Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
16
:
Slaves
, the choice is not whether to be slaves or free; the choice is which master one is going to belong to.
17
: Paul may be alluding to a specific code of conduct applicable to Gentile Christ-followers, such as the “Apostolic Decree,” in lieu of the instruction that would have applied to them if they had undertaken proselyte conversion; see Acts 15.19–21,27–32; 16.4–5.
From the heart
, with deep intention.
19
:
In human terms
, using an analogy to the human institution of slavery.
Your natural limitations
, lit., “the weakness of your flesh.”
Iniquity
, lit., “lawlessness,” as described in 1.18–32.
20
–23
:
Slaves
, see v. 16n.
Advantage
, lit., “fruit.”
End
, goal, outcome, prize.”
Enslaved to God
, Lev 25.55.
Sanctification,
being set apart to God, therefore not behaving according to other cultural norms.
Eternal life
, see 2.7n.
Free gift
, benefaction; “free” not in Gk.
7.1
–25: Freedom from sin and death, enabled to live rightly.
Paul begins with an analogy to the law/convention of marriage and how it no longer binds a spouse to that partner once the other party has died; likewise, the convention since Adam of children of the nations being slaves of sin no longer binds the audience. They are now bound to a new life in Christ. The language is very difficult to follow: the same terms are used but with different referents and implications along the way, and the prevailing psychological interpretations are themselves suspect. The goal of the argument is evident by the end of it, and in keeping with that which has been argued in the previous chs: it is that these members from the other nations who have turned to God in Christ are not bound to live according to the limitations of their previous identity in Adam, in sin leading to death, but in righteousness, because they now live in Christ. They are not circumcised and so not under Torah, because they are not Israelites, but they are nevertheless now free from the law of sin to live a life such as Torah describes, a life lived according to God’s standards, and not those of sin and death. The next ch seeks to explain how to be enabled to live this righteous way of life, although still living with the conflicts that the body creates between what one approves of as right and what one nevertheless desires passionately to have that is not right.
1
: The previous argument is continued.
The law
or a convention; no article in Gk. “Nomos” (law) is not restricted to Jewish, Roman, or any other specific law in ch 7. Although translated “law” throughout in the NRSV, the referent changes throughout this argument.
2
–3
: As the wife is no longer bound to her deceased husband, these Gentiles are no longer bound to Adam, but to Christ.
2
:
Is bound by the law
, a convention [i.e., of marriage]; no article in Gk.
3
:
She is not an adulteress
, i.e., sidestepper of that law/convention, since it no longer applies to her.
4
:
You have died to the law
, i.e., of sin, binding you to Adam. The law or convention from which they are freed was not Torah, for they were slaves to the law of sin, bound to Adam (6.16–21). The convention or law of sin is what 1.18–32 had spelled out, which had brought death to Adam’s descendants.
5
:
Aroused by the law
, i.e., of sin, active for those bound to Adam.
Members
, lit., “limbs.”
6
:
Discharged from the law
, i.e., of sin as descendants of Adam.
So that we are slaves not under the old written code
, or in order to serve as slaves in newness of spirit and not [as slaves] to an ancient inscription [i.e., a cut in the body]. Compare Philo discussing conversion as the change of life from old customs (“fabulous inventions”) to becoming servants of God (e.g.,
Spec. Laws
1.51–53, 308–14;
Virtues
214).
7–12
: Presuming that the voice in this section picks up from v. 4, we have the case of the wife introduced in vv. 1–4. Should the wife uncontrollably desire another man while her husband is still alive, acting on that desire would express what the “do not covet” commandment forbids. Paul’s argument here is difficult to follow: this difficulty is partly due to the conflicted nature of the predicament to which the argument drives. On the centrality of covetousness as “the source of all evils,” see Philo,
Spec. Laws
4.79–99, and Epictetus,
Diatr
. 24.84–118.
7
:
If the law had not said
appears to refer to God’s command to Adam; cf. Gen 2.16–17; 3.1–24.
Covet
, i.e., overwhelming desire for what is not yours.
8
:
An opportunity,
or a pretext.
In me
, i.e., in Adam and thus his descendants.
Apart from the law sin lies dead
, lit., “For without (a) law sin is dead” (there must be a norm in order to err according to it).
Commandment
, i.e., do not covet (Ex 20.17; Deut 5.21).
9
: Lit., “Now I was alive without the law formerly, but arrival of the commandment (see v. 7) enlivens the sin.” In other words, the very existence of a prohibition can cause one to recognize the wrongfulness of the prohibited act.
