Romans 5:13 belongs to Paul’s broader argument in Romans 5:12–21, where he contrasts Adam and Christ. Verse 12 declares that sin entered the world through one man and death through sin. Verse 13 qualifies this claim by addressing the time before the Mosaic Law. Paul’s aim is to show that sin was a universal reality even before the Torah — thereby underscoring the necessity of Christ’s redemptive work.
Structural Analysis
ἄχρι γὰρ νόμου ἁμαρτία ἦν ἐν κόσμῳ,
ἁμαρτία δὲ οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται μὴ ὄντος νόμου·
The verse divides into two antithetical clauses:
(1) an affirmation — “Sin was in the world until the Law”, and
(2) a paradoxical negation — “but sin is not counted when there is no Law.”
Paul highlights the presence of sin before the giving of the Mosaic Law (Sinai) and simultaneously points out a key function of the Law: making sin legally accountable.
Semantic Nuances
ἄχρι νόμου — “until the Law” — refers to the period before the Mosaic Law was given. It marks a chronological boundary in salvation history.
ἁμαρτία ἦν ἐν κόσμῳ — “sin was in the world” — emphasizes sin’s pervasive presence, even in the absence of formal commandments. The imperfect ἦν conveys ongoing existence.
οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται — “is not reckoned/accounted” — comes from ἐλλογέω, a rare verb meaning to impute or charge to someone’s account. Paul uses it here to signal the legal function of the Law: sin exists, but without the Law, it is not formally tallied.
μὴ ὄντος νόμου — “when there is no Law” — is a genitive absolute, providing the condition under which sin is not imputed. It highlights the distinction between the moral presence of sin and its legal reckoning.
Syntactical Insight
The conjunction γάρ connects this verse with 5:12, offering an explanatory qualification. The subject of both clauses is ἁμαρτία (sin). The genitive absolute μὴ ὄντος νόμου governs the second clause and establishes the temporal and legal condition for οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται.
The contrast between ἦν and οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται sets up a theological tension: sin exists universally, but legal guilt (in a covenantal sense) intensifies or becomes formalized with the Law.
Historical and Cultural Background
In Jewish thought, the Law (Torah) was the framework that defined righteousness and transgression. Yet Paul argues that sin — as a corrupting power — was operative before Sinai. This anticipates his fuller argument in Romans 7, where the Law makes sin more apparent and accountable. In Greco-Roman legal thought, too, culpability was tied to codified statute — echoing Paul’s logic here.
Intertextuality
- Romans 4:15: “Where there is no law, neither is there transgression.” — similar legal logic.
- Romans 7:8: “Sin seizing an opportunity through the commandment…” — sin becomes active when Law is introduced.
- Genesis 3–5: Sin and death are manifest long before Sinai — Cain murders Abel, humanity grows corrupt.
Hermeneutical Reflection
Romans 5:13 sharpens the distinction between the presence of sin and the imputation of sin. Greek grammar exposes this tension: ἦν (was) vs. οὐκ ἐλλογεῖται (is not counted). Paul’s theology of sin is not limited to legal definitions — it is cosmic and inherited. Yet the Law plays a role in transforming the moral into the judicial. This distinction prepares us to see Christ not merely as a sin-bearer, but as the end of law-based condemnation.
The Reckoning that Awaits the Law
Paul’s Greek here is crisp and calculated: sin was — it existed; but it was not yet charged. The grammar holds back judgment — not because sin was absent, but because the Law had not yet illuminated it. Romans 5:13 invites us to marvel at divine justice: not rushed, but revealed. Not every wrong is counted — until the Law names it. But in Christ, Paul will show, even what is counted can be cancelled.
