Romans V. 14.

reckoned, they are spoken of as those , who had not sinned : but Adam is spoken of as the one who sinned , ver. 16. Observe, if these seven precepts of Noah, were what they are said to be, Paul would have described those who had not sinned , from Adam to Noah, not to Moses. — o/io/w/tar/, in the likeness ) As Adam, when he transgressed the law, died, in like manner also they died, who did not transgress , or rather, who did not sin ; for Paul varies the words in speaking of Adam, and of all others. This is the conclusion ; That men died before the law, is a thing which befell them on account of the similitude of Adam! s transgression ; that is, Because the ground on which they stood, and on which Adam stood, [their footing and that of Adam] was one and the same : — they died on account of another guilt, not on account of that, which they themselves had contracted, namely, the guilt which had been contracted by Adam. In fact, the death of many is ascribed directly to the fall of the one, ver. 15. Thus it is not denied, that death is the wages of any sin whatever ; but it is proved, that the primary cause of death was the first sin. It is this fact, which has brought us to destruction, just as the robber, who has plundered his victim, after having murdered him, is punished for the murder, and yet he did not commit the robbery with impunity, since the puuishment of the robbery merged in the punishment of the murder ; but, as compared with the greater punishment of murder, it was scarcely taken into account. — ’Ada/x, of Adam) In this one verse we have the name of the individual 5 A(3«/a, in all the others, the appellative noun, man. But, while the name of Adam is consigned to oblivion, the name of Jesus Christ is distinctly preached [proclaimed] ver. 15, 17. — fig sen rv^og rou jusWovrog) og for 6, which thing , agrees in gender with rvnog : that which was to come , ro /xeXXov, is in the neuter gender [But Eng. vers., “ of Him, that was to come.”] Hence what is said respecting the future, ver. 17, 19. This paragraph from ver. 12 by implication contains the whole com- parison of the first and second Adam, so far as they correspond to each other ; for what follows refers to the differences between them, and the apodosis should be inferred from the protasis in this manner at ver. 12 : [As by one man sin entered — and death , -etc.], so in like manner by one man righteousness entered into the world and by righteousness life ; and so life passed upon all men ,