What Does Romans 5:18 Mean?
Therefore, as through one stumble a downward judgment comes into all people, so also through one act of alignment comes into all people, into the alignment of life.
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
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.THE KEY
The repeated “all men” gives the gift the same stated reach as condemnation.
THE MEANING
One trespass brings condemnation to all, and one righteous act brings the gift to all, toward justification of life. The verse gives both movements the same human-wide reach.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that condemnation can reach everyone while the gift can reach only a narrow few: the verse repeats “all men” for both outcomes.
THE ROOT
δικαίωμα
dikaiōma
GROWS FROM
δικ-
dik-
Right, justice; what is due or fitting.
“act of alignment” in this verse is dikaiōma. δικαίωμα (dikaiōma, a righteous act) names the deed; δικαίωσις (dikaiōsis, justification) names the setting-right that the deed opens toward. Their shared δικ- (dik-, right and justice) family binds the one act to the verse’s movement into life.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Right, just, aligned.
δίκαιος
This word family links the act of one to the state of being made right.
dikaiosynē: Righteousness, alignment.
δικαιοσύνη
It shows the wider family behind the verse’s right action and its life-giving result.
dikaiōsis: Justification, setting right.
δικαίωσις
This is the word family’s direct link to the outcome named at the end of the verse.
παράπτωμα
paraptōma
GROWS FROM
πίπτω
piptō
To fall; in this compound, to fall beside or go astray.
“stumble” in this verse is paraptōma. παράπτωμα (paraptōma, trespass or lapse) carries the image of a fall or step aside. The verse sets that fallen step beside one right act, then lets each movement reach beyond its origin to all.
ALSO GROWS
ptōsis: A fall or collapse.
πτῶσις
It keeps the sense of a fall inside the word family, illuminating the offense as a step with consequences.
ekpiptō: Fall out or fall away.
ἐκπίπτω
This branch extends the fall image and helps show how the verse depicts one trespass sending consequences outward.
χάρισμα
charisma
GROWS FROM
χάρις
charis
Favor or kindness freely shown.
“free gift” in this verse is charisma. χάρισμα (charisma, a favor-gift) comes from χάρις (charis, favor): favor takes the form of something given. Its stated reach is “all men,” so the gift moves outward across the same human field as the trespass.
ALSO GROWS
charis: Favor.
χάρις
This is the source word that gives the gift its character of favor.
charizomai: Show favor; grant freely.
χαρίζομαι
This verb shows favor taking action by freely granting something.
THE PATTERN
A single person’s act can carry consequences outward through many, toward death or life.
And to the ground-being, Adam, he said, Because you have heard and responded to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground for your sake; in pain you shall eat from it all the days of your life.And David spoke to the LORD when he saw the messenger who struck the people, and said, "Look, I myself have missed the mark, and I myself have bent crooked. But these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house."For as in Adam all die, so also in the Anointed One all will be made alive.THE THREAD
For as through the deafness of one man the many were set as those who miss the mark, so also through the hearing and response of one the many shall be set in alignment.“Made righteous” is δίκαιος (dikaios, righteous or right), from the same δικ- (dik-, right and justice) word family as δικαίωμα (dikaiōma, righteous act) in this verse. The next line shows how the one act relates to the many being made right.
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