<p>5:14&nbsp;<i>Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression</i>- Paul is demonstrating that the whole world is under sin, even those who don&rsquo;t know God&rsquo;s law. They die because they themselves sin, albeit in ignorance, and because of their relation to Adam. He&rsquo;s building up the picture of every single human being as having a desperate need for forgiveness and finding the answer in Jesus- who therefore is the Saviour designed and intended for all people, not just Jews.</p><p><i>Who is a figure of him that was to come</i>- A phrase the Jewish writings used about Moses, but which Paul tellingly reapplies to the Lord Jesus (5). Paul&rsquo;s letter is densely packed with allusions to Jewish writings- and this explains some of the apparently awkward grammatical constructions and some of the otherwise strange phrases, often using words and concepts which don&rsquo;t occur in the rest of Paul&rsquo;s writings. Instead of spilling ink trying to exactly understand some of the phrases in Romans- and this letter has produced more tortuous, unhelpful, highly abstracted commentary than any other- it may be wiser to assume that those difficult passages are in fact allusions to extant Jewish writings or thinking contemporary with Paul, which at present we are unaware of.&nbsp;</p>