In Rom. 5:12-21, the locus classicus for the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity, there are a few slight variations which do not materially affect the passage, but which accumulate with the help of one notable alteration to provide a completely different sense than that which the passage conveys. The notable alteration comes in ver. 15, which the AV renders, "But not as the offence, so also is the free gift." This brings out what exegetes call an antithetical parallelism. Adam is a figure of Christ to come in that the action of the one has consequences on the many. But the relative actions and their consequences are opposite. Now this antithetical parallelism is lost in translation in modern versions. NKJV, "But the free gift is not like the offense." NASB, "But the free gift is not like the transgression." NIV, "But the gift is not like the trespass." ESV, "But the free gift is not like the trespass." In all that follows the idea of Adam as a figure of Christ to come is obscured by the absolute negative that what Christ has done is not like what Adam has done; whereas the AV renders the original faithfully, even in terms of its awkwardness, and brings out the antithetical parallelism which is integral to the reformed doctrine of the imputation of Adam's sin to his posterity and of Christ's righteousness to the many He represented. This obscurity is deepened when some of the modern versions insert the words "result" or "brought," whereas the original and the AV place the action and its consequence in the nearest possible conjunction.

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."