As in verse 15, so here many men is equivalent in meaning to “all men.”

Were made translates the same verb used in Acts 7.27 (who made you ruler and judge?). It is best understood in the sense of “make (someone) to be (something).” The phrase were made sinners has its parallel in will be put right with God (Revised Standard Version “will be made righteous”). It is important to understand the context in which Paul is speaking. He looks upon Adam as the father of the human race and the one who introduced sin into the world. From this perspective many men were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man. Paul does not intend to imply that men are held responsible for the sin that Adam committed, as is made clear by looking at the other aspect of Paul’s thought in this verse. Paul also affirms that in the same way many will be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man. In the same way that Adam is looked upon as being the head of the old human race, so Christ is the head of the new humanity. And as Adam’s disobedience brought sin into the world and made it possible for every man to sin, so Christ’s obedience makes it possible for every man to be put right with God. Yet Adam’s sin not only introduced sin into the world, but it meant that all of his descendants were born into a race which had separated itself from God. So then, when Paul says that many men were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, he has in mind two things: (1) Adam is the one who brought sin into the world, and (2) all men are descendants of Adam and are born into a race of people who are already separated from God. Jesus Christ stands in sharp contrast to Adam: by his obedience to God Jesus Christ brought “righteousness” into the world and so made it possible for every man to be put right with God.

The phrases as the result of the disobedience of one man and as the result of the obedience of the one man must both be transformed into clauses of cause in many languages—for example, “and just as people because sinners because one man disobeyed God, in the same way God puts people right with himself because the one man obeyed God.” It may be necessary to specify that “the one man” is “Jesus Christ.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .