Authorized (King James) Version:
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Introduction to Romans chapter 13
Romans 13 verses 1 - 8 (Preliminary)
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4 for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5 Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9 For this, “Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet;” and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
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[Synopsis criticorum aliorumque Sacrae Scripturae interpretum]
Shall receive] or, take to themselves, as Beza, Piscator. No less than among the Jews who opposed the Sanhedrin, Deuteronomy 17:11, or the king, 1 Kings 2:43, or a parent, Deuteronomy 21:18. He who doth so is said to give, which is the same as to incur.
Damnation] or, condemnation, or, punishment, as Piscator; so Matthew 23:14. For words are often transferred from good things to evil, as - as judgment for punishment, by metonymy, as in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32; or, judgment, as Erasmus.
Damnation here designateth either,
Damnation is used of judgment, either,
For rulers](as such, that is, insofar as they are rulers, and depart not from the order of the power received from God) are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. That is, they are not to be feared by those who do good works, but by those who do evil: they deter not men from doing well, etc., they intend not punishments for the good but for the evil. This meaneth, The order established by God in the Commonwealth must be borne with an even mind, though Princes sometimes err from it. For once the license of rising against tyrants is permitted, no Commonwealth can be safe. After the argument from origin, he addeth another from use, for which cause governments are established, namely, that wickedness being restrained, the good may live more safely. This good kings fully perform, and evil kings to some degree, even for their own sake. And though sometimes some fault interveneth, yet it is never not better to have Princes than to have none. For as Tacitus rightly saith, There were faults so long as there were men, but these are not continual, and are compensated by the intervention of better things. And as sterility or rains and other evils of nature, so the luxury or avarice of rulers must be endured. See what we have discussed at length on this matter, De Jure Belli et Pacis, 1:3:4, whence also the things that follow in Paul are explained. Agrippa, in his oration to the Jews, which is in Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 2:28, saith, *None are sent by Roman Magistrates to harm the good.*Cicero, De Legibus: Laws punish the wicked with penalties, and defend and protect the good. In the manuscript it readeth, for it is not lawful to do evil, rightly, provided thou knowest that works are put for the effect instead of the cause: for work is put for the worker. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? That is, those who have power, namely, by fear of punishments. He showeth the same when he saith rulers, and when he saith power. Do that which is good] Keep justice, and obey the laws. And thou shalt have praise of the same](in comparison with the evil, or, thou shalt show thyself worthy of praise: or, being accused in judgment, thou shalt be acquitted, which is a great part of praise: nay, thou shalt reap the rewards of obedience) from it] That is, from the power. They will say, Caius Seius is a good man, only because he is a Christian, as it is in Tertullian. When Paul wrote this, Rome was not raging against Christians. Even the Jews had returned to Rome. Philo expresseth this sense thus, in De Judice: The unjust receive punishment, but the just receive honor and confirmation.
