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Romans

About this book
Chapter 5

1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.⁠ 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. 12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned—⁠ 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed. 15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification.⁠ 17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were constituted sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be constituted righteous.⁠ 20 Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1QS 11:2 and Romans 5:16

Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts · New Testament

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Summary

The Community Rule in the Dead Sea Scrolls says that justification comes from God, who removes sin and declares people righteous. In Romans, Paul uses similar courtroom language, describing justification as a gift from God rather than something earned.

Passages

1QS 11:2

Dead Sea Scrolls, Sectarian and Community Texts · Community Rule
2 the rod, who point the finger and speak wickedness and are zealous for wealth. As for me, my judgment belongs to God, and in his hand is the perfection of my way with the uprightness of my heart, 3 and by his righteous acts he will wipe out my transgression. For from the source of his knowledge he has opened his light, and my eye has looked on his wonders, and the light of my heart is in the mystery of 4 what will be and what is forever. The support of my right hand is on a strong rock; the way of my steps will not be shaken by anything. For the truth of God is 5 the rock of my steps, and his might is the staff of my right hand. And from the source of his righteousness comes my judgment, a light in my heart from his wonderful mysteries. On what is forever 6 my eye has looked: sound wisdom that is hidden from humankind, knowledge and prudent discretion hidden from the sons of Adam, a source of righteousness and a reservoir of
160–100 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1QS

Romans 5:16

New Testament
12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned— 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed. 15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification. 17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
55–58 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Romans

References

"... (1QS 11.2–3; 12; 13–15) The word for ‘justification’ here is regularly משפת not some cognate of צדק as one might have imagined if the language was to prefigure Paul’s use of the δικαιοσύνη root in Romans and elsewhere. This, however, is not a problem. משפת is often translated as ‘judgment’, but in the Hebrew lawcourt ‘judgment’ is given not only against the person who loses the case (as the English word sometimes implies) but in favour of the person who wins. It is thus a positive decision by the court, leaving the winner ‘vindicated’ (not necessarily ‘acquitted’, since the same word describes a successful plaintiff as well as an acquitted defendant). These texts, then, remain important for understanding Paul’s background; and this reflection reminds us of an important theme, namely the way in which such language functions within an ancient Hebrew lawcourt context, actual or metaphorical ..."
N. T. Wright, “4QMMT and Paul: Justification, ‘Works,’ and Eschatology,” in History and Exegesis: New Testament Essays in Honor of Dr. E. Earle Ellis for His 80th Birthday, ed. Aang-Won (Aaron) Son (New York: T & T Clark, 2006), 104–132.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1QS 11:2 and Romans 5:16

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