Romans 7:3

3 So then if, while her husband lives, she belongs to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress if she belongs to another man.

Romans 7:3 Meaning and Commentary

Romans 7:3

So then if while her husband liveth
True indeed it is, that whilst her husband is alive, if

she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress;
she will be noted and accounted of as such everybody, except in the above mentioned cases:

but if her husband be dead;
then there can be no exception to her marriage:

she is free from the law;
of marriage, by which she was before bound:

so that she is no adulteress;
nor will any reckon her such; she is clear from any such imputation:

though she be married to another man;
hence it appears that second marriages are lawful.

Romans 7:3 In-Context

1 Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to those that know the law), that the law has dominion over a man only as long as he lives?

2 For the woman who is subject to a husband is obligated to the law so long as the husband lives; but if the husband dies, she is free from the law of the husband.

3 So then if, while her husband lives, she belongs to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress if she belongs to another man.

4 Likewise ye also, my brethren, are become dead to the law in the body of the Christ that ye should belong to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

5 For while we were in the flesh, the affections of the sins which were by the law worked in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.