What does Paul convey through the example of the Law’s implications for a married woman whose husband died?

The question of whether Paul is presenting an allegory here in Romans 7:2–3, and, if so, to what each part of it should then be compared, is a highly contested one. Does the husband who died refer to the law and the woman who is now free to marry another refer to Christians? Or is the deceased man a reference to the old self of sin? Comparing Romans 7:2–3 with Romans 7:4 is a difficult task. Cranfield¹ has therefore rightly pointed out that Romans 7:2–3 is not a preparatory allegory for Romans 7:4 at all, but an independent illustration of the point made in Romans 7:1. For this reason the NIV does not begin Romans 7:4 with the words so also, but with so followed by a conclusion drawing from the statement made in Romans 7:1. The relevance of the interposed example is the fact that the law no longer applies to the woman through the death of another. That makes the application of the general statement in Romans 7:1 to a special situation in Romans 7:4 easier.²