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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 13 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14
OET (OET-LV) Give_back to_all the obligations:
to_the one the tax, the tax, to_the one the revenue, the revenue, to_the one the respect, the respect, to_the one the honour, the honour.
OET (OET-RV) So fulfil all of your obligations: if it’s tax then pay it, or revenue then give it, or if it’s respect then show it, or giving honour then do it.
In this section, Paul told believers that they must submit to government officials, because God gave the officials the authority to rule. Fighting the government is fighting the thing that God put in place. Only people who do evil need to fear the government. The believer must do good. The government will approve those deeds. But if the believer does what is wrong, he or she should fear the government. It makes happen God’s anger against those who do evil. Submitting to the government helps avoid God’s anger and keeps our conscience clear.
Believers also should pay government taxes and fees. They should respect and honor the leaders.
Here are other possible headings for this section:
Our attitude toward the government
Our relationship with the government
Pay everyone what you owe him:
Pay, as you(plur) should/ought, the things you owe.
Whatever is your duty/obligation toward them, do it.
Things that are required of you to give, give them.
Pay: This Greek word refers to giving something because one is required to give.BDAG, sense 2.c. Here are other ways to translate this word:
Give (NIV)
Pay, as you should,
The NIV allows the context to imply giving something you should give. The BSB does a similar thing with Pay.
everyone: Considering the list of things to do in 13:7b–e, the word everyone here refers to all government authorities, not everyone in the world. For example:
all of them (RSV)
what you owe him: The Greek word refers to things that someone should repay or give. 13:7b–e has four examples of what you owe him. Your translation should clearly allow taxes, revenue, respect, and honor to be examples of the word or phrase you translate here.
With the colon (:) after the word “him” and not repeating the word “pay,” the BSB indicates that 13:7b–e are four things that the believer should pay. In some languages a different way to translate that meaning must be used. For example:
Pay everyone what you owe him. So, pay taxes to whom taxes are due, and pay revenue to whom revenue is due, and pay respect to whom respect is due, and pay honor to whom honor is due.
Pay everyone what you owe him. That is, pay taxes to whom taxes are due, and revenue to whom revenue is due, and respect to whom respect is due, and honor to whom honor is due.
taxes to whom taxes are due,
So, pay taxes to the person you owe taxes to,
When the rulers tell you that you must pay taxes, then pay them.
taxes to whom taxes are due: The word “pay” is implied here. In some languages that word must be explicit here. For example:
pay taxes to whom taxes are owed
You may want to use the same word here for “pay” as you did in 13:7a.
taxes: See how you translated this word in 13:6.
revenue to whom revenue is due,
and pay duties/fees to the person you owe duties/fees to.
When they tell you that you must pay duties or fees, then pay them.
revenue to whom revenue is due: The word “pay” is implied here. In some languages that word must be explicit here. For example:
pay revenue to whom revenue is owed
This is the second item in a list. In some languages an “and” must begin this phrase. For example:
and revenue to whom revenue is owed
revenue: The Greek word refers to money other than taxes that government authorities ask people to pay. This includes duty, fees, and other such things. Here are other ways to translate this word:
duty
fees
respect to whom respect is due,
And fear the person you should fear,
They should be feared/respected, so fear/respect them.
respect to whom respect is due: The word “pay” is implied here. In some languages that word must be explicit here. But in many languages a different word than “pay” must be used for the correct meaning. For example:
pay/give/show respect to whom respect is owed
respect the person/leader you should respect
This is the third item in a list. In some languages an “and” must begin this phrase. For example:
and respect to whom respect is owed
respect: The Greek word that the BSB translates as respect is more literally “fear.” It refers to a necessary attitude to have toward powerful people because their power can put us in danger. People of lower status and power must act in ways that do not make powerful people angry or feel humiliated. For example:
fear (NASB)
But many English versions translate the Greek word as respect here.
honor to whom honor is due.
and honor the person you should honor.
