© 12 Colin Melbourne
What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom. 6:21-23 KJV
In Every Sinner’s Wage Packet
Q: Why does the Bible say the wages of sin is death, instead of the wages of sin are death?
A: The first time a person hears, or reads, this scripture it can sound a bit odd. They imagine it should be, “The wages of sin are death”, not “is death”.
That’s because the general rule of English grammar makes verbs agree in number with their subjects, and not with their predicates (that which the subject determines).
So in this phrase there would normally be correspondence in number between the subject (wages) and its verb (to be) thus;
The wages of sin are death.
So is God’s word wrong?
Of course not.
By the way, notice is is in italics because the Greek Textus Receptus has neither “is” nor “are”, the KJV translators rightly inserted “is” to make the Greek meaning clear in English. They used italics to indicate all of their additions.
Perfect English
Did the KJV translators use poor grammar?
Definitely not! Their ability in English has never been exceeded, and never will be. English reached its zenith during the Renaissance. It’s been downhill since Shakespeare died. What would he say about the linguistic abominations of “text-ing” and “tweeting”?
This scripture is a case where a normal form of English grammar is deliberately over-ruled for a particular reason. The plural, wages is used here as a singular noun.
The KJV Translators understood that following the general rule, by writing are death, would grieve the Holy Ghost, by making an error of translation.
The Holy Ghost uses payment of wages as a metaphor for sinners earning the reward they deserve. The word for wages has to be plural to convey the sense of accumulated earnings.
They work for the Devil every waking hour, and deserve full payment for their efforts.
They are continually accumulating rewards, so using plural “wages” is correct.
But in this scripture the predicate (death) is singular, so it must be is death: Are death would be wrong.
Here, Death is Singular
“The wages of sin are deaths“, though grammatically correct, would be incorrect because the Greek for death here is thanatos, an adjective used as a singular noun.
It means simply; death, to die, encompassing literal and figurative death.
That is why God’s chosen Translators broke with general English style to convey the singularity of God’s Judgment on a life of sin.
The Judge of judges wanted to emphasize the unbending verdict He passes on sinners.
Sinners each get the single sentence: All inclusive Death.
This death refers to spiritual death, separation from God. We know what that is like, because that is how each of us grew up.
Born in sin, under Adam and Eve’s judgment. Born sinners, to mature without any relationship or fellowship with Almighty God: Spiritually dead to God.
That is the wages of sin: Your ancestors’ sin, and your own sin.
(Read how God extends His grace towards babies and young children born with the sinful nature, but still under the Age of Accountability.)
Born Once: Die Twice
Included in the sentence of spiritual death are the consequences of being apart from God; sin, sickness, disease, corruption, futility, misery, physical death, the second death, and eternal damnation in Hell.
Sinners experience more than one death;
- The spiritual death they are born under, inherited from ancestors, Adam and Eve.
- Physical death; when their body dies, and their spirit departs for Judgment.
- The Second Death that follows every sinner’s Judgment, where they are eternally separated from God, cast into the Lake of Fire. Rev. 20:14-15 KJV;
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
If you have only been born once, you will die twice.
The Second Death comes after physical death, and is eternal with no possibility of redemption.
That is why the LORD taught that each of us must be born again to avoid Hell. Jn. 3:3,7 KJV;
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Sinners are without excuse, for God has made it easy to switch from being a sinner to a saint, by being born again.
Make certain your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Smith Wigglesworth discovered the difference between head-faith and Bible faith. One produces cosy, but dead, religion, the other dynamic miracle results. Find out how to really believe, and you will begin to thrill God’s Heart like Smith did: The Power of Faith
© 12 Colin Melbourne