just as
The phrase "καθὼς" (kathōs) introduces a comparison, setting up a parallel between Adam and Christ, which Paul will elaborate on in the subsequent verses. This comparison is crucial for understanding the doctrine of original sin and the redemptive work of Christ. It invites readers to consider the symmetry between the actions of Adam and the redemptive act of Jesus.

sin entered the world
The Greek word for sin, "ἁμαρτία" (hamartia), conveys the idea of missing the mark or falling short of God's standard. The entrance of sin into the world marks a pivotal moment in human history, as described in Genesis 3. This phrase underscores the historical reality of the Fall, which brought about a fundamental change in the human condition and the created order.

through one man
This refers to Adam, the first human, whose disobedience in the Garden of Eden had cosmic consequences. The Greek "δι’ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου" (di’ henos anthrōpou) emphasizes the singularity of Adam's act and its far-reaching impact. Adam's role as the federal head of humanity means that his sin affected all his descendants, a concept that is foundational to the doctrine of original sin.

and death through sin
Death, "θάνατος" (thanatos) in Greek, is both physical and spiritual, signifying separation from God. The entrance of death through sin highlights the direct consequence of Adam's transgression. This reflects the Genesis account where God warned Adam that eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would result in death (Genesis 2:17). Death is portrayed as an intruder in God's good creation, a result of sin's corruption.

so also death was passed on to all men
The phrase "οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν" (houtōs eis pantas anthrōpous ho thanatos diēlthen) indicates the universality of death's reign. The transmission of death to all humanity underscores the pervasive impact of sin. This concept is central to understanding human mortality and the need for redemption. It reflects the biblical teaching that all are born into a fallen state, necessitating divine intervention.

because all sinned
The Greek "ἐφ’ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον" (eph’ hō pantes hēmarton) can be understood as "in whom all sinned," suggesting that all humanity participated in Adam's sin. This phrase encapsulates the doctrine of original sin, where Adam's guilt is imputed to his descendants. It highlights the solidarity of the human race in sin and the need for a Savior. This theological truth sets the stage for the redemptive work of Christ, who offers life and righteousness to all who believe.

The sequence is, first sin, then death. Now, the death which passed over mankind had its origin in Adam's sin. Strictly speaking, there could be no individual sin till there was a law to be broken. But in the interval between Adam and Moses, i.e., before the institution of law, death prevailed, over the world. which was a proof that there was sin somewhere. The solution is, that the sin in question was not the individual guilt of individual transgressors, but the single transgression of Adam. Here, then, is the contrast. The single sin of the one man, Adam, brought death upon all mankind; the single act of the one Redeemer cleared away many offences--also for all men. Under the old dispensation law entered in to intensify the evil; but, in like manner, under the new, grace has come in to enhance and multiply the benefit. Thus the remedial system and the condemnatory system are co-extensive, the one over against the other, and the first entirely cancels the second.

(12) Wherefore.--The train of thought which follows is suggested by the mention which had just been made of atonement, reconciliation. We see here another instance of the Apostle's fondness for transcendental theology, and for the development of the deeper mysteries of God's dealings with man. The rapidity with which ideas of this kind throng into his brain is such as to break the even flow and structure of his sentence.

As by one man.--This clause, "As by one man sin and death entered," ought to have been answered by "So by one Man grace and life entered." But a difficulty occurs at the very outset. How can it really be said that sin and death entered by Adam? For sin does not exist without law, and the law did not come in till Moses. And yet we have proof that sin must have been there; for death, its consequence, prevailed all through this period in which law was still wanting. The fact was, the sin which then prevailed, and had such wide and disastrous effects, was Adam's. So that it is strictly legitimate to compare his fall with the act of redemption. It is strictly true to say that by one man sin and death entered into the world, as life and grace entered by another. In either case the consequence was that of one man's act.

For that all have sinned.--.Rather, for that, or because, all sinned--i.e., not by their own individual act, but implicitly in Adam's transgression. They were summed up, and included in him as the head and representative of the race.

(1) When we pay regard to man's spiritual capabilities and aspirations, even as he is now, death does seem to us an anomaly - a contradiction to the ideal of his inner self. That a beast of the field should die appears to us no such anomaly; for it has done all that it seems to have been meant to do, or to be capable of doing: it has served as a link in the continuance of its kind, not having been conscious, as far as we know, of anything beyond its surroundings. But man (i.e. man as he is capable of being, so as to represent the capacity of humanity) connects himself in his inner self with eternity; his mind resents the idea of death, as an unwelcome stoppage to its development and its yearnings. It goes on ever maturing its power, enlarging its range, thirsting for higher knowledge, entertaining affections that seem eternal; and then bodily decay and death arrest its progress as it were in mid-career. Thus death, as it comes to us and affects us now, seems to involve a contradiction between man's inner consciousness and the facts of his existence at present; it is shrunk from as something that ought not to be. It is true that, when faith has once grasped the idea of bodily death being but a transition to a better life, the anomaly disappears: but such is its aspect to the natural man: and thus we can enter into the scriptural idea of death, as it comes to us so inevitably now, being something not originally meant for man, though we may be unable to say how it would have been with him had not sin entered.

(2) Though physical death, obvious to men's eyes, and not spiritual death of the soul either in this world or in the world to come, is here evidently in view (see ver. 14), yet we must bear in mind the general idea associated with the word "death" in the New Testament. It is sometimes used so as to imply more than the mere parting of the soul from the body, including in the conception of what it is all the woes and infirmities that flesh is heir to, which are its precursors in the present state of things (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:10, 12, 16; 2 Corinthians 6:9), being thus regarded also as the visible sign before our eyes of man's present alienation from the life that is in God. St. Paul, then, in the passage before us, though alleging mere natural death as sufficient evidence of sin, may be conceived as having in his view Death armed as he has been with a peculiar sting to man through all known time. The main point of his argument is that the doom recorded in Genesis as having been pronounced on Adam had obviously remained in force throughout the ages; and there is surely no difficulty in assenting to the position that the dominion of death, as it has been exercised since that doom, is evidence of its continuance, and consequently of sin. "For that all sinned" (more correctly so than, as in the Authorized Version, "all have sinned") seems to mean, not that all since Adam in their own persons committed sin, but that all sinned in him - were implicated in the sin of the progenitor (cf. ver. 15; also 1 Corinthians 15:22, "in Adam all die;" and 2 Corinthians 5:14, where all are said to have died to sin in the death of Christ). The doctrine of original, as distinct from actual, sin, thus intimated, has been, as is well known, the subject of much controversy since the time of Pelagius. It does not fall within the proper scope of this Commentary to discuss the theories of divines, but rather to set forth candidly what the language of the portions of Scripture commented on in itself most obviously means, viewed in the light afforded by general Scripture teaching. With respect to the passage before us, it may suffice to say:

(1) That more must be understood than the mere imputation of Adam's transgression to his descendants, irrespectively of any guilt of theirs. This notion, which jars on our conception of Divine justice, is precluded by the entire drift of the earlier chapters of this Epistle, which was the actual culpability of mankind at large, and also by what follows here, sin itself being spoken of - not the imputation of it only - as being in the world after Adam, and universal too, as evidenced by the continued reign of death. All men are said to have sinned in the sin of the first transgressor, because sin was thus introduced, as a power in human nature antagonistic to God, and because this "infection of nature" has continued since. And thus . . .

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