ROM 14:16 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 14:13–23: Do not cause others to sin

In this section, Paul told the believers in Rome to stop considering some of their fellow believers as bad people. Instead they should choose not to hinder them. He told them that God does not consider any kind of food or any other kind of thing as not acceptable, but people who think that that food or thing is unacceptable, they should not eat it or use it. But those who find those things acceptable, they should not hurt the faith of those who find those things unacceptable. Righteousness, peace, and joy are the important things in God’s kingdom, not what you eat or drink. God is pleased when those who follow Jesus live in that way.

Paul encouraged the believers to do things that bring peace and encouragement for each other. They are not to hurt other believers over what they eat. They are not to cause other believers to stumble in their faith because of what they eat. Foods that might cause problems for other believers are to be eaten privately. A believer should not eat food if he has doubts about whether he should eat it or not. Everything that is not done in faith is sin.

Here are other possible headings for this section:

Do Not Cause Another to Stumble (ESV)

Don’t Cause Problems for Others (CEV)

14:16

Do not allow what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil.

Therefore, do not let others, by what you do, say that that good thing of yours is bad.
Therefore, do not do that bad thing so that others will call your freedom, which is a good thing, a bad thing.

The Greek of 14:16 begins with a word that is often translated as “so” or “therefore.” The BSB omits this word. Here it introduces a conclusion, an idea coming from thinking about what Paul said previously. For example:

Therefore (NIV11)

Do not allow: This command indicates that believers must not do things that cause people to say such deeds are bad even though the believers say they are good deeds. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

do not let (ESV)

Do not give occasion for

what you consider good, then, to be spoken of as evil: This clause is passive. In some languages an active clause must be used. For example:

people speak of what you regard as good as evil

people say that the thing you regard as good is evil

what you consider good: In the Greek this is literally “your^(plur) good thing.” It probably refers to the freedom believers have to eat anything they want. But if you use that freedom to hurt other believers, then people will say that that freedom is a bad thing.See Moo (page 855) or Jewett (page 862). Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

what you know is good (NIV11)

what you think is good (NCV)

be spoken of as evil: The freedom we have in Christ is good. But if we hurt others when living according to that freedom, some people might say that that freedom is a bad thing. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

be reviled (NABRE)

be called a bad thing

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

οὖν

therefore

The word So indicates that what follows is a logical conclusion. So here indicates that what follows in this verse is the logical conclusion to what Paul has stated in the previous verses. Use a natural way in your language for indicating result. Alternate translation: [As a result,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν

˱of˲_you_all (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τό ἀγαθόν)

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

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τὸ ἀγαθόν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τό ἀγαθόν)

Here, good could refer to: (1) the good things that God gives Christians. Alternate translation: [good things] (2) the freedom that Christians have to eat any food they want to eat. Alternate translation: [your freedom to eat anything]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

μὴ βλασφημείσθω & ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Μή βλασφημείσθω οὖν ὑμῶν τό ἀγαθόν)

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. Alternate translation: [do not allow people to blaspheme your good]

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 14:16

SR Greek word order

Section 14:13–23: Do not cause others to sin

14:16

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