Romans 7:15

Amplified Bible

For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity].

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do the good I want to do, and I do the evil I hate.

Revised Standard Version
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
because I wote not what I doo. For what I wold that do I not: but what I hate that do I.

Hebrew Names Version
For I don't know what I am doing. For I don't practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.

International Standard Version
I don't understand what I am doing. For I don't do what I want to do, but instead do what I hate.Galatians 5:17;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.

New Century Version
I do not understand the things I do. I do not do what I want to do, and I do the things I hate.

Update Bible Version
For that which I do, I don't know: for what I do not want, that do I do; but what I hate, that I do.

Webster's Bible Translation
For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that I do.

English Standard Version
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

World English Bible
For I don't know what I am doing. For I don't practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For that which I do I approve not; for what I would, I do not, but what I hate, that I do.

Weymouth's New Testament
For what I do, I do not recognize as my own action. What I desire to do is not what I do, but what I am averse to is what I do.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For Y vndurstonde not that that Y worche; for Y do not the good thing that Y wole, but Y do thilke yuel thing that Y hate.

English Revised Version
For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do.

Berean Standard Bible
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do.

Contemporary English Version
In fact, I don't understand why I act the way I do. I don't do what I know is right. I do the things I hate.

American Standard Version
For that which I do I know not: for not what I would, that do I practise; but what I hate, that I do.

Bible in Basic English
And I have no clear knowledge of what I am doing, for that which I have a mind to do, I do not, but what I have hate for, that I do.

Complete Jewish Bible
I don't understand my own behavior — I don't do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate!

Darby Translation
For that which I do, I do not own: for not what I will, this I do; but what I hate, this I practise.

Etheridge Translation
For what I work, I know [fn] not; and not that which I will, I do; but what I hate, that I do.

Murdock Translation
For what I am doing, I know not: and what I would, I do not perform; but what I hate, that I do.

King James Version (1611)
For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that doe I.

New Living Translation
I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

New Life Bible
I do not understand myself. I want to do what is right but I do not do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.

New Revised Standard
I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For I alow not yt which I do: for what I would, that do I not: but what I hate, yt do I.

George Lamsa Translation
For I do not know what I do: and I do not do the thing which I want, but I do the thing which I hate. That is exactly what I do.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, that which I am working out, I do not approve, - for not, what I wish, the same I practise, but, what I hate, the same I do:

Douay-Rheims Bible
For that which I work, I understand not. For I do not that good which I will: but the evil which I hate, that I do.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For that which I do, I alowe not. For what I woulde, that do I not: but what I hate, that do I.

Good News Translation
I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate.

Christian Standard Bible®
For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.

King James Version
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Lexham English Bible
For what I am doing I do not understand, because what I want to do, this I do not practice, but what I hate, this I do.

Literal Translation
For what I work out, I do not know. For what I do not will, this I do. But what I hate, this I do.

Young's Literal Translation
for that which I work, I do not acknowledge; for not what I will, this I practise, but what I hate, this I do.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
because I knowe not what I do. For I do not yt I will, but what I hate, yt do I.

Mace New Testament (1729)
what I do I allow not: for what my mind leads me to, that do I not; but what I have an aversion to, that I do.

New English Translation
For I don't understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.

New King James Version
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.

Simplified Cowboy Version
The problem is that I don't know why I do the things I do. I don't do what I know I should and I tie hard and fast to things I know aren't good for me.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

Legacy Standard Bible
For what I am working out, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.

Contextual Overview

¹⁴We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am a creature of the flesh [worldly, self-reliant—carnal and unspiritual], sold into slavery to sin [and serving under its control]. ¹⁵For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity].¹⁶Now if I habitually do what I do not want to do, [that means] I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good (morally excellent). ¹⁷So now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. ¹⁸For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. ¹⁹For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰But if I am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am no longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. ²¹So I find it to be the law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²²For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature], ²³but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For that: Romans 14:22, Luke 11:48

allow: or, know, Psalms 1:6, Nahum 1:7, 2 Timothy 2:19

what: Romans 7:16, Romans 7:19, Romans 7:20, 1 Kings 8:46, Psalms 19:12, Psalms 65:3, Psalms 119:1-6, Psalms 119:32, Psalms 119:40, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Galatians 5:17, Philippians 3:12-14, James 3:2, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:8

what I hate: Romans 12:9, Psalms 36:4, Psalms 97:10, Psalms 101:3, Psalms 119:104, Psalms 119:113, Psalms 119:128, Psalms 119:163, Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 13:5, Amos 5:15, Hebrews 1:9, Jude 1:23

Reciprocal: Romans 7:18 - for to will Romans 7:25 - So then

Cross-References

Genesis 7:19
The waters prevailed so greatly and were so mighty and overwhelming on the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.

