What Does Romans 5:15 Mean?
But not as the stumble, so also is the gift of favor. For if by the stumble of one the many died, much more the favor of God, and the gift by favor, which is through the one man, Jesus the Anointed One, has overflowed to the many.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.THE KEY
The gift is favor made tangible, and it overflows to the same many whom the one trespass leaves dead.
THE MEANING
The one trespass reaches many with death, but God’s favor and its gift overflow to many through Jesus. Jesus (Ἰησοῦς, Iēsoûs; Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ, Yēshuaʿ, deliverance from constriction into spaciousness) names the movement carried by this gift.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
One person’s failure is stronger than any gift that can reach the people affected by it.
THE ROOT
χάρισμα
chárisma
GROWS FROM
χάρις (cháris, favor), in the χαρι- (chari-, favor) word family
Favor, goodwill, or a gracious disposition; χάρισμα names a gift that proceeds from favor.
“gift of favor” in this verse is chárisma. The verse’s free gift and gift by grace belong to the same Greek word family: favor is not separate from the gift but takes concrete form in it. The gift is given from favor, not as payment earned by the many.
ALSO GROWS
Favor: Favor, goodwill, or gracious disposition.
χάρις
The phrase gift by grace uses this same word family, revealing the favor inside the gift.
Freely grant: To grant freely or bestow as a favor.
χαρίζομαι
This related verb carries favor into an act of giving, linking the gift’s source with its action.
παράπτωμα
paráptōma
GROWS FROM
πίπτω (píptō, fall), joined with παρά (pará, beside or aside)
A fall to one side: a misstep or trespass.
“stumble” in this verse is paráptōma. The word pictures a fall away from the path, and the verse shows its consequence spreading from one to many. English offence can sound like a private slight; the Greek word carries the image of a misstep with far-reaching effects.
ALSO GROWS
Fall: To fall.
πίπτω
This is the base image in the word for offence: a fall.
Fall away: To fall away or lapse.
παραπίπτω
This related form makes the sense of straying or falling aside more visible.
περισσεύω
perisseúō
GROWS FROM
περισσ-
periss-
To abound, overflow, or be more than enough.
“overflowed” in this verse is perisseúō. The comparative much more and the overflow verb reinforce each other: the gift is not pictured as a one-for-one correction but as surplus reaching many. English separates abounded from the abundance word family that appears again in the next verse.
ALSO GROWS
perissós: More than ordinary; extra or exceeding.
περισσός
This adjective carries the sense of what goes beyond the measure.
Abundance: Abundance or surplus.
περισσεία
This related noun appears in the next verse’s abundance of grace, extending the overflow image.
THE PATTERN
What begins in a single act or source can reach many, while God’s provision multiplies toward life and good.
As for you, you planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, to make it as it is this day, to keep a great people alive.And from his fullness we have all taken, and favor for favor.And God is able to make all favor overflow toward you, so that you, always holding all you need in everything, may overflow into every good work.THE THREAD
For if through the stumble of one man death reigned through one, much more those who take hold of the overflow of favor and of the gift of alignment will reign in life through one, Jesus the Anointed One.This next verse repeats the one-man contrast and states what the overflowing gift does for its receivers: those who receive abundance reign in life. It also uses περισσεία (perisseía, abundance), the noun from the overflow family expressed by περισσεύω (perisseúō, abound) in this verse.
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