Commentary on Romans 7.1–7.3
Latin text: Migne, PL 17 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Chapter 7
7.1PL 17:105
An ignoratis, fratres, scientibus enim legem loquor. Ut animos eorum firmet in doctrina divina, exemplo humanæ legis utitur; ut iterum per terrena suadeat coelestia, sicut et a mundi creatura Deus cognoscitur; quia enim unius est totum, licet diversae sint res, ex aliqua tamen parte sibi invicem similes sunt. Sciunt ergo legem Romani; quia non sunt barbari : sed comprehenderunt naturalem justitiam partim ex se, partim ex Graecis : nam leges Romanis ex Athenis perlatæ sunt : sicut et Graecis ex Hebræis. Ante Moysen enim non latebat Lex; sed ordo non erat, neque auctoritas. Non ignorantibus ergo legem dicit: Quia Lex dominatur homini, quanto tempore vivit. Non est occultum omnem vitam hominis esse sub lege naturae, quæ data est mundo : haec Lex generalis est. Nunc vero aliam proponit specialem (quamvis et ipsa generalis est, sed dum non recipitur ab omnibus, fit specialis) per quam vult probare assertionem suam; gradatim enim vult tradere veritatem. Dicit ergo :
“Or do you not know, brothers — for I speak to those who know the law?” To strengthen their minds in the divine teaching he uses the example of a human law, so as once more to persuade them of heavenly things through earthly ones, as God too is known from the creation of the world; for since the whole is the work of one, although things are diverse, they are nevertheless in some respect like one another. The Romans, then, know the law, because they are not barbarians, but have grasped natural justice partly from themselves, partly from the Greeks; for the laws of the Romans were brought from Athens, as those of the Greeks from the Hebrews. For before Moses the law was not hidden, but it had no order, nor authority. He speaks, then, to those who are not ignorant of the law: “that the law rules over a person as long as he lives.” It is not hidden that the whole life of a person is under the law of nature, which was given to the world: this law is general. But now he puts forward another, special law (although it too is general, yet because it is not received by all, it becomes special), by which he wants to prove his assertion; for he wishes to hand on the truth by degrees. He says, therefore:
Rom 7:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:20 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrosiaster explains that Paul appeals in Rom 7:1 to a law the Romans knew, the law of nature, as a step toward the special law by which he will prove his point.
- Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Romans, on Rom 7:1 (Migne PL 17). No public-domain English translation exists; the translation was re-read against the Latin. Clear OCR slips and a leaked page number are corrected by logged corrections. Quotation: Rom 7:1; allusion: Rom 1:20.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and lost parenthesis; OCR slips; page number leaked into the text; stray letter): (ratres → fratres; divilla → divina; suut → sunt; justitiam e partim → justitiam partim; Romanis 63 ex → Romanis ex; perlatæ sum → perlatæ sunt; Lea; → Lex;; uon erat → non erat; Nanc vero → Nunc vero; specialem uamvis → specialem (quamvis; ab om. tibus, Ot specialis) → ab omnibus, fit specialis).
Cite (SBL): Ambrosiaster, Rom. 7.1 (PL 17:105; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrosiaster-romanos/7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrosiaster-romanos/7-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrosiaster-romanos-7-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (PL 17); re-read against the Latin, since no public-domain English exists.
7.2PL 17:105
Nam quœ sub viro est mulier, vivente viro, alligata est legi viri. Haec lex de Evangelio est, non duce ex Moyse, neque ex justitia terrena. Aliquid ergo,natura, aliquid ex lege Moysi addiscentes, fecti facti sunt per Evangelium Christi. Sequenti ergo exemplo apertius suadet Christianismum exutum esse a lege factorum, non ab omni lege; nec ultra jam expedire esse sub lege, ne gratiam Dei evacuet reversus sub legem; quia Dei gratia liberavit a lege hominem, ut spiritu, id est mente, serviat Deo. Sicut enim mulier, mortuo viro, liberata est a lege viri, non a lege naturae : ita et hi qui gratia Dei liberati a lege sunt, a qua tenebantur rei; ut mortua illis sit, ut Christianismo juncti non sint adulteri. Si enim lex apud illos vivit, adulteri sunt, et nihil illis proderit dici Christianos, quia obnoxii erunt uhiolli. Nec enim legis erit adulter, sed Evangelii, qui mortua lege junctus Evangelio, post redit ad legem ; e mortua enim lex dicitur, quando quem tenebat reum, ignotum est ei, auctoritate legis cessante.
