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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Rom C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
Rom 12 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V20 V21
OET (OET-LV) Not yourselves avenging, beloved, but give place to_ the _severe_anger, because/for it_has_been_written:
To_me vengeance is, I will_be_repaying, is_saying the_master.
OET (OET-RV) Dear friends, don’t take revenge on others, but leave it to God’s severe anger, because it’s written: ‘Yahweh says, Vengeance belongs to me—I’ll be the one to repay.’
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
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved,
People whom I love, never take revenge on anyone.
The ones I love, when someone hurts you, do not take revenge.
avenge yourselves: This phrase refers to hurting someone because they hurt you. For example:
take revenge (NIV)
Do not pay back someone who hurt you by hurting him
beloved: This word indicates that Paul loved the believers in Rome.See Morris (page 453). Cranfield (page 646) implies that the affection here is Paul’s, and Jewett (page 774) says the word is “personal.” But Moo (page 786) connects this to the love of God for the believers. However, overall it seems best to see this as Paul’s love for the believers in Rome. For example:
my dear friends (NJB)
but leave room for God’s wrath.
But/And let God’s anger take revenge at his time,
No, allow God to act in anger against that person when he chooses.
but: Some languages will not see contrast between “never avenge yourselves” and “leave it to the wrath of God.” For example the Uma Back Translation and the Otomi Back Translation (both on TW) omit this word.
leave room for God’s wrath: The Greek word that the BSB translates as leave room for refers to waiting for someone else to do something. Believers should let God be angry with that person and do something to him, when and where God chooses to. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
leave it to the wrath of God (ESV)
wait for God to punish them with his anger (NCV)
allow the opportunity for God’s anger to avenge you
For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
for some words that were written long ago say, “The Lord says, ‘It is mine to take revenge. I myself will pay him back.’ ”
For the Scripture says, “The Lord God says, ‘Taking revenge belongs to me. I myself will retaliate/repay for someone’s wrongdoing.’ ”
For: Here this word introduces support for what Paul said in 12:19a–b.
it is written: This clause introduces a quote from Scripture. The quote is from Deuteronomy 32:35. If you indicate the location of quotes from the Old Testament with cross-references, you may want to do so here.
This quote was written hundreds of years before Paul wrote the letter to the Romans. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly indicate the quote was written at the same time as Paul wrote here. If that is true in your language, indicate it was long before Paul wrote. For example:
it was written long ago
This clause refers to what was written in the Old Testament. Some languages must make that explicit to make that connection clear. For example:
the scripture says (GNT)
This clause is passive. Moses wrote what God told him to write. Some languages must use an active clause here. For example:
Moses/someone wrote long ago
what God caused-to-be-written saying,
it says in the Holy Book
See how you translated this clause in 1:17 or 11:26.
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord: In many languages it is more natural to have who speaks before what is spoken. For example:
The Lord says, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’
Vengeance is Mine: The word Vengeance refers to refers to hurting someone because they hurt you, as “avenge” does in 12:19a. Some languages must use a verb here. For example:
Deeds of revenge are mine to do
The Greek word that the BSB translates as Mine is emphasized in the Greek by being first in the clause. For example:
It is mine to avenge
I will repay: This word refers to doing something in return to someone for what he did to you. For example:
I will pay back (GNT)
The meaning of I is emphasized in the Greek. For example:
I myself will repay
the Lord: The word Lord refers to someone who has authority over people. Here this phrase refers to God. In some languages it is more natural to indicate who this Lord is. For example:
the Lord God
See how you translated the word Lord in 4:8 or 12:11.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / declarative
μὴ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδικοῦντες
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἑαυτούς ἐκδικοῦντες ἀγαπητοί ἀλλά δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ γέγραπται γάρ Ἐμοί ἐκδίκησις ἐγώ ἀνταποδώσω λέγει Κύριος)
Paul is using a statement to give a command. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a more natural form for commands. Alternate translation: [do not avenge yourselves]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ
give place ¬the ˱to˲_wrath
Here, wrath refers to God’s punishment. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [give way to God’s punishment]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τῇ ὀργῇ & ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις
¬the ˱to˲_wrath & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἑαυτούς ἐκδικοῦντες ἀγαπητοί ἀλλά δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ γέγραπται γάρ Ἐμοί ἐκδίκησις ἐγώ ἀνταποδώσω λέγει Κύριος)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of wrath and vengeance, you could express the same ideas in another way. Alternate translation: [to God being wrathful … I will avenge]
Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
γάρ
for
For indicates that what follows this word explains what came before it. Here, for indicates that what follows is the reason why what Paul said in the previous clause is true. Use a natural way in your language for indicating a reason. You may need to start a new sentence, as in the UST. Alternate translation: [This is due to the fact that]
Note 5 topic: writing-quotations
γέγραπται
˱it˲_˓has_been˒_written
See how you translated the similar phrase in [1:17](../01/17.md).
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
γέγραπται
˱it˲_˓has_been˒_written
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Moses wrote this quotation. Alternate translation: [Moses wrote]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks
ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις; ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω, λέγει Κύριος
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἑαυτούς ἐκδικοῦντες ἀγαπητοί ἀλλά δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ γέγραπται γάρ Ἐμοί ἐκδίκησις ἐγώ ἀνταποδώσω λέγει Κύριος)
This sentence is a quotation of [Deuteronomy 32:35](../deu/32/35.md). It may be helpful to your readers to indicate this by setting off all of this material with quotation marks or with whatever punctuation or convention your language uses to indicate a quotation.
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις; ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω, λέγει Κύριος
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἑαυτούς ἐκδικοῦντες ἀγαπητοί ἀλλά δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ γέγραπται γάρ Ἐμοί ἐκδίκησις ἐγώ ἀνταποδώσω λέγει Κύριος)
If the direct quotation inside a direct quotation would be confusing in your language, you could translate the second direct quotation as an indirect quotation. Alternate translation: [The Lord says that vengeance is for him; he will repay.]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism
ἐμοὶ ἐκδίκησις; ἐγὼ ἀνταποδώσω
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή ἑαυτούς ἐκδικοῦντες ἀγαπητοί ἀλλά δότε τόπον τῇ ὀργῇ γέγραπται γάρ Ἐμοί ἐκδίκησις ἐγώ ἀνταποδώσω λέγει Κύριος)
These two phrases mean basically the same thing and emphasize that God will avenge his people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could combine the phrases into one. Alternate translation: [I will certainly avenge you]
Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἀνταποδώσω
˓will_be˒_repaying
Here Moses quotes God using repay to refer to appropriately punishing someone as if the punishment were reciprocal payment for that person’s deeds. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [will appropriately punish]
Note 11 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ἀνταποδώσω
˓will_be˒_repaying
Moses quotes God leaving out some of the words that a sentence would need in many languages to be complete. If it would be helpful in your language, you could supply these words from the context. Alternate translation: [will repay them]
12:9-21 The many injunctions in these verses do not follow a neat logical arrangement. The overall topic, stated at the beginning, is sincere love. Paul shows how we are to love both those inside the church (12:10, 13, 15-16) and those outside the church (12:14, 17-21).
OET (OET-LV) Not yourselves avenging, beloved, but give place to_ the _severe_anger, because/for it_has_been_written:
To_me vengeance is, I will_be_repaying, is_saying the_master.
OET (OET-RV) Dear friends, don’t take revenge on others, but leave it to God’s severe anger, because it’s written: ‘Yahweh says, Vengeance belongs to me—I’ll be the one to repay.’
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.