For he is the minister of God](He sustaineth the person of God as an ambassador, and as the Lord is, so is the minister; but God punisheth not the good, but praiseth them, etc.to thee for good. Or, thine, as Erasmus; that is, either, that thou mayest do good, and be restrained from evil; or, that thou mayest live justly and peaceably, nay, obtain praise and rewards; that he may defend thee against the injuries of evildoers. For good, 1. natural, that he defend thy life; 2. moral, that he restrain thee from vices; 3. civil, that he protect society and public honesty; 4. spiritual, that he guard the worship of God, etc. This is the same as Seneca, Epistle 73: They err who think that those devoted to philosophy are obstinate and rebellious and despisers of Magistrates or Kings, or of those through whom public affairs are administered. On the contrary, none are more grateful to them, and not undeservedly: for none profit them more than those who allow them to enjoy tranquility. Therefore, those to whom public security provideth access to living well must needs honor the author of this good as a parent. And as in this matter Magistrates greatly profit the wise, so also the wise, especially Christians, greatly profit Magistrates. For by correcting many, and making them better even than human laws prescribe, they remove much matter of severity, and make them rule more mildly. This is beautifully treated in Justin’s Apology 2 and by Chrysostom several times. But if thou do that which is evil, fear; Against the laws of civil society. For he beareth not the sword in vain: If nothing else, let the fear of punishment deter thee. For he speaketh to any man. For he beareth not the sword in vain: (The sword comprehendeth also other instruments of punishment, prisons, fires, gallows, etc. The material sword is a sign of the power of killing, etc., which is in the Prince) he beareth, etc., but that he may use it to punish the evil. Under this end is understood the opposite end, that he may defend the good. In the Talmud it is frequent of the Hebrew king, A king who beareth the sword. This rightly applieth to all kings: for now the right of all is equal. And the Roman Emperors bore the dagger, which Tacitus, Histories 3, interpreteth as the right of life and death over citizens. It is permitted to them to kill what is not permitted to others. Irenaeus, 5:24: And for this cause also the Magistrates themselves, having the garb of justice and laws, whatsoever they do justly and lawfully, they shall not be questioned for, nor shall they suffer punishment. an avenger, etc. to execute wrath, (or, avenger, as Beza, Montanus, etc.) to wrath, that is, to punishment; to take vengeance and punishment. Or, wrath, as the Syriac, as if it had the force of a genitive, as in Hebrew, to the wrath. The Magistrate is surely an avenger of Divine wrath, when by avenging crimes he executeth God’s wrath. The Arabic, in wrath, as often, putteth wrath for punishment. Philo. [See Grotius.]
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, etc.Wherefore it is necessary (or, it behoveth, as Valla, Tollius; or, it is necessary, as the Vulgate, both by Divine and human law, it is necessary by precept, because of the Divine ordinance which establisheth the Prince, because the Prince is the minister of God; this is not a free or indifferent matter.) be subject, (that is, obey the Magistrate, and his laws and edicts, as far as the altar, but not when he commandeth impiety; yet force must not be used against him. Sophocles: I will not do otherwise.) not only for wrath, That is, not only for fear of punishment, which the laws threaten, that we may avoid it. Or, for the wrath of God. but also for conscience sake. That is, either, 1. for the benefits which come from Princes who maintain peace; or, 2. for others, lest by thy example thou lead them into disobedience; or, for those who believe not yet, lest, if they see us not obeying Magistrates, they say Christianity is only good for stirring up seditions. This pleaseth not: for here Paul treateth not of scandal. Or, 3. for thine own conscience, of guilt or offense against God, that thou mayest keep a good and tranquil conscience, lest it become guilty before God; guilty, namely, of violating the law, and offending Divine Majesty; or, lest we resist God and His ordinance; or, because our soul, informed by natural and Divine law, dictateth this to us, that Princes must be obeyed as God’s ministers and deputies, and therefore we sin against God if we obey them not; or, for fear of punishment, lest thou offend God, who hath set the Magistrate over thee; or, because Christ commanded it, Matthew 22:21. From this place it is clear that human laws, legitimately enacted by Princes, bind subjects not only in the external forum, but also in the forum of conscience, and of God, and bind not only to punishment, but also to guilt. It is proved, because the violation of civil laws both harmeth conscience and induceth guilt, which two suppose an obligation of conscience. [He who desireth more on this question, let him see Perkins and Pareus.]
