What Does Romans 5:20 Mean in the King James?
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
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 verse’s two measures are unequal: missing increases, but favor overflows beyond it.
THE MEANING
The instruction enters, and what you miss multiplies. Yet wherever missing gathers, favor overflows beyond it. Your accumulated failure does not set the limit of what reaches you now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the fear that repeated failure can accumulate beyond the reach of favor.
THE ROOT
ὑπερεπερίσσευσεν
hypereperisseusen
GROWS FROM
περισσευ-
perisseu-
Overflow; be in surplus. In this form, the idea is intensified to mean overflowing exceedingly.
“much more abound” in this verse is hypereperisseusen. The Greek form intensifies the image: missing increases, while favor overflows beyond increase. The measure is not one-for-one; favor surpasses what has accumulated.
ALSO GROWS
perissos: Abundant; beyond ordinary measure.
περισσός
This related word carries the sense of excess that makes the verse’s contrast more than a simple increase.
perisseuma: Surplus; abundance.
περίσσευμα
It names what remains in excess, echoing the favor that exceeds the growing missing.
χάρις
charis
GROWS FROM
χαρ-
char-
Favor; gracious giving.
“grace” in this verse is charis. This word’s family carries favor into what is freely granted. The overflow is not only a softened verdict; it is favor actively given where missing expands.
ALSO GROWS
charizomai: Grant freely; forgive.
χαρίζομαι
This verb shows favor taking the form of a free grant, opening the verse’s abundance as something given.
charisma: A gift freely given; a gracious gift.
χάρισμα
This related word makes visible the gift-bearing quality within favor.
ἁμαρτία
hamartia
GROWS FROM
ἁμαρτ-
hamart-
Miss; err; fail to attain.
“sin” in this verse is hamartia. The root keeps the word concrete as missing or error: its increase describes what happens, not a permanent identity. That growth is exactly where the verse says favor exceeds it.
ALSO GROWS
hamartanō: To miss; to err.
ἁμαρτάνω
The verb shows the action within the noun: missing can increase.
hamartēma: A failure; a wrong act.
ἁμάρτημα
This related noun names a particular instance of missing, grounding the verse’s claim in concrete acts.
THE PATTERN
When human wrong accumulates, divine favor answers in a measure that exceeds its claim.
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.THE THREAD
That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.The same Greek word, χάρις (charis), meaning “favor,” appears in both verses. Ephesians shows that favor as exceeding riches displayed toward you across the ages, opening Romans’ overflow into a horizon that continues.
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