Romans 7:11

7:11 Sin . . . deceived me: The language is reminiscent of Gen 3:13—Paul might be thinking of the Fall.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 7:11. Ἐξηπάτησε, deceived) led me into by-paths, as the robber leads the traveller; and while I supposed that I was going onward to life, I fell into [upon] death.—ἀπέκτεινεν, slew me) This is the termination of the economy of sin, and is on the confines of that of grace.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_7:11. Illustration of this surprising result, in which ἡ ἁμαρτία, as the guilty element, is placed foremost, and its guilt is also made manifest by the διὰ τῆς ἐντολ. placed before ἐξηπάτ. Sin has by means of the commandment (which had for its direct aim my life) deceived me, inasmuch as it used it for the provocation of desire. An allusion to the serpent in Paradise is probable, both from the nature of the case, and also from the expression (LXX. Gen_3:13). Comp. 2Co_11:2. But such an allusion would be inappropriate, if it were the struggle of the more earnest Pharisaism (Philippi), and not the loss of childlike innocence, that is here described. As to the conception of the ἐξηπάτησε (sin held out to me something pernicious as being desirable), comp. Eph_4:22, Heb_3:13.

ἀπέκτεινεν] like ἀπέθανον in Rom_7:10.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 7:11 . Yet this result is not due to the commandment in itself. It is indwelling sin, inherited from Adam, which, when it has found a base of operations, employs the commandment to deceive ( cf. Gen 3:13 ) and to kill. “Sin here takes the place of the Tempter” in Genesis (S. and H.).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_7:11

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. The law is the cause of death, Rom_7:10, for by it sin deceived and slew me. The two ideas before insisted upon are again here presented viz the law, so far from giving life, is the source of death, spiritual and penal; and yet the fault is not in the law, but in sin, i.e. in our own corrupt nature. Here, as in Rom_7:8, two constructions are possible. We may say, Sin took occasion by the commandment; or, Sin taking occasion, by the commandment deceived me. For reasons mentioned above, Rom_7:8, the latter is to be preferred: Sin deceived me, ἐξηπάτησε. The ἐκ is intensive: It completely deceived me, or disappointed my expectations. How? By leading the apostle to expect one thing, while he experienced another. He expected life, and found death. He expected happiness, and found misery; he looked for holiness, and found increased corruption. He fancied that by the law all these desirable ends could be secured, when its operation was discovered to produce the directly opposite effects. Sin therefore deceived by the commandment, and by it slew him, instead of its being to him the source of holiness and blessedness. The reference is not to the promised joys of sin, which always mock the expectation and disappoint the hopes, but rather to the utter failure of the law to do what he expected from it. Such is the experience of every believer, in the ordinary progress of his inward life. He first turns to the law, to his own righteousness and strength, but he soon finds that all the law can do is only to aggravate his guilt and misery.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 11. Sin, taking occasion] Sin, deriving strength from the law, threatening death to the transgressor, (See Clarke on Ro 7:8,) deceived me, drew me aside to disobedience, promising me gratification honour, independence, c., as it promised to Eve for to her history the apostle evidently alludes, and uses the very same expression, deceived me, εξηπατησε με. See the preceding note; and see the Septuagint, Ge 3:13.

And by it slew me.] Subjected me to that death which the law denounced against transgressors; and rendered me miserable during the course of life itself. It is well known to scholars that the verb αποκτεινειν signifies not only to slay or kill, but also to make wretched. Every sinner is not only exposed to death because he has sinned, and must, sooner or later, die; but he is miserable in both body and mind by the influence and the effects of sin. He lives a dying life, or a living death.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Led me out of the way, etc. It is indeed true, that while the will of God is hid from us, and no truth shines on us, the life of men goes wholly astray and is full of errors; nay, we do nothing but wander from the right course, until the law shows to us the way of living rightly: but as we begin then only to perceive our erroneous course, when the Lord loudly reproves us, Paul says rightly, that we are led out of the way, when sin is made evident by the law. Hence the verb, ἐξαπατᾷν, must be understood, not of the thing itself, but of our knowledge; that is, that it is made manifest by the law how much we have departed from the right course. It must then be necessarily rendered, led me out of the way; for hence sinners, who before went on heedlessly, loathe and abominate themselves, when they perceive, through the light which the law throws on the turpitude of sin, that they had been hastening to death. But he away introduces the word occasion, and for this purpose — that we may know that the law of itself does not bring death, but that this happens through something else, and that this is as it were adventitious.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11-13) The cause of this miscarriage lay not with the Law but with Sin. Sin played the tempter, and then made use of the Commandment to condemn and destroy its victims. All this time the Law (i.e., the whole body of precepts) and the Commandment (i.e., the particular precepts included in the Law) remained perfectly good in themselves. They could not be otherwise, having come from the hand of God Himself. Sin was the fatal power. The Law and the Commandment were only passive instruments which it wielded for the destruction of man. But at the same time Sin itself was exposed by them in all its ever-increasing enormity.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. For sin, &c.] A reiteration of Rom_7:8, with more detail. The “deception” here is fully illustrated by the history of the Fall. (Cp. carefully Gen_3:4-5.) The Tempter “took occasion by” the prohibition to “deceive” the woman as to the character of God for truth and love; alienated her will from Him; and so brought in death. Since then, alas, he finds the human will ready-alienated to his hand.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For sin taking occasion by the commandment,.... As in Rom 7:8,

deceived me; either by promising pleasure or impunity: the same effect is ascribed by the Jews to the evil imagination or corruption of nature, which they say is called an enticer, , "that deceives man" (g):

and by it slew me; mortally wounded me: not the law, but sin by the law, deceived and slew him; so that as before, the law is cleared from being the cause of sin, so here, from being the cause of death; for though the law is a killing letter, the ministration of condemnation and death, yet it is not the cause of it; but sin, which is a transgression of the law, is that which deceives or leads out of the way, as the word signifies, and then kills. The metaphor is taken from a thief or a robber, who leads a man out of the way into some bypath, and then murders him.