**For this cause,**etc.For this cause pay ye tribute also: (namely, that which went before; for the sake of others’ conscience, because they are God’s ambassadors; for wrath and conscience, not only for fear of transgression, but also because Christ so willed, Matthew 22:21.) tribute also (or, taxes, as Erasmus, Piscator, Tremellius, from the Syriac, understandeth all kinds of public payments and burdens imposed: which he soon distinguisheth into tribute and custom. Tribute denoteth extraordinary tax, custom ordinary. Tribute, because it is borne, or imposed, by subjects into the public treasury.) ye pay, (or, render, as Calvin. This is the cause why it behoveth to be subject for conscience sake, etc., taken from the sign, which is the payment of tributes, which is a profession both of their power and of your subjection. He mentioneth tributes, because it was feigned that Christians exempted themselves from their payment, as is clear from Justin, Apology. [See his and Tatian’s words in Grotius.] He saith not, they exact, but ye pay, teaching that tributes must always be justly paid by subjects, though sometimes unjustly exacted by the Magistrate. Tertullian, Apologeticus: Other taxes the Christians render with faith, not defrauding, abstaining from others’ goods. For they are, etc.) What he had said twice, are, he now saith, are attending. So the Hebrew, now are, now attend. in this very thing, (or, this itself, namely, the ministry, or, in this care, for you and your benefits, that they may minister to God in the ways said. The relative this pertaineth not only to the nearest, as if they ought to be intent only on receiving tributes; but to all the superior offices, that they be a terror to the evil, a praise to the good, etc. But these they cannot perform without the payment of tributes, that by God’s right and place they may punish the evil for the protection of the innocent, that they may deter from evil, and provoke to good those subject to them. Or, to this same business, as the Arabic, Ethiopic, Syriac.) attending, (or, assiduous, as Calvin, Grotius; persevering, as Erasmus, Piscator, etc., that is, giving diligence and striving: appointed, as the Syriac; sustaining, as the Arabic; steadfastly applying, as Montanus; persevering, watching, laboring, as Pareus. It signifieth the continual, diligent, and intense care of Princes, etc., the troubles, labors, and difficulties with which that office is filled, that justly tributes, as due wages, be paid to them. Those who serve man need wages: they serve God in a great and useful matter, even to the Church.)
Render therefore to all,(or,to all your neighbors: both to Princes, and to others whatsoever, even private persons. For he passeth to general doctrine, etc. Or rather, 2. to all powers, supreme, middle, lowest, civil, economic, ecclesiastical, not only to Kings, but also to Governors, Procurators, Publicans, Ministers of Kings.) their dues, (so Montanus. That which ye owe, as Piscator, Calvin, Beza, etc. Dues of every kind, as Matthew 18:32. In the Glossary, debt, that which is owed.) to whom tribute is due, tribute; to whom custom, custom;(as Beza, Piscator. Tribute and custom differ as in Latin tributa and vectigalia. Custom is given for merchandise, tribute for land or head. Some call tribute collationes, as also Justin, Apology 2. But we have spoken of these words at 1 Maccabees 10:33, and Josephus distinguisheth them, Wars of the Jews, 2:1. Tribute answereth to the Hebrew, called capitation, that is, money imposed on the heads of citizens, or per person, or according to the census, whatever other name it be paid by. Tithe, Portoria, Scriptura, and those paid for merchandise, signify tributes from immovable things or lands; custom is a payment from movable things or merchandise transported. Hence portoria, the burden of customs: as in Polybius, Strabo 1:4, of Britain: It is necessary, he saith, to pay customs, if tributes be imposed besides.) to whom fear, fear; Not punishment, as in verse 4, but reverence, or obedient fear, or fear of offense; a solicitous care lest we commit anything that may offend them. Fear to prefects, attendants, etc., as executors of justice and ministers. to whom honour, honour; Namely, to the person of the Prince. See 1 Peter 2:13. Or, honour to all, according to 1 Peter 2:17, Honour all men, etc., but especially to Princes: to whom, though unworthy, honour is due for the dignity of the office. By honour he comprehendeth, 1. reverence and its declaration by fitting signs and duties; 2. love, both for the office and for benefits, etc.; 3. obedience in things lawful and honest; 4. gratitude, whereby we acknowledge and strive to recompense the benefits received from them, willingly paying tributes, services, etc.; 5. equity, whereby we patiently bear their faults, prudently cover them, and neither maliciously provoke nor unjustly repel them.
