What Does Romans 5:16 Mean in the King James?
And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The gift’s reach is measured by how many failures it carries toward alignment, not by how few failures remain.
THE MEANING
Judgment from one offense runs toward condemnation; the gift moves from many offenses toward alignment. Your failures are not the boundary of what favor can reach: the verse carries the movement through them and toward restored standing.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that enough failures place you beyond the reach of alignment. Here, the gift moves from many offenses toward justification.
THE ROOT
χάρισμα
charisma
GROWS FROM
χαρι-
chari-
favor; freely given kindness
“free gift” in this verse is charisma. English can make “gift” sound like something added after failure, but χάρισμα (charisma, favor-gift) belongs to the same word-family as favor itself. The gift comes out of many failures and moves toward alignment.
ALSO GROWS
charis: favor
χάρις
This is the favor at the heart of the favor-gift in the verse.
charizomai: grant as a favor; give freely
χαρίζομαι
This verb shows the same family of giving as favor, illuminating the gift’s movement toward the reader.
δικαίωμα
dikaiōma
GROWS FROM
δικαι-
dikai-
what is made right; an act or result of alignment
“Justification” can sound like a verdict alone, but this word-family also carries the sense of being set right. Alignment is the gift’s destination, not a status reached by first eliminating every failure.
ALSO GROWS
dikaioō: set right; justify
δικαιόω
The related verb shows the movement toward being put in right standing.
dikaios: just; right
δίκαιος
This related adjective describes the state toward which the gift moves.
παραπτωμάτων
paraptōmatōn
GROWS FROM
παρα- + πιπτ- (para- + pipt-)
a falling beside; a lapse
English “offences” names violations, while the Greek preserves an image of falling aside. The verse says the gift reaches not one such fall but many, and carries the movement toward alignment.
ALSO GROWS
parapiptō: fall aside; lapse
παραπίπτω
This related verb makes the falling image in “offences” visible.
piptō: fall
πίπτω
The underlying verb supplies the image carried by the word for offences.
THE PATTERN
Divine favor reaches beyond failure and moves the person toward restored standing.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:THE THREAD
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:“Offence” here is the same Greek word-family as the “offences” in Romans 5:16, and “grace” is χάρις (charis, favor), from the same stem as χάρισμα (charisma, favor-gift). This makes the movement of verse 16 clearer: where failures abound, favor reaches further.
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