Romans 7:2

Which hath a husband. Gr. hupandros, literally, “under a husband,” that is, subject to a husband. This word occurs only here in the NT. It is found in the LXX in Num. 5:20, 29; Prov. 6:24, 29. It may be translated “a married woman.”

Is bound by the law. Literally, “has been bound by law.”

He liveth. The clause reads literally, “to the living husband.” Compare 1 Cor. 7:39.

If the husband be dead. Rather, “if the husband dies.”

Loosed. Gr. katarged (see on ch. 3:3). Here the definition “to discharge from” is appropriate. On the death of her husband the woman’s status as a wife is annulled and abolished.

The law of her husband. That is, the law concerning the husband, the rules of law that deal with marriage. Compare the phrase “the law of the leper” (Lev. 14:2). When the husband dies, the wife is released from “the law of the husband,” which defines her legal connection with him and forbids her marriage to another so long as the husband is living.