Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.
Parallel translations
- WEB Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.
- KJV Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
- NKJV Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
- NASB Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the violation committed by Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
- NLT Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those who did not sin as Adam did, and Adam prefigures Christ. Adam is a type pointing to the coming Savior.
Overview
Paul observes that death ruled over all between Adam and Moses, proving that all were affected by Adam's sin even without a law to break like his. He then names Adam 'a foreshadowing,' or type, of Christ, the one who was to come. This introduces the central Adam-Christ parallel: as Adam brought death, Christ brings life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Cor 15:45So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
- Rom 5:17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
- Heb 9:27Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,
- Rom 8:22We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
- Gen 7:22Of all that was on dry land, everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
- Rom 5:21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Gen 19:25Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground.
- Hos 6:7But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
- Jonah 4:11So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”
- Rom 8:20For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope
- Exod 1:22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: “Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live.”
- Gen 4:8Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- Gen 5:5–31So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.
- Exod 1:6Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,
- Exod 12:29–30Now at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on his throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, as well as all the firstborn among the livestock.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 5:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.