10
: Lit., “and the commandment that is (to lead) into life [possibly Gen 3.22–23; see also Lev 18.5; Deut 30.6], is being discovered by me (to lead) into death.”
11
–12
: It is not the action of the commandment that leads to death, but the reaction of the one who receives the commandment.
And through it killed me
, “me” not in Gk.
13–25
: Continuation of the argument for the power of sin at work in the body, even for the one who wills in the mind to do right.
13
: This leads to the next logical question: Should the “good” commandment not then be given? Would Adam have been better off if not told to refrain from eating of the tree? The answer is an unequivocal no. It revealed sin to be bringing about death, which would have otherwise gone unrealized, and thus not clearly to be avoided at all costs.
:
Spiritual
, possibly having to do with spiritual matters, e.g., honesty, righteousness, etc.
Of the flesh,
lit., “fleshly.”
Sold into slavery under sin
, lit., “sold to being under sin (error)”; “into slavery” not in Gk. Cf. Isa 50.1; 11QPs
a
19.9–10.
15
–23
: The rabbis (
Sifre Deut
. 32) identify these conflicting impulses as “yetzer ha-tov” (the good inclination) and “yetzer ha-ra” (the evil inclination). Similar struggles are discussed in 1QS 3.15–4.26; Epictetus,
Diatr
. 2.26.4.
21
–23
: Paul refers to the “nomos” arising from distinct sources, all in the sense of “principle” or “norm,” rather than to signify Torah. He draws on his argument in 1.18–2.29, and thereafter, that everyone is aware of what is right before God, and thus responsible for intending and doing what is right—for instance, responsible for self-control instead of covetousness—and no one is excused from carrying out the intention of lawbreaking, including by the exploiting of law to do so, i.e., legally.
24
: The
I
seeks rescue not from Torah but from the body.
25
:
A slave to the law of God
, i.e., a member of God’s family and principles for living.
A slave to the law of sin
, i.e., a member of the human family descended from Adam and the principles of sin and death. See 1QS 11.9–15; 1QH 4.30–38.
8.1
–39: The Spirit-enabled life.
Continuing the argument from chs 5–7, Paul explains that although still living in the body and thus subject to human limitations, the Spirit of God is in the lives of those who set their minds on the things of the Spirit in faithfulness to Christ, which will enable them to live the life of righteousness. It will not be without continued conflict between spiritual conventions and human limitations, for they are still living in bodies (i.e., in the present age), but victory is assured, not only for themselves but for all of creation, which will be rescued according to God’s design (i.e., when the awaited age arrives fully). Thus rather than allowing fear of dissatisfaction and death to lead them into selfish choices, they are free to be indebted to pursuing what is right for everyone, for all of God’s creation. In other words, they are to be committed to faithfully living according to the values of the age to come during the present age.
1
: The ch continues the change of direction begun in 7.25, and the overall argument of ch 7.
2
: For “pneuma,”
spirit
or “breath,” see Gen 1.2; Ezek 37; Ps 139.7; the
Spirit of life
is thus the presence of the divine righteousness and life, working through
Christ Jesus
, to
free
the followers of Jesus from
the law
(i.e., the principle)
of sin and of death
.
Law of the Spirit … of sin and of death,
Gk “nomos tou pneumatos,” “hamartias … thanatou,” “the law/principle of the spirit” as opposed to that “of error and death.” The rightness of the law/principle is confirmed, not dismissed, by those who are now enabled to fulfill it by conducting their lives according to the spirit of life in Christ Jesus instead of, with Adam, in the spirit of death in sin.
3
:
The law, weakened by the flesh
, the moral convention or principle that provoked the very actions it was prohibiting because of human limitations/desires, as children of Adam. In the Hebrew Bible,
flesh
(“basar”) can mean the body (Job 19.26); all of humankind (Isa 66.16); the weaker side of human nature (Ezek 35.26); weakness (Isa 31.3); and food (Dan 7.5).
To deal with sin
, lit., “concerning sin” or and on behalf of (being) a sin-offering (see translators’ note
b
). The “sin-offering” (better, “purification offering”) as set out in Lev chs 4; 12; 14; 15 was the means by which the Temple was cleansed so that God’s presence could continue there; it was accomplished by the sprinkling of blood.
4
–6
: Paul moves from declaring a state of change already accomplished to a conditional state that one can accomplish in a new way, but one that requires “walking” or “norms for living” (i.e., “halakh”) to accomplish it.
Just requirement of the law
, God’s principle/norm.
Spirit
, i.e., divine capability, in contrast to human limitations/desires (
flesh
).