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Rom 15 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) We who are powerful should be bearing the weaknesses of the powerless rather than just seeking to bring pleasure to ourselves.![]()
OET-LV And ought we, the powerful, the weaknesses of_the powerless to_be_bearing, and not to_ourselves to_be_bringing_pleasure.
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SR-GNT Ὀφείλομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς, οἱ δυνατοὶ, τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν. ‡
(Ofeilomen de haʸmeis, hoi dunatoi, ta asthenaʸmata tōn adunatōn bastazein, kai maʸ heautois areskein.)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT Now we, being able, ought to bear the weaknesses of the ones being unable, and not to please ourselves.
UST Indeed, we spiritually mature believers in the Messiah must support our fellow believers in the Messiah who are spiritually immature. We must not only do what pleases us.
BSB We who [are] strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
MSB (Same as BSB above)
BLB Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak and not to please ourselves.
AICNT Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not to please ourselves.
OEB We, the strong, ought to take on our own shoulders the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not merely to please ourselves.
WEBBE Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves.
LSV And we ought—we who are strong—to bear the weaknesses of the powerless, and not to please ourselves;
FBV Those of us who are spiritually strong ought to support those who are spiritually weak. We shouldn't just please ourselves.
TCNT Now we who are strong ought to bear with the weaknesses of those who are without strength; we ought not to please ourselves.
T4T Most of us are sure that God will not punish us for doing certain things that the laws and rituals God gave Moses said the Jews should not do. But we should be patient with those who are uncertain about such things, and we should not let them irritate us. We should not simply please ourselves.
LEB But we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
BBE We who are strong have to be a support to the feeble, and not give pleasure to ourselves.
Moff We who are strong ought to bear the burdens that the weak make for themselves and us. We are not to please ourselves.
Wymth As for us who are strong, our duty is to bear with the weaknesses of those who are not strong, and not seek our own pleasure.
ASV Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
DRA Now we that are stronger, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
YLT And we ought — we who are strong — to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves;
Drby But we ought, we that are strong, to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
RV Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
SLT And we the able ought to bear the weaknesses of the unable and not please ourselves.
Wbstr We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
KJB-1769 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
KJB-1611 ¶ Wee then that are strong, ought to beare the infirmities of the weake, and not to please our selues.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)
Bshps We whiche are stronge, ought to beare ye fraylnes of the weake, & not to stande in our owne conceiptes.
(We which are strong, ought to bear ye/you_all fraylnes of the weak, and not to stand in our own conceites.)
Gnva We which are strong, ought to beare the infirmities of the weake, and not to please our selues.
(We which are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. )
Cvdl We that are stronge ought to beare ye fraylnesse of them which are weake, and not to stonde in oure awne consaytes.
(We that are strong ought to bear ye/you_all fraylness of them which are weak, and not to stand in our own consaytes.)
TNT We which are stronge ought to beare the fraylnes of them which are weake and not to stonde in oure awne cosaytes.
(We which are strong ought to bear the fraylnes of them which are weak and not to stand in our own cosaytes. )
Wycl But we saddere men owen to susteyne the feblenesses of sijke men, and not plese to vs silf.
(But we saddere men owen to sustain the feeblenesses of sijke men, and not please to us self.)
Luth Wir aber, die wir stark sind, sollen der Schwachen Gebrechlichkeit tragen und nicht Gefallen an uns selber haben.
(We but, the we/us stark are, should the/of_the weak_(one) Gebrechlichkeit bear/carry and not fallen_(one) at/to us/to_us/ourselves himself have.)
ClVg Debemus autem nos firmiores imbecillitates infirmorum sustinere, et non nobis placere.
(Debemus however us firmiores imbecillitates infirmorum to_endure, and not/no us please. )
UGNT ὀφείλομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς, οἱ δυνατοὶ, τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν.
(ofeilomen de haʸmeis, hoi dunatoi, ta asthenaʸmata tōn adunatōn bastazein, kai maʸ heautois areskein.)
SBL-GNT Ὀφείλομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοὶ τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν.
(Ofeilomen de haʸmeis hoi dunatoi ta asthenaʸmata tōn adunatōn bastazein, kai maʸ heautois areskein.)
RP-GNT Ὀφείλομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοὶ τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν.
(Ofeilomen de haʸmeis hoi dunatoi ta asthenaʸmata tōn adunatōn bastazein, kai maʸ