(12) Wherefore, as hy one rtian sin entered into the world, and death hy sin, &c. The force of wherefore has already been pointed out, when speaking of the connexion of this passage with the preceding. ' It fol« lows from what had been said of the method of justification, that as by- one man,' &c. It indicates the point towards which the whole discus- sion, from the commencement of the epistle, tends, and the grand conclu- sion from all the apostle's reasoning. £s by one man. The word as obviously indicates a comparison between the case of Adam and some- thing else. Since, however, the other part of the comparison is not im- mediately stated, various explanations of this verse have been proposed. It is, however, so obvious, that the comparison here commenced is resumed and stated in full, in vs. 18, 19,, that the great body of com- mentators consider the verses 13 — 17 as a parenthesis, designed for the confirmation and illustration of the statement in v. 12. Thus, too, the passage is pointed in our common English version.
By one man sin entered into the world, i.e. one man was the cause of all men's becoming sinners. To make these words mean nothing more than that sin commenced with Adam, that he was the first sinner, is ob- viously inconsistent with the force of the words by one man, and with the whole context and design of the passage. See the expressions " through the offence of one," v. 15 ; " the judgment was by one," v. 16 ; »' by one man's offence," v. 17 ; " by the offence of one judgment came," V. 18; "by one man's disobedience," v. 19. These expressions, so clearly parallel with the declaration " By one man sin entered into the world," make it too plain to admit of doubt that the clause before us ex- presses the idea that Adam was the cause of all men's becoming sinners, and not merely that sin began with him, or that he was the first sinner.