CHAPTER 13. There is not a word to indicate how the transition is made from the discussion of the duties of Christians as members of one body, especially the duties of humility and love in chap. 12, to the special subject which meets us in chap. 13 the duty of Christians in relation to the civil aut... [ Continue Reading ]
πᾶσα ψυχὴ is a Hebraism; _cf._ Acts 2:43; Acts 3:23, and chap. Romans 2:9. For ἐξουσίαις _cf._ Luke 12:11 : it is exactly like “authorities” in English abstract for concrete. ὑπερεχούσαις describes the authorities as being actually in a position of superiority. _Cf._ 1 P. Romans 2:13, and Malachi 3:... [ Continue Reading ]
ὥστε _cf._ Romans 7:4; Romans 7:12. The conclusion is that he who sets himself against the authorities withstands what has been instituted by God: διαταγῇ (Acts 7:53) recalls τεταγμέναι, Romans 13:1. The κρίμα, _i.e._, the judgment or condemnation which those who offer such resistance shall receive,... [ Continue Reading ]
οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες κ. τ. λ. The γὰρ can only be connected in a forced and artificial way with the clause which immediately precedes: it really introduces the reason for a frank and unreserved acceptance of that view of “authorities” which the Apostle is laying down. It is as if he said: Recognise the D... [ Continue Reading ]
θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν σοὶ εἰς τὸ ἀγαθόν. διάκονός is feminine agreeing with ἐξουσία, which is “almost personified” (Sanday and Headlam). The σοὶ is not immediately dependent on διάκονός, as if the State were conceived as directly serving the person; the State serves God, with good in view as the e... [ Continue Reading ]
f. διὸ ἀνάγκη ὑποτάσσεσθαι : there is a twofold necessity for submission an external one, in the wrath of God which comes on resistance; an internal one, in conscience. Even apart from the consequences of disobedience conscience recognises the Divine right and function of the ἐξουσία and freely subm... [ Continue Reading ]
At this point Weiss begins a new paragraph, but W. and H. make Romans 13:7 the conclusion of the first part of this chapter. In view of the close connection between Romans 13:7-8 (_cf._ ὀφειλάς, ὀφείλετε) it is better not to make too decided a break at either place. All the words in Romans 13:7, φόρ... [ Continue Reading ]
εἰ μὴ τὸ ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾷν = except mutual love. This is the _debitum immortale_ of Bengel; _hoc enim et quotidie solvere et semper debere expedit nobis_ (Origen). ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἕτερον : he who loves his neighbour, the other with whom he has to do. _Cf._ Romans 2:1; Romans 2:21 (Weiss). νόμον πεπλή... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ γὰρ Οὐ μοιχεύσεις. _Cf._ Romans 8:26. The order of the commandments here is different from that in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 (Hebrew), but it is the same as in Luke 18:20, and (so far) in James 2:11. This order is also found in Cod.. of the LXX in Deuteronomy 5 καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολή : this sho... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ ἀγάπη … κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται. This is all that is formally required by the law as quoted above (οὐ μοιχεύσεις, etc.): therefore love is πλήρωμα νόμου, law's fulfilment. Of course love is an inspiration rather than a restraint, and transcends law as embodied in merely negative commandments; but the... [ Continue Reading ]
In the closing verses of the chapter Paul enforces this exhortation to mutual love as the fulfilling of the law by reference to the approaching Parousia. We must all appear (and who can tell how soon?) before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in the body: if the... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ νύξ προέκοψεν : the true day dawns only when Christ appears; at present it is night, though a night that has run much of its course. ἀποθώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους. Things that can only be done in the dark that cannot bear the light of day are _therefore_ to be put away by the Christian. For ἀπ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ : as one walks in the day, so let us walk εὐσχημόνως. The same adverb is found with the same verb in 1 Thessalonians 4:2 : A.V. in both places “honestly”. The meaning is rather “in seemly fashion,” “becomingly”; in 1 Corinthians 14:40 it is rendered “decently,” where also regard for deco... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀλλὰ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν Κ. Ἰ. Χριστὸν, ἀλλὰ emphasises the contrast between the true Christian life and that which has just been described. The Christian puts on the Lord Jesus Christ, according to Paul's teaching, in baptism (_cf._ Galatians 3:27), as the solemn deliberate act in which he identifies him... [ Continue Reading ]