of sin, ultimately leading to death (separation from God). This isn't the Law's fault, but sin's perversion of the Law. The passage underscores that no one can achieve righteousness or life by perfectly keeping the Law because sin is intrinsically tied to its prohibition.