They should be honored, so honor them.
honor to whom honor is due: The word “pay” is implied here. In some languages that word must be explicit here. But in many languages a different word than “pay” must be used for the correct meaning. For example:
pay/give/show honor to whom honor is owed
honor the person/leader you should honor
This is the fourth item in a list. In some languages an “and” must begin this phrase. For example:
and honor to whom honor is owed
honor: This word refers to showing that you respect someone.BDAG, sense 2. This may be praising him or speaking highly of him to others. Here are other ways to translate this word:
praise
lift up the name
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τὰς ὀφειλάς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τάς ὀφειλάς τῷ τόν φόρον τόν φόρον τῷ τό τέλος τό τέλος τῷ τόν φόβον τόν φόβον τῷ τήν τιμήν τήν τιμήν)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of obligations, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [what you are obligated to pay]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
τῷ τὸν φόρον, τὸν φόρον; τῷ τὸ τέλος, τὸ τέλος; τῷ τὸν φόβον, τὸν φόβον; τῷ τὴν τιμὴν, τὴν τιμήν
˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τάς ὀφειλάς τῷ τόν φόρον τόν φόρον τῷ τό τέλος τό τέλος τῷ τόν φόβον τόν φόβον τῷ τήν τιμήν τήν τιμήν)
Paul is 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: [pay tax to whom tax is due, pay toll to whom toll is due, show fear to whom fear is due, show honor to him to whom honor is due]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
τῷ τὸν φόρον, τὸν φόρον; τῷ τὸ τέλος, τὸ τέλος
˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τάς ὀφειλάς τῷ τόν φόρον τόν φόρον τῷ τό τέλος τό τέλος τῷ τόν φόβον τόν φόβον τῷ τήν τιμήν τήν τιμήν)
Paul is speaking of taxes and tolls in general, not of one particular tax and toll. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a more natural phrase. Alternate translation: [taxes to whom taxes, tolls to whom tolls]
Note 4 topic: translate-unknown
τῷ τὸ τέλος, τὸ τέλος
˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τάς ὀφειλάς τῷ τόν φόρον τόν φόρον τῷ τό τέλος τό τέλος τῷ τόν φόβον τόν φόβον τῷ τήν τιμήν τήν τιμήν)
The word toll refers to a specific kind of tax that must be paid in addition to regular taxes. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of tax, you could use a general expression for additional taxes. Alternate translation: [government fees to whom government fees] or [revenues to whom revenues]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τῷ τὸν φόβον, τὸν φόβον; τῷ τὴν τιμὴν, τὴν τιμήν
˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τάς ὀφειλάς τῷ τόν φόρον τόν φόρον τῷ τό τέλος τό τέλος τῷ τόν φόβον τόν φόβον τῷ τήν τιμήν τήν τιμήν)
If your language does not use abstract nouns for the ideas of fear and honor, you could express the same ideas in another way. Alternate translation: [fear to whomever should be feared, honor to whomever should be honored]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τῷ τὸν φόβον, τὸν φόβον; τῷ τὴν τιμὴν, τὴν τιμήν
˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› ˱to˲_the_‹one› (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Ἀπόδοτε πᾶσι τάς ὀφειλάς τῷ τόν φόρον τόν φόρον τῷ τό τέλος τό τέλος τῷ τόν φόβον τόν φόβον τῷ τήν τιμήν τήν τιμήν)
Here Paul refers to fearing and honoring those who deserve to be feared and honored as if someone is paying them fear and honor. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [fear those who should be feared, honor those who should be honored] or [respect those whom you ought to respect, honor those whom you ought to honor]
OET (OET-LV) Give_back to_all the obligations:
to_the one the tax, the tax, to_the one the revenue, the revenue, to_the one the respect, the respect, to_the one the honour, the honour.
OET (OET-RV) So fulfil all of your obligations: if it’s tax then pay it, or revenue then give it, or if it’s respect then show it, or giving honour then do it.
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.
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