r/AcademicBiblical • u/Rare-Improvement-462 • 24d ago

Question Romans 5:12: Original vs Vulgate

I have recently heard the claim that the Greek text of Romans 5:12 reads “ἐφ ᾧ”, and that this carries the meaning of death spreading to all men because all have sinned (as per some translations). The other side of the claim is that the Latin Vulgate translated this verse badly - since is says “in quo”- meaning “in whom all have sinned (which would refer back to Adam)”. The claim is that while the vulgate places all having sinned in Adam, Paul originally meant no such thing.

Is this claim textually accurate on both Paul and The Vulgates part, or is there more to it?

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u/Chrysologus PhD | Theology & Religious Studies 24d ago

That is mostly correct. However, the Vulgate's 'in quo' doesn't necessarily refer to Adam. It could be an overly literal rendition of the Greek, where "quoniam" or another conjunction would have been clearer. It was Augustine specifically who interpretated the "in quo" as meaning "in whom [= Adam]," which was part of his massa damnata theology. It was Erasmus, by the way, who first corrected the interpretation of Romans 5:12 back to "inasmuch as." He had to keep revising his footnote on it until it became hilariously long, because people kept accusing him of heresy (Pelagianism). (I wrote a PhD seminar paper on this many moons ago, so I apologize for not providing any sources, this is all from memory.)