Romans 7:2

For instance, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul addresses believers who understand legal frameworks, using a domestic illustration to ground his preceding argument about the law's jurisdiction. He speaks to them in Romans 7 to demonstrate how authority operates within a specific boundary.

The words — ὕπανδρος (hupandros) literally means "under a man" or married, and δέδεται (dedetai) means "has been bound." These terms establish the legal and relational constraint the verse describes.

The thread — This marital boundary principle appears again in 1 Corinthians 7:39 and reflects the foundational union described in Genesis 2:23. The law's binding nature over a marriage is consistently treated as a fixed, life-long constraint.

Why it lands — The text states that a woman is legally bound to her husband while he lives and is released from that marriage law upon his death. It demands the reader recognize that legal authority operates only within a defined lifespan and ends when that condition is met.

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 the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

Cross-references

Genesis 2:23 And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
1 Corinthians 7:4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife.
1 Corinthians 7:39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, as long as he belongs to the Lord.
Numbers 30:7 and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.