Romans 7:2

2 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.

Romans 7:2 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 7:2

For the woman which hath an husband
The former general rule is here illustrated by a particular instance and example in the law of marriage; a woman that is married to a man,

is bound by the law to her husband;
to live with him, in subjection and obedience to him,

so long as he liveth;
except in the cases of adultery, ( Matthew 19:9 ) , and desertion, ( 1 Corinthians 7:15 ) , by which the bond of marriage is loosed, and for which a divorce or separation may be made, which are equal to death:

but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her
husband;
the bond of marriage is dissolved, the law of it is abolished, and she is at entire liberty to marry whom she will, ( 1 Corinthians 7:39 ) .

Romans 7:2 In-Context

1 Do you not know, brethren--for I am speaking to those who know the law--that the law is binding on a person only during his life?

2 Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband.

3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God.

5 While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.