ROM 12:11 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 12:1–21: Paul taught about our body, love, and revenge

In this section, Paul taught that believers should use their bodies in ways that are holy and acceptable to God. Our thinking must change so that it follows the will of God and not the thinking of the people of this world.

Paul also taught that believers should not be more proud of themselves than what is right before God. We all have different gifts from the Holy Spirit, and we should use them.

Believers should love in a genuine way, avoid evil deeds, honor others, be full of eagerness to serve the Lord. They should rejoice, be patient, pray, help others, and show hospitality.

Believers should bless the people who persecute them, and live in sympathy and harmony with other believers. They are not to be proud such that they avoid people with no status in society. They are not to think of themselves as wise.

Believers are not to take revenge, but leave that for God to do something about the evil done to them. They are to do things that are honorable and live at peace with others, if they can. They are to bless their enemies by doing good to them.

Here are other possible headings for this section:

The New Life in Christ (NRSV)

Our bodies, thinking, and deeds must be holy and good

12:11a

Do not let your zeal subside;

Continue serving^(plur) the Lord without ceasing. Don’t become lazy in your serving.
Don’t ignore/forsake your duties for/to the Lord, and do not become lazy in them.

(NASB:) not lagging behind in diligence: The Greek is more literally “About the diligence/zeal, not lazy.” It indicates that we should not become lazy in regard to the diligent serving we do for God. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

Never be lacking in zeal (NIV)

About your enthusiasm for the Lord, do not let it become laziness

(NASB:) diligence: There are several ways to interpret the Greek word that the NASB translates as diligence:

It means doing something earnestly, without stopping here. It has the same meaning as in 12:8 (NIV11: “diligently”). For example:
diligence (NASB) (GNT, NASB, NLT, NCV)The RSV, ESV and REB also translate the Greek here consistently with the same word in 12:8, but choose “zeal,” interpretation (2).
It means zeal here, “enthusiastic devotion to something.” Believers should be eager to do what the Lord wants them to do. For example:
zeal (RSV) (BSB, RSV, NIV, ESV, NABRE, NET, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because 12:11b has the Greek word that clearly means “having zeal,” so it would not be fitting to have the meaning of “zeal” again here.

Some languages must say in what one is diligent. For example:

be diligent in what you do for him

12:11b

keep your spiritual fervor,

Be energetic in your spirit.
Be excited/enthusiastic in your insides/heart/liver.

keep your spiritual fervor: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the BSB translates as spiritual:

It refers to the spirit of a person here. (BSB, NIV, GNT, NJB, NASB, KJV, NRSV, ESV, NABRE, GW, NET, NCV)
It refers to the Holy Spirit here. The clause indicates that the Holy Spirit gives us fervor. For example:
be aglow with the Spirit (RSV) (RSV, CEV, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the other commands in these verses are human-centered.Fitzmyer (page 654).

The Greek is more literally “boiling.” Here it indicates that our spirits should be “stirred up” or excited. For example:

be enthusiastic (NET)

spiritual fervor: Here this word spiritual refers to the inner being of a person. For example:

Your insidesNalik Back Translation, draft, Papua New Guinea.

heart/liver

12:11c

serving the Lord.

Do the work of the Lord.
Do the things that the Lord God has told you to do.

serving: Here this word refers to working for someone because you were told to do it. It refers to doing whatever work that God has given to you, including worshiping, praying, giving tithes, and helping others. This word refers to every believer, not just those who have a job in the church such as pastor or elder. Here are other ways to translate this word:

be a servant of

do the things commanded of us to do

See how you translated this word in 1:9 or 9:12.

the Lord: The word Lord refers to someone who has authority over people. Here this phrase refers to Jesus or God. In some languages it is more natural to indicate who this Lord is. For example:

the Lord Jesus/God

See how you translated the word Lord in 4:8 or 11:34.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / declarative

τῇ σπουδῇ μὴ ὀκνηροί, τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες, τῷ Κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες

¬the ˱in˲_earnestness (Some words not found in SR-GNT: τῇ σπουδῇ μή ὀκνηροί τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες τῷ Κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες)

Paul is using statements to give commands. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a more natural form for commands. Alternate translation: [in diligence, do not be lazy; in the spirit, be eager; serve the Lord]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τῇ σπουδῇ

¬the ˱in˲_earnestness

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of diligence, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [in being diligent]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τῷ πνεύματι

¬the ˱in˲_spirit

Here, the spirit could refer to: (1) a person’s spirit, as in [1:9](../01/09.md). Alternate translation: [in your spirit] or [wholeheartedly] (2) the Holy Spirit. Alternate translation: [in the Holy Spirit]

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.

OET interlinear ROM 12:11

SR Greek word order (including unused variant words in grey)

Section 12:1–21: Paul taught about our body, love, and revenge

12:11a

12:11b

12:11c

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)