1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens. 5No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Romans 5:12 begins a section of Scripture that is fundamental to the understanding of the nature of sin. Pelagians, Semi-Pelagians and Calvinists alike have turned to the passage for support. My desire in the following study will attempt to explicate the major questions that arise in the study of the text.
In verse 12, Paul begins with the words "therefore" (διὰ τοῦτο), which is a phrase showing a logical connection with what precedes. Whether it refers back to verse 11 only, or to 5:1-11, or even to the majority of what was being enunciated before is difficult to determine. In my opinion the dia touto (διὰ τοῦτο) probably refers to the preceding 11 verses.
Paul begins the next clause with a comparison using the words "just as" (ὣσπερ), but this comparison is not completed. The technical name for such a grammatical procedure is called anacolutha. This occurs several times in Paul's writings. His was an active mind and as he reasoned through his letter laying down his argument and meticulously in verse 12, most likely he felt compelled to better clarify the ramifications of his reasoning before proceeding.
We find in verse 12 the first mention of a thought contained throughout the rest of the chapter, namely, the concept of "the one man." Paul says "through one man" (δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου) the sin came into the world. This concept, "the one," is found almost in every verse in verses 12-21 and is central to Paul's doctrine of sin and grace. Paul states "through one man," indicating an indirect agency. Adam and Eve were agents through whom Satan worked. Sin was already existent but had not, until Adam and Eve sinned, entered into the "world" or man's sphere of existence.
Sin brought penalty for verse 12 Paul says and continues in saying that death came through sin; death passed through men. Disagreement among expositors of Scripture arises in the question of what death is Paul refers to in this verse. In Genesis 2:17 the death that Adam incurred is literally "dying you will die" (מותת מות) indicating emphasis. God said that they would die in the day that they ate of the tree. At first glance it would seem they were to die the same day that they sinned but this does not seem to be the best interpretation. "In the day" (ביום) is a temporal expression referring to an indefinite period of time. "Death" (מות) probably pertains to physical death in Romans 5, with spiritual death implied from this reality.
Why, though, must the rest of mankind be punished for the sin of Adam? Must the son bear the sins of the father? Paul sees mankind bearing the guilt and penalty of sin, not just because Adam sinned as our representative but because it participated. The phrase "because" (᾽εφ᾽ ῳ πάντες ἣμαρτον) shows why death has passed through or permeated all men. The phrase eph ho (᾽εφ᾽ ῟ὧ᾽) carries the meaning "because." All die because all sinned. The entire human race was in Adam and shared his sin, his guilt and the result, which is physical death.