Romans 12:14

εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς διώκοντας, εὐλ. κ. μὴ καταρᾶσθε : not a quotation of Matthew 5:44, but probably a reminiscence of the same saying of Jesus. The change in construction from participle to imperative, the participle being resumed in the next sentence, suggests that the form of the sentence was given to Paul i.e., he was consciously using borrowed words without modifying them to suit the sentence he had begun on his own account. It may be that when Paul said διώκοντες in Romans 12:13, the other sense of the word passed through his mind and prompted Romans 12:14; but even if we could be sure of this (which we cannot) we should not understand either verse a whit better.