Roma 11:1--14:23
Konteks11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!” 1 11:4 But what was the divine response 2 to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people 3 who have not bent the knee to Baal.” 4
11:5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The 5 rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
to this very day.” 6
11:9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,
and make their backs bend continually.” 7
11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, 8 did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel 9 jealous. 11:12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration 10 bring?
11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 11:14 if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the first portion 11 of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. 12
11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in 13 the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! 14 They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but 15 God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; 16 otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?
11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, 17 so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel 18 until the full number 19 of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so 20 all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
11:27 And this is my covenant with them, 21
when I take away their sins.” 22
11:28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 11:29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 11:30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 11:31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now 23 receive mercy. 11:32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. 24
11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!
11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor? 25
11:35 Or who has first given to God, 26
that God 27 needs to repay him? 28
11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
12:1 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, 29 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God 30 – which is your reasonable service. 12:2 Do not be conformed 31 to this present world, 32 but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve 33 what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you 34 a measure of faith. 35 12:4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 12:5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. 12:6 And we have different gifts 36 according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. 12:7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 12:8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.
12:9 Love must be 37 without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 12:10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 12:11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12:12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. 12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. 38 Do not be conceited. 39 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. 40 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 41 12:19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, 42 for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” 43 says the Lord. 12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 44 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, 45 and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 13:2 So the person who resists such authority 46 resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation, 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to administer retribution on the wrongdoer. 13:5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities 47 but also because of your conscience. 48 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities 49 are God’s servants devoted to governing. 50 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
13:8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 13:9 For the commandments, 51 “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,” 52 (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 53 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
13:11 And do this 54 because we know 55 the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 13:12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13:13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 13:14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires. 56
14:1 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. 57 14:2 One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. 14:3 The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord 58 is able to make him stand.
14:5 One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. 59 Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. 14:6 The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The 60 one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. 14:7 For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself. 14:8 If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 14:9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, so that he may be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
14:10 But you who eat vegetables only – why do you judge your brother or sister? 61 And you who eat everything – why do you despise your brother or sister? 62 For we will all stand before the judgment seat 63 of God. 14:11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.” 64 14:12 Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to God. 65
14:13 Therefore we must not pass judgment on one another, but rather determine never to place an obstacle or a trap before a brother or sister. 66 14:14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean. 14:15 For if your brother or sister 67 is distressed because of what you eat, 68 you are no longer walking in love. 69 Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died. 14:16 Therefore do not let what you consider good 70 be spoken of as evil. 14:17 For the kingdom of God does not consist of food and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. 14:18 For the one who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by people. 71
14:19 So then, let us pursue what makes for peace and for building up one another. 14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, 72 it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. 14:21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 73 14:22 The faith 74 you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. 14:23 But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. 75
[11:3] 1 sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:10, 14.
[11:4] 2 tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”
[11:4] 3 tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it appears to be a generic usage (“people”) since when Paul speaks of a remnant of faithful Israelites (“the elect,” v. 7), he is not referring to males only. It can also be argued, however, that it refers only to adult males here (“men”), perhaps as representative of all the faithful left in Israel.
[11:4] 4 sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.
[11:7] 5 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[11:8] 6 sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.
[11:10] 7 sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.
[11:11] 8 tn Grk “that they might fall.”
[11:11] 9 tn Grk “them”; the referent (Israel, cf. 11:7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:12] 10 tn Or “full inclusion”; Grk “their fullness.”
[11:16] 11 tn Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.
[11:16] 12 sn Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root…the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121-24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17-24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16-19.
[11:17] 13 tn Grk “became a participant of.”
[11:20] 14 tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”
[11:22] 15 tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.
[11:22] 16 tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”
[11:25] 17 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
[11:25] 18 tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”
[11:26] 20 tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).
[11:27] 21 sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.
[11:27] 22 sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.
[11:31] 23 tc Some important Alexandrian and Western
[11:32] 24 tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.
[11:34] 25 sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.
[11:35] 26 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:35] 27 tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[11:35] 28 sn A quotation from Job 41:11.
[12:1] 29 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.
[12:1] 30 tn The participle and two adjectives “alive, holy, and pleasing to God” are taken as predicates in relation to “sacrifice,” making the exhortation more emphatic. See ExSyn 618-19.
[12:1] sn Taken as predicate adjectives, the terms alive, holy, and pleasing are showing how unusual is the sacrifice that believers can now offer, for OT sacrifices were dead. As has often been quipped about this text, “The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.”