“For the woman who is under a husband is bound, while the husband lives, to the law of the husband.” This law is from the Gospel, not from Moses, nor from earthly justice. Learning something, then, from nature and something from the law of Moses, they have been made perfect through the Gospel of Christ. By the following example, then, he persuades more openly that Christianity has been freed from the law of deeds, not from every law, and that it is no longer profitable to be under the law, lest one who returns under the law should make void the grace of God; for the grace of God freed man from the law, so that he may serve God in spirit, that is, in mind. For as the woman, when her husband is dead, is freed from the law of the husband, not from the law of nature, so too those who by the grace of God have been freed from the law by which they were held guilty, so that it is dead to them, are not adulterers when joined to Christianity. For if the law lives among them, they are adulterers, and it will profit them nothing to be called Christians, because they will be liable to both. For he will be an adulterer, not against the law but against the Gospel, who, having been joined to the Gospel when the law was dead, afterwards returns to the law; for the law is said to be dead when the one whom it held guilty is unknown to it, the authority of the law having ceased.
Rom 7:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 2:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 7:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gal 5:4 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrosiaster says that the law binding a wife to her living husband comes from the Gospel, not from Moses, and applies Paul's example to believers, who are not adulterers when joined to Christ once the law is dead to them.
- Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Romans, on Rom 7:2. Re-read against the Latin; no public-domain English. Ambrosiaster says that the rule that a wife is bound to her husband while he lives “is from the Gospel, not from Moses” (the Mosaic law permitted divorce). The phrases “non duce ex Moyse” and “fecti facti sunt” are damaged in the OCR and translated by sense (“not from Moses”, “made perfect”); “uhiolli” is read as “both”. Clear OCR slips are corrected by logged corrections. Quotation: Rom 7:2; allusions: Gal 2:21; Rom 7:6; Gal 5:4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; words joined in the OCR): eat mulier → est mulier; Sequentiperergo → Sequenti ergo; quiaDei → quia Dei; Dei a Iiberati → Dei liberati.
Topics: Divorce and remarriage, Marriage, The law of Moses
Cite (SBL): Ambrosiaster, Rom. 7.2 (PL 17:105; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrosiaster-romanos/7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrosiaster-romanos/7-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrosiaster-romanos-7-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (PL 17); re-read against the Latin, since no public-domain English exists.
7.3PL 17:105
Quod si mortuus fuerit vir ejus, liberata est a lege viri; ut non sit adultera, si juncta fuerit alteri viro. Sublati a Lege, accepta remissione peccatorum, et juncti Evangelio, non sunt adulteri Legis ; quia mortua apud illos est. Si autem servantes Legem, accedere se putant ad Evangelium, rei erunt et adulteri; quia viva lege junxerunt se fidei, et erunt ill utraque adulteri.
“But if her husband dies, she is freed from the law of the husband, so that she is not an adulteress if she is joined to another man.” Taken away from the law, having received the remission of sins, and joined to the Gospel, they are not adulterers against the law, because it is dead among them. But if, while keeping the law, they think they are coming to the Gospel, they will be guilty and adulterers, because they joined themselves to the faith while the law was alive, and they will be adulterers in respect of both.
Rom 7:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrosiaster applies Rom 7:3 to believers: those freed from the law are not adulterers in joining the Gospel, but those who keep the law while coming to the Gospel are adulterers against both.
- Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Romans, on Rom 7:3. Re-read against the Latin; no public-domain English. The lemma reads in the OCR “III non ait adultera”, corrected to “ut non sit adultera” (Rom 7:3). Clear OCR slips are corrected by logged corrections. Quotation: Rom 7:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips in the lemma (Rom 7:3)): III non ait → ut non sit; atteri viro → alteri viro; ct juncti → et juncti; adu!teri → adulteri.
Topics: Divorce and remarriage, Marriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrosiaster, Rom. 7.3 (PL 17:105; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrosiaster-romanos/7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrosiaster-romanos/7-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrosiaster-romanos-7-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin (PL 17); re-read against the Latin, since no public-domain English exists.