**Owe no man anything,**By occasion of the worddues, he passeth from the part of the Political Law to that which instructeth Manners, and showeth that those precepts, as they were before under Moses, so now remain, but with the additions which Christ worthily added. Oweis taken either, 1. indicatively, as the Arabic taketh it, rendering the place, There is none to whom ye owe anything before you, that is, ye owe no man anything. The sense is not inept. For insofar as through Christ we are freed from the world, made sons of God, and exempt from all by right, we are subject to no man, as to our mind and spiritual condition. Which liberty, as it taketh not away bodily dues of tributes, etc., so it commandeth thee to pay them, otherwise thou art guilty of sin, and having lost liberty, thou passest into the right of others, and art bound, even as to thy mind, subject to another. This becometh you not, saith Paul, who, free in Christ, ought not to become debtors to men, in the same sense as he said in 1 Corinthians 7:23, Be not ye the servants of men. Or, 2. imperatively, Owe, as Erasmus, Beza, Piscator, etc. Nothing to any man, (whether to the Magistrate or to a private person,) owe ye, as Calvin, that is, pay all that ye owe, render to each what is his, in honours, rewards, punishments, judgments, contracts, and common conversation. Having discoursed of our duty toward the Magistrate, he aptly openeth the source of all forensic disputes; namely, that we render to each his own only unwillingly and compelled by the Magistrate’s authority. But if owe be imperative, owe, what followeth cohereth not rightly, except that ye love one another: for that, as it is a perpetual debt, so it must perpetually be paid. And this is wittily said. Other debts are paid, and cease; the debt of love is ever both paid and remaineth. Other things are owed by civil obligation, from laws, etc., which, when performed, this obligation ceaseth; but love is by natural obligation, which ever remaineth. He who is bound daily to give another gold, if he pay on one day, rendereth the whole debt, but according to the time; yet he remaineth a debtor. So Paul’s sense is, We must love our neighbor, and that perfectly in affection and effect; yet not once, but continually and always, and whenever or as often as need be, that he never say, I am no longer bound. For he that loveth another, (as Beza, Piscator, Diodati, that is, any man, adorned with the same image of God, sprung from the same first parents, even an enemy, a stranger, an unbeliever, as is clear from the following verses. Otherwise he would not sin against this law of love who killeth him. The Hebrew neighbor, which pertaineth not only to hatred, but by another, the Septuagint expound. See Genesis 31:49, Isaiah 13:8, and 34:14, 16.) hath fulfilled the law. That is, hath performed its commands, not perfectly, for we love not perfectly, but in part, etc. Or, He added what the Law of Moses lacketh. For he who performeth only the precepts of Moses, yet something is wanting to him, Matthew 19:20. Question: How doth he here observe the whole Law, which requireth love not only of neighbor, but also of God? Response: 1. The Law here is understood relatively to men, because he treateth here only of dues to man. By synecdoche, he performeth not one precept, but all that concern the neighbor. 2. He hath fulfilled the Law, because love of neighbor includeth love of God, as the cause in the effect; for he loveth not his neighbor truly, unless he love him in God and for God. John also testifieth that no man can love his neighbor unless he love God; nor God, unless he love his neighbor. Therefore this fulfillment is directly of the second Table, and also indirectly or consequently of the first.