(g) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 141. 3. & 150. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.

Ver. 11. Deceived me] Irritated my corrupt nature, and made me sin the more, per accidens, as Pharaoh was the worse for a message of dismission.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For sin - This verse is a repetition, with a little variation of the sentiment in Rom 7:8.

Deceived me - The word used here properly means to lead or seduce from the right way; and then to deceive, solicit to sin, cause to err from the way of virtue, Rom 16:18; 1Co 3:18; 2Co 11:3, “The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,” 2Th 2:3. The meaning here seems to be, that his corrupt and rebellious propensities, excited by the Law, led him astray; caused him more and more to sin; practiced a species of deception on him by urging him on headlong, and without deliberation, into aggravated transgression. In this sense, all sinners are deceived. Their passions urge them on, deluding them, and leading them further and further from happiness, and involving them, before they are aware, in crime and death. No being in the universe is more deladed than a sinner in the indulgence of evil passions. The description of Solomon in a particular case will apply to all, Pro 7:21-23.

“With much fair speech she caused him to yield,

With the flattering of her lips she forced him.

He goeth after her straightway,

As an ox goeth to the slaughter,

Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

Till a dart strike through his liver,

As a bird hasteth to the snare.”

By it - By the Law, Rom 7:8.

Slew me - Meaning the same as “I died,” Rom 7:8.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

For sin, taking occasion by the commandment: see the notes on Rom 7:8.

Deceived me; i.e. seduced and drew me aside, Heb 3:13; Jam 1:14.

And by it slew me; i.e. it drove me into despair, or delivered me over to death and damnation, and made me obnoxious thereunto.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Taking occasion—Law was the occasion, sin the author of the murder.

Deceived me—Deluded me, as all temptation does with some false good. So did the serpent Eve.

Slew me—As sin and serpent did both Adam and Eve.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deceived me - While I expected life by the law, sin came upon me unawares and slew all my hopes.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

sin

Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 5:21").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As if the apostle had said, "Sin, or the corruption of my heart and nature, being stirred up by the commandment which forbids lust, and condemns it, enticed me, and persuaded me, and prevailed over me, to yield to the lusts of my own heart, and then condemned me, and slew men for yielding to them."

See here the true and genuine nature of sin: it first deceives, and then destroys: It deceived me, saith the apostle, and then slew me. Sin doth perfectly besot the creature, and renders it injudicious: it befools and deceives us, it pollutes and defiles us, it doth debase and degrade us, and, without repentance, damns and destroys.

God keep us from being hardened in sinning through the deceitfulness of sin; let no profit tempt us, no pleasure entice us, no power embolden us, no privacy encourage us, to adventure upon any known sin; for its embraces are deadly, it leads to death, and ends in death; after it has deceived us, it certainly destroys us, Sin taking occasion, deceived me, and by it slew me.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. “For sin, taking occasion through the commandment, deceived me and through it slew me.” This verse explains itself. The commandment aroused inbred sin, hitherto still and dormant in his heart. If he had not yielded to sin, the law would have been a great blessing to him. But, like the rest of us, he yielded to sin, which consequently slew him outright.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me .

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me. Sin is always a deceiver, however. I cannot explain this save by referring it to a period of life when he was self-deceived, and sinned, thinking he was doing God service. It exactly describes the persecuting Saul of Tarsus. Sin deceived him. When he found he was deceived, it slew him. He was convicted before God.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

For sin took the opportunity through the commandment and deceived me. Through the commandment it killed me

As in Romans 7:7-8, Paul is describing sin as a person who can do 3 things: take the opportunity, deceive, and kill. AT: "Because I wanted to sin, I deceived myself into thinking that I could sin and obey the commandment at the same time, but God punished me for disobeying the commandment by separating me from him" (See: Personification)

sin

"my desire to sin"

took the opportunity through the commandment

Paul is comparing sin to a person who can act. See how you translated this in Romans 7:8. (See: Personification)

it killed me

Paul speaks of God's condemnation on sinners as if it resulted primarily in physical death. AT: "it separated me from God" (See: Metaphor)

holy

Morally perfect, without sin

translationWords

sin

command

deceive

law

holy

righteous

good

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

11. ἐξηπάτησεν κ.τ.λ. Here we get nearest to personification of ἡ ἁμ., with the echo of Gen 2:13; cf. 2Co 11:3; 1Ti 2:14. The deceit lies in the representation of the satisfaction of the forbidden impulse as more desirable than obedience to the command.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11.] For (explanatory how ver. 10 happened) sin (the sinful principle within me) having found occasion (absol. as in ver. 8, where see note),—by means of the commandment deceived me (there is a plain reference to the Tempter deceiving Eve, which was accomplished by means of the commandment, exciting doubt of and objection to it, and lust after the forbidden thing: see reff. 2 Cor., 1 Tim.), and by it slew me (i.e. brought me into the state of misery and death, mentioned in ver. 10;—but there is an allusion again to the effect of the fall as the act of the Tempter).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. ἐξηπάτησέ με. The language is suggested by the description of the Fall (Gen 3:13 LXX; cf. 2Co 11:3; 1Ti 2:14). Sin here takes the place of the Tempter there. In both cases the ‘commandment’—acknowledged only to be broken—is the instrument which is made use of to bring about the disastrous and fatal end.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deceived [εξηπατησεν] . Rev., beguiled Only in Paul. Compare 2Co 11:3; 2Th 2:3.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.