Romans 6:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Romans 6:19
I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
properly · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
men
ἈνθρώπινονAnthrōpinon
G442
human · adjective — accusative singular neuter
of
διὰdia
G1223
through (in very wide applications · preposition
infirmity
ἀσθένειανastheneian
G769
feebleness (of mind or body) · noun — accusative singular feminine
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
flesh
σαρκὸςsarkos
G4561
flesh (as stripped of the skin) · noun — genitive singular feminine
for
γὰρgar
G1063
properly · conjunction
as
ὥσπερhōsper
G5618
just as · conjunction
yielded
παρεστήσατεparestēsate
G3936
to stand beside · verb — aorist active indicative, 2nd person plural
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
members
μέληmelē
G3196
a limb or part of the body · noun — accusative plural neuter
servants
δοῦλαdoula
G1401
a slave (literal or figurative · noun — accusative plural neuter
uncleanness
ἀκαθαρσίᾳakatharsia
G167
impurity (the quality) · noun — dative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
iniquity
ἀνομίᾳanomia
G458
illegality · noun — dative singular feminine
unto
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
iniquity
ἀνομίαν,anomian
G458
illegality · noun — accusative singular feminine
so
οὕτωςhoutōs
G3779
in this way (referring to what precedes or follows) · adverb
now
νῦνnun
G3568
"now" (as adverb of date · adverb
yield
παραστήσατεparastēsate
G3936
to stand beside · verb — second aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural
your
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
members
μέληmelē
G3196
a limb or part of the body · noun — accusative plural neuter
servants
δοῦλαdoula
G1401
a slave (literal or figurative · noun — accusative plural neuter
righteousness
δικαιοσύνῃdikaiosunē
G1343
equity (of character or act) · noun — dative singular feminine
unto
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
holiness
ἁγιασμόν.hagiasmon
G38
properly · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Romans 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the de…
1 Peter 4:2-4 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Colossians 3:5-7 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousnes…
Ephesians 2:2-3 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now w…
1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit o…
Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
Romans 6:16-17 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedie…
Galatians 3:15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 6:1–end
The apostle's transition, which joins this discourse with the former, is observable: "What shall we say then? Rom 6:1. What use shall we make of this sweet and comfortable doctrine? Shall we do evil that good may come, as some say we do? Rom 3:8. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Shall we hence take encouragement to sin with so much the more boldness, because the more sin we commit the more will the grace of God be magnified in our pardon? Is this a use to be made of it?" No, it is an abuse, and the apostle startles at the thought of it (Rom 6:2): "God forbid; far be it from us to think such a thought." He entertains the objection as Christ did the devil's blackest temptation (…
I speak after the manner of men--descending, for illustration, to the level of common affairs.
because of the infirmity of your flesh--the weakness of your spiritual apprehension.
for as ye have yielded--"as ye yielded," the thing being viewed as now past.
your members servants to Uncleanness and to Iniquity unto--the practice of
iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to Righteousness unto holiness--rather, "unto (the attainment of) sanctification," as the same word is rendered in Th2 2:13; Co1 1:30; Pe1 1:2 : --that is, "Looking back upon the heartiness with which ye served Sin, and the lengths ye went to be stimulated now to like zeal and like exuberance in the service o…
I speak after the manner of men - This phrase is often used by the Greek writers to signify what was easy to be comprehended; what was ad captum vulgi, level with common understandings, delivered in a popular style; what was different from the high flights of the poets, and the studied sublime obscurity of the philosophers.
Because of the infirmity of your flesh - As if he had said: I make use of metaphors and figures connected with well-known natural things; with your trades and situation in life; because of your inexperience in heavenly things, of which ye are only just beginning to know the nature and the names.
Servants to uncleanness, etc. - These different expressions show how deeply i…
The Church Fathers
Paul is saying, in effect: "Although you ought to serve righteousness much more than you previously served sin, I nevertheless make allowance for your weakness so that you might serve righteousness just as much as you once served sin." Or perhaps it is this: Whatever the soul does in a carnal fashion is held against the flesh, but if the flesh performs a spiritual deed the whole person becomes spiritual.… We offered our members to serve sin; it is not the case, as the Manichaeans say, that it was the nature of the body to have sin ingrained in it.
But also each and every one of the members, if they serve in the offices of the commandments of God, are to be called circumcised; but if they run riot beyond the laws divinely prescribed for them, they are to be reckoned uncircumcised. And this, I think, is what the Apostle said: "for as you presented your members to serve iniquity unto iniquity, so now present your members to serve righteousness unto sanctification." For when our members served iniquity, they were not circumcised, nor was the covenant of God in them; but when they have begun to serve "righteousness unto sanctification," the promise which was made to Abraham is fulfilled in them. For then the law of God and His covenant is sealed in them.
In recalling the weakness of the flesh, Paul wants to say that he is demanding less from us than the worship of God would normally require.… In order to remove from us any reason to be afraid of coming to faith, because that might seem to us to be unbearable and rough, Paul commands us to serve God with the same amount of zeal that we previously served the devil. For as we ought to be more willing to serve God than the devil, given that God brings salvation and the devil damnation, yet the spiritual physician does not demand more from us, lest in avoiding the more difficult precepts on account of our weakness we should remain in death. Thus the Lord says: "Take my yoke upon you, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Flesh — In the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and…
Holiness — In the highest sense belongs to God (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 15:4), and to Christians as consecrated to God’s service, and in so far as they are conformed in all things to the will of God (Rom. 6:19, 22; Eph.…
Illyricum — A country to the north-west of Macedonia, on the eastern shores of the Adriatic, now almost wholly comprehended in Dalmatia, a name formerly given to the southern part of Illyricum (2 Tim. 4:10). It…
Works, Good — The old objection against the doctrine of salvation by grace, that it does away with the necessity of good works, and lowers the sense of their importance (Rom. 6), although it has been answered a…
Consecration · PER — PER
Depravity Of Man · 7:17;12:34,35;15:19; — 7:17;12:34,35;15:19;
Doctrines Of The Gospel, The · Lead to holiness — Lead to holiness
Fall Of Man, The · Man in consequence of: In bondage to sin — Man in consequence of: In bondage to sin
Holiness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Human Nature Of Christ, The · Was necessary to his mediatorial office — Was necessary to his mediatorial office
I speak after the manner of men,.... This refers either to what the apostle had said already concerning service and liberty, things which were known among men, and easy to be understood; or to the following exhortation: what he was about to say, he delivered in a manner suited to their understandings, and was "that which was human"; not angelic, or what required the power, purity, and perfection of angels; or what was unreasonable or impossible, but what was their reasonable service, as men; and might be done through the grace of God, in the strength of Christ, and by the assistance of the Spirit: and though he might have insisted upon it with good reason, that they ought to be more diligen…
Romans 6:19
19. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
19. Humanum dico propter infirmitatem carnis vestr?, quemadmodum exhibuistis membra vestra serva immunditi? et iniquitati in iniquitatem, sic et nunc exhibite membra vestra serva justiti? in sanctificationem.
19. I speak what is human, etc. He says that he speaks after the manner of men, not as to the substance but as to the manner. So Christ says, in John 3:12, that he announced earthly things, while yet he spoke of heavenly mysteries, thoug…
Paul uses the Greek word sarx (human nature, or flesh) to refer to the frailty and proneness to sin that characterizes humans. Paul uses the illustration of slavery to show the relationship of the human nature to sin.
Servants · Bond, illustrative: Of the wicked — Bond, illustrative: Of the wicked
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