**For this,**etc.For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, etc. (It is elliptical, as if it is said, or written, were wanting; or the article is put, as is usual, in the neuter gender.) Thou shalt not commit adultery, etc. (as Beza, Piscator, etc. He reciteth the precepts in the order in which the Septuagint read them in their Hebrew text in Exodus, as we have shown in our fuller exposition of the Decalogue.) and, Thou shalt not covet; The wife, or thing of thy neighbor, etc. Thou shalt not covet, here meaneth, Thou shalt not act to draw another’s to thee under some plausible pretext. Thou shalt do nothing to defraud the Law. See above, verse 7. **and if there be any other commandment,**Added cautiously, lest anything seem excluded. Other, namely, of the same nature, requiring what we owe to another; as, Honour thy parents, and others which are in the Law, but outside the Decalogue. it is briefly comprehended in this saying, (or, word, that is, precept: for so the Hebrews eminently use it; and God calleth the ten precepts ten words. In this universal precept it is recapitulated, etc., as Augustine, Piscator, Montanus; or, fulfilled, as Tremellius, from the Syriac, Arabic; summarily comprehended, as Erasmus, Piscator, Calvin, Beza, Grotius, etc. So Aquila in Genesis 1:1 rendereth in the beginning, that is, together, as Philoponus expoundeth on Genesis. So the Hebrews say, The whole Law is in this saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy substance. And this precept of loving God, and the other, of loving the neighbor, are called by the Hebrews, as others note, the great sum. Greek authors call it the cause of summation, which the Latins call conjecture. Augustine: In which the cause of summation is repeated, which they call the head, that is, as it were recalled to the head; or, as it were comprehended under the head; or, reduced to this sum and compendium. Hesychius: to sum up, that is, to make an epilogue, to resume the sum of the whole matter in an epilogue: perhaps [reading sum?]: it profiteth, saith he, to sum up. Thence also to repeat oneself, to restore to the whole: whence perhaps the Vulgate here is renewed, which is the same as summed up. This is taken from the epilogues of rhetoricians, in which the whole cause is summarily repeated.) Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Namely, (or, In this, as Montanus.) Thou shalt love, etc. (as Beza, Piscator. This precept is in Leviticus 19, and repeated by Christ, Matthew 22:40. In this precept, not of the Law, but of Christ, Matthew 19:19. The Law indeed commandeth to love the neighbor, Leviticus 19:18, but by neighbor the Law understood him who was subject to the same Law, as we have shown at Matthew 5:43. Nor did that formula comprehend those by whom one was grievously injured, which the Evangelical doth, Matthew 5:44. Neighbor before the Law was any man, Genesis 11:3. So also in the Gospel, which is given not to all people, but to all, Luke 10:33. Therefore the precepts of the Law are comprehended in that precept of Christ, as a part in the whole, having many other parts also.) as thyself. That is, in the same manner as thou lovest thyself; that is, with the love of friendship, which is to will him honest good, useful, delightful, for his sake, not for thine, as thou willest these goods to thyself for thine own sake.
Love(that is, he who loveth another:)worketh no ill to his neighbour: I judge this reading of certain Codices to be truer, which the ancient Greek Interpreters follow, He harmeth not his neighbor, as Beza, Piscator, etc., nor suffereth evil to be done to him. He doth no evil to another, as Grotius; therefore he will neither violate his marriage, nor his life, nor steal his goods. The Apostle saith less, signifieth more: he deviseth no evil: therefore through all the precepts he promoteth good: for the omission of any good would be evil. By the same precept we are commanded both not to do evil to the neighbor, and to do whatsoever good to him. [The sense, as if to say, He harmeth no man, he profiteth all whom he can. He confirmeth what he had said, that the sum of the whole Law is in charity, because he who commandeth to love the neighbor summarily commandeth to do no evil to the neighbor.) therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (as Beza, Ethiopic, Piscator, Tremellius, from the Syriac; or, perfection, as the Arabic; consummation, as Erasmus, Piscator, Tremellius, Valla; complement, as Tollius; total observance. For it containeth more than the Law. It is the avoidance of all injury. Love so disposeth us that we fulfill the Law, harm no man, but do good to all. The Law is said to be fulfilled in two ways; 1. when each precept is fulfilled in particular, etc.; 2. when that is done on which the whole Law dependeth, or to which the whole Law is ordered, or whereby the whole Law is perfected: and so he who loveth hath fulfilled the whole Law, both because love is the principle, cause, and strength of all other things commanded, whence it cometh that he killeth not, stealeth not, etc., and doeth good, etc.; and because love is the end and scope of all the commandments of the Law, according to 1 Timothy 1:5. For we are forbidden to kill, etc., that mutual love may be preserved; and because it exhibiteth the manner in which the other commandments are perfectly done, namely, from love, etc. Moreover, this truth was perceived also by the Gentiles. If men, saith Aristotle, Ethics 8:1, and Cicero, De Amicitia, were friends, or loved one another, they would not need law, nor the compulsion of justice, but would themselves perform all observance, etc.