For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Parallel translations
- WEB for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
- BSB For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.
- NKJV For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
- NASB for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it, killed me.
- NLT Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me.
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
Sin used the commandment to deceive and kill, much as the serpent did in Eden. Sin twists even God's good law to destroy.
Overview
Echoing the deception in the garden, Paul depicts sin as a deceiver that weaponizes the commandment. By promising and then withholding life, sin uses the holy law to bring about spiritual death. The language clears the law of blame and places it squarely on sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Gen 3:13And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
- Rom 7:8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
- Heb 3:13But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
- Isa 44:20He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Rom 7:13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
- Jas 1:26If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.
- Jer 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
- Jer 49:16Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
- Jas 1:22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
- Obad 1:3The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
- Eph 4:22That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
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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 7:11 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.