[12:2] 31 tn Although συσχηματίζεσθε (suschmatizesqe) could be either a passive or middle, the passive is more likely since it would otherwise have to be a direct middle (“conform yourselves”) and, as such, would be quite rare for NT Greek. It is very telling that being “conformed” to the present world is viewed as a passive notion, for it may suggest that it happens, in part, subconsciously. At the same time, the passive could well be a “permissive passive,” suggesting that there may be some consciousness of the conformity taking place. Most likely, it is a combination of both.
[12:2] 32 tn Grk “to this age.”
[12:2] 33 sn The verb translated test and approve (δοκιμάζω, dokimazw) carries the sense of “test with a positive outcome,” “test so as to approve.”
[12:3] 34 tn The words “of you” have been supplied for clarity.
[12:3] 35 tn Or “to each as God has distributed a measure of faith.”
[12:6] 36 tn This word comes from the same root as “grace” in the following clause; it means “things graciously given,” “grace-gifts.”
[12:9] 37 tn The verb “must be” is understood in the Greek text.
[12:16] 38 tn Or “but give yourselves to menial tasks.” The translation depends on whether one takes the adjective “lowly” as masculine or neuter.
[12:16] 39 tn Grk “Do not be wise in your thinking.”
[12:17] 40 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.
[12:18] 41 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used as a generic and refers to both men and women.
[12:19] 42 tn Grk “the wrath,” referring to God’s wrath as the remainder of the verse shows.
[12:19] 43 sn A quotation from Deut 32:35.
[12:20] 44 sn A quotation from Prov 25:21-22.
[13:2] 46 tn Grk “the authority,” referring to the authority just described.
[13:5] 47 tn Grk “its wrath”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:5] 48 tn Grk “because of (the) conscience,” but the English possessive “your” helps to show whose conscience the context implies.
[13:6] 49 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the governing authorities) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[13:6] 50 tn Grk “devoted to this very thing.”
[13:9] 51 tn Grk “For the…” (with the word “commandments” supplied for clarity). The Greek article (“the”) is used here as a substantiver to introduce the commands that are quoted from the second half of the Decalogue (ExSyn 238).
[13:9] 52 sn A quotation from Exod 20:13-15, 17; Deut 5:17-19, 21.
[13:9] 53 sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.
[13:11] 54 tn Grk “and this,” probably referring to the command to love (13:8-10); hence, “do” is implied from the previous verses.
[13:11] 55 tn The participle εἰδότες (eidotes) has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.
[13:14] 56 tn Grk “make no provision for the flesh unto desires.”
[14:1] 57 tn Grk “over opinions.” The qualifier “differing” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.
[14:4] 58 tc Most
[14:5] 59 tn Grk “For one judges day from day, and one judges all days.”
[14:6] 60 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
[14:10] 61 tn Grk “But why do you judge your brother?” The introductory phrase has been supplied in the translation to clarify whom Paul is addressing, i.e., the “weak” Christian who eats only vegetables (see vv. 2-3). The author uses the singular pronoun here to rhetorically address one person, but the plural has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:10] 62 tn Grk “Or again, why do you despise your brother?” The introductory phrase has been supplied in the translation to clarify whom Paul is addressing, i.e., the “strong” Christian who eats everything (see vv. 2-3). The author uses the singular pronoun here to rhetorically address one person, but the plural has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[14:10] 63 sn The judgment seat (βῆμα, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and sometimes furnished with a seat, used by officials in addressing an assembly or making pronouncements, often on judicial matters. The judgment seat was a familiar item in Greco-Roman culture, often located in the agora, the public square or marketplace in the center of a city.
[14:11] 64 sn A quotation from Isa 45:23.
[14:12] 65 tc ‡ The words “to God” are absent from some
[14:12] tn Or “each of us is accountable to God.”
[14:15] 68 tn Grk “on account of food.”
[14:15] 69 tn Grk “according to love.”
[14:16] 70 tn Grk “do not let your good.”
[14:18] 71 tn Grk “by men”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is generic here (“people”) since the contrast in context is between God and humanity.
[14:20] 72 sn Here clean refers to food being ceremonially clean.
[14:21] 73 tc A large number of
[14:22] 74 tc ‡ Several important Alexandrian witnesses (א A B C 048) have the relative pronoun ἥν ({hn, “the faith that you have”) at this juncture, but D F G Ψ 1739 1881 Ï lat co lack it. Without the pronoun, the clause is more ambiguous (either “Keep the faith [that] you have between yourself and God” or “Do you have faith? Keep it between yourself and God”). The pronoun thus looks to be a motivated reading, created to clarify the meaning of the text. Even though it is found in the better witnesses, in this instance internal evidence should be given preference. NA27 places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.
[14:23] 75 tc Some
