Romans 5:19

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul to the Roman church, mid-argument in Romans 5, contrasting Adam and Christ as representative heads whose single acts determine the status of "the many."

The words — parakoē (παρακοή) literally "hearing past" or "turning away from what is heard"; it frames disobedience not as ignorance but as a deliberate refusal to listen.

The thread — Romans 5:18 mirrors the structure with "one trespass" and "one act of righteousness"; 2 Corinthians 5:21 states the exchange in legal terms; Philippians 2:8 identifies the obedience as death on a cross.

Why it lands — The verse places the reader in one of two groups with no third option: made sinners or made righteous. It asks you to say which side you are on.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Cross-references

Romans 5:18 So then, just as one trespass brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness brought justification and life for all men.
2 Corinthians 5:21 God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the Beloved One.
Romans 5:15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many!
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush Him and to cause Him to suffer; and when His soul is made a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.
Revelation 7:9 After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.