Genesis 7:20
[In fact] the waters became fifteen cubits higher [than the highest ground], and the mountains were covered.

Isaiah 11:6
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together; And a little child will lead them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For that which I do, I allow not,.... The apostle having cleared the law from the charge of being the cause either of sin or death, and taken the blame to himself, proceeds to give an account of the struggle and combat he found in himself between the flesh and spirit; "that which I do, I allow not". That which he did was evil, since he allowed not of it; but this is to be understood not of any notorious crime committed by him, and repeated again and again; nor of a sinful course of life, for before his conversion he was not a profane man, but externally moral; and after his conversion, had his conversation in the world by the grace of God in righteousness and holiness; a vicious course of life being contrary to the grace of God implanted in him, and the doctrines of grace professed by him; but of internal lusts, the workings of corruptions in his heart, and which are real actions of the mind, together with the various frailties and infirmities of life: when that apostle says that what he did, γινωσκω, "I know not": his meaning is, not that he was utterly ignorant of them, of their nature and operations; that he was insensible of their motions, and unconcerned about them; for his sense of them, and concern for them, are expressed by him in the strongest terms, "I know", "I find", "I see", "O wretched man", c. Romans 7:18 but either that the efforts and effects of sin in him were so sadden, and at an unawares, that he was sometimes overtaken and held captive, before he knew well where he was, or, what he was doing; or the sense is, that he had not a full knowledge of the evil of his heart, the corruptions of his nature, nor did he understand all his infirmities and the errors of his life; or else the meaning is, I own it not as right, but confess it to be wrong, I do not acknowledge these actions as the productions of the new man, they are alien to him, but as the deeds of the old man; or rather, "I do not approve" of them, I dislike, abhor, and detest them; I cannot excuse or palliate them, but must condemn them; so words of knowledge in the Hebrew language are expressive of love, liking, and approbation; see Psalms 1:6; on which last text, "I know him", says Jarchi, לשון חבה, "it is the language of love", or a phrase expressive of strong affection; and so here, I know not, I do not like, love, and approve of these things, or I do not "allow" of them, and indulge myself in them, I loathe them and myself for them; and is this talking like an unregenerate man? can it be thought that the apostle speaks of himself as unregenerate, or represents such a man?

for what I would, that do I not; what he desired and willed was good, though he did it not; and so the Vulgate Latin version reads, "for not the good which I would, I do": and so the next clause, "but the evil which I hate, I do": and what was that? he would have had his thoughts always employed about the best things; he would have had his affections continually and alone set on God, Christ, and the things of another world; he would he was desirous to keep the whole law of God, and do the whole will of God, and live without sin, and as the angels do in heaven: now such a will as this is never to be found in unregenerate persons; this is from God, and the power of his grace: when he says he did not what he willed, what he was desirous of, and bent upon, his sense is, not that he never did any good thing he willed; for he did many good things, as every good man does, but he did not always do the good he willed, and never perfectly, nor anything without grace and strength from Christ: he adds,

but what I hate, that do I; sin was what he hated; it being contrary to the pure and holy nature of God, to the good and righteous law of God, and was in itself, to his view, exceeding sinful: he hated vain thoughts, unclean desires, revengeful lusts, the secret motions of all sin in his heart, and the various evil actions of life; which can never be said of an unregenerate man; who loves sin, delights in iniquity, and takes pleasure in them that do it; and yet what the apostle hated he did; he wrought with his carnal I, his flesh, and through the power of it, and force of temptation, though not without reluctance, remorse, and repentance. The Karaite Jews, which were the better sort of them, say and hold some things, not much unlike to what is here delivered;

"though a man (say they i) should transgress some of the commandments, or the commandments in part, לא על צד החפץ

לתגבורת תאוה, "through the strength of lust, and not on account of, or with pleasure not delight", he shall be one of those that shall enter into paradise.''

i R. Eliahu in Addareth, c. 3. apud Triglaud de Sect. Karaeorum, c. 10. p. 176.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For that which I do - That is, the evil which I do, the sin of which I am conscious, and which troubles me.

I allow not - I do not approve; I do not wish it; the prevailing bent of my inclinations and purposes is against it. Greek, “I know not;” see the margin. The word “know,” however, is sometimes used in the sense of approving, Revelation 2:24, “Which have not known (approved) the depths of Satan;” compare Psalms 101:4, I will not know a wicked person.” Jeremiah 1:5.

For what I would - That which I approve; and which is my prevailing and established desire. What I would wish always to do.

But what I hate - What I disapprove of: what is contrary to my judgment; my prevailing inclination; my established principles of conduct.

That do I - Under the influence of sinful propensities, and carnal inclinations and desires. This represents the strong native propensity to sin; and even the power of corrupt propensity under the restraining influence of the gospel. On this remarkable and important passage we may observe,

(1) That the prevailing propensity; the habitual fixed inclination of the mind of the Christian, is to do right. The evil course is hated, the right course is loved. This is the characteristic of a pious mind. It distinguishes a holy man from a sinner.

(2) The evil which is done is disapproved; is a source of grief; and the habitual desire of the mind is to avoid it, and be pure. This also distinguishes the Christian from the sinner.

(3) There is no need of being embarrassed here with any metaphysical difficulties or inquiries how this can be; for.

(a) it is in fact the experience of all Christians. The habitual, fixed inclination and desire of their minds is to serve God. They have a fixed abhorrence of sin; and yet they are conscious of imperfection, and error, and sin, that is the source of uneasiness and trouble. The strength of natural passion may in an unguarded moment overcome them. The power of long habits of previous thoughts may annoy them. A man who was an infidel before his conversion, and whose mind was filled with scepticism, and cavils, and blasphemy, will find the effect of his former habits of thinking lingering in his mind, and annoying his peace for years. These thoughts will start up with the rapidity of lightning. Thus, it is with every vice and every opinion. It is one of the effects of habit. “The very passage of an impure thought through the mind leaves pollution behind it,” and where sin has been long indulged, it leaves its withering, desolating effect on the soul long after conversion, and produces that state of conflict with which every Christian is familiar.

(b) An effect somewhat similar is felt by all people. All are conscious of doing that, under the excitement of passion and prejudice, which their conscience and better judgment disapprove. A conflict thus exists, which is attended with as much metaphysical difficulty as the struggle in the Christian’s mind referred to here.

(c) The same thing was observed and described in the writings of the heathen. Thus, Xenophon (Cyrop. vi. 1), Araspes, the Persian, says, in order to excuse his treasonable designs,” Certainly I must have two souls; for plainly it is not one and the same which is both evil and good; and at the same time wishes to do a thing and not to do it. Plainly then, there are two souls; and when the good one prevails, then it does good; and when the evil one predominates, then it does evil.” So also Epictetus (Enchixid. ii. 26) says, “He that sins does not do what he would, but what he would not, that he does.” With this passage it would almost seem that Paul was familiar, and had his eye on it when he wrote. So also the well-known passage from Ovid, Meta. vii. 9.

Aliudque Cupido,

Mens aliud suadet. Video meliora, proboque,

Deteriora sequor.

“Desire prompts to one thing, but the mind persuades to another. I see the good, and approve it, and yet pursue the wrong.” - See other passages of similar import quoted in Grotius and Tholuck.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 7:15. For, that which I do, I allow not, c.] The first clause of this verse is a general assertion concerning the employment of the person in question in the state which the apostle calls carnal, and sold under sin. The Greek word κατεργαξομαι which is here translated I do, means a work which the agent continues to perform till it is finished, and is used by the apostle, Philippians 2:12, to denote the continued employment of God's saints in his service to the end of their lives. WORK OUT your own salvation the word here denotes an employment of a different kind; and therefore the man who now feels the galling dominion of sin says, What I am continually labouring at I allow not, ου γινωσκω, I do not acknowledge to be right, just, holy, or profitable.

But what I hate, that do I. — I am a slave, and under the absolute control of my tyrannical master: I hate his service, but am obliged to work his will. Who, without blaspheming, can assert that the apostle is speaking this of a man in whom the Spirit of the Lord dwells? From Romans 7:7 to this one the apostle, says Dr. Taylor, denotes the Jew in the flesh by a single I; here, he divides that I into two I's, or figurative persons; representing two different and opposite principles which were in him. The one I, or principle, assents to the law that it is good, and wills and chooses what the other does not practise, Romans 7:16. This principle he expressly tells us, Romans 7:22, is the inward man; the law of the mind, Romans 7:23; the mind, or rational faculty, Romans 7:25; for he could find no other inward man, or law of the mind, but the rational faculty, in a person who was carnal and sold under sin. The other I, or principle, transgresses the law, Romans 7:23, and does those things which the former principle allows not. This principle he expressly tells us, Romans 7:18, is the flesh, the law in the members, or sensual appetite, Romans 7:23; and he concludes in the last verse, that these two principles were opposite to each other; therefore it is evident that those two principles, residing and counteracting each other in the same person; are reason and lust, or sin that dwells in us. And it is very easy to distinguish these two I's, or principles, in every part of this elegant description of iniquity, domineering over the light and remonstrances of reason. For instance, Romans 7:17: Now then, it is no more I that do it, but SIN that dwelleth in me. The I he speaks of here is opposed to indwelling or governing sin; and therefore plainly denotes the principle of reason, the inward man, or law of the mind; in which, I add, a measure of the light of the Spirit of God shines, in order to show the sinfulness of sin. These two different principles he calls, one flesh, and the other spirit, Galatians 5:17; where he speaks of their contrariety in the same manner that he does here.

And we may give a probable reason why the apostle dwells so long upon the struggle and opposition between these two principles; it appears intended to answer a tacit but very obvious objection. The Jew might allege: "But the law is holy and spiritual; and I assent to it as good, as a right rule of action, which ought to be observed; yea, I esteem it highly, I glory and rest in it, convinced of its truth and excellency. And is not this enough to constitute the law a sufficient principle of sanctification?" The apostle answers, "No; wickedness is consistent with a sense of truth. A man may assent to the best rule of action, and yet still be under the dominion of lust and sin; from which nothing can deliver him but a principle and power proceeding from the fountain of life."

The sentiment in this verse may be illustrated by quotations from the ancient heathens; many of whom felt themselves in precisely the same state, (and expressed it in nearly the same language,) which some most monstrously tell us was the state of this heavenly apostle, when vindicating the claims of the Gospel against those of the Jewish ritual! Thus OVID describes the conduct of a depraved man:-

Sed trahit invitam nova vis; aliudque cupido,

Mens aliud suadet. Video meliora, proboque;

Deteriora sequor. OVID, Met. lib. vii. ver. 19.

My reason this, my passion that persuades;

I see the right, and I approve it too;

Condemn the wrong, and yet the wrong pursue.

--------indignum facinus! nunc ego et

Illam scelestam esse, et me miserum sentio:

Et taedet: et amore ardeo: et prudens, sciens,

Vivus, vidensque pereo: nec quid agam scio.

TERENT. Eun. ver. 70.

An unworthy act! Now I perceive that she is wicked, and I am wretched. I burn with love, and am vexed at it. Although prudent, and intelligent, and active, and seeing, I perish; neither do I know what to do.

Sed quia mente minus validus, quam corpore toto,

Quae nocuere, sequar; fugiam, quae profore credam.

HOR. Ep. lib. i. E. 8, ver. 7.

More in my mind than body lie my pains:

Whate'er may hurt me, I with joy pursue;

Whate'er may do me good, with horror view.

Francis.

Επει γαρ ὁ ἁμαρτανων ου θελει ἁμαρτανειν, αλλα κατορθωσαι δηλον ὁτι, ὁ μεν θελει, ου ποιει, και ὁμη θελει, ποιει.

ARRIAN. Epist. ii. 26.

For, truly, he who sins does not will sin, but wishes to walk uprightly: yet it is manifest that what he wills he doth not; and what he wills not he doth.

- αλλα νικωμαι κακοις,

Και μανθανω μεν, οἱα τολμησω κακα

Θυμος δε κρεισσῳν των εμων βουλευματων,

Ὁσπερ μεγιστων αιτος κακων βροτοις.

EURIP. Med. v. 1077.

-----------But I am overcome by sin,

And I well understand the evil which I presume to commit.

Passion, however, is more powerful than my reason;

Which is the cause of the greatest evils to mortal men.

Thus we find that enlightened heathens, both among the Greeks and Romans, had that same kind of religious experience which some suppose to be, not only the experience of St. Paul in his best state, but to be even the standard of Christian attainments! See more examples in Wetstein.

The whole spirit of the sentiment is well summed up and expressed by St. Chrysostom: ὁταν τινος επιθυμωμεν, ειτε κωλυωμεθα, αιρεται μαλλον της επιθυμιας ἡ φλοξ. If we lust after any thing which is afterwards prohibited, the flame of this desire burns the more fiercely.