Romans 13:7

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, φόρος, τέλος, φόβος, τιμὴ, do indeed imply duties to superiors, and seem therefore to continue and to sum up the content of Romans 13:1-6; but Romans 13:8, in which μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλετε seems expressly written as the negative counterpart to ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τὰς ὀφειλάς in Romans 13:7, introduces at the same time a wider subject that of the duties of all individuals toward each other. τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον : this is quite intelligible, but nothing can make it grammatical: see Winer, p. 737. For the distinction of φόρος and τέλος see Trench, Syn [35], p. 392. For φόβος and τιμή 1 Peter 2:17.

[35] synonym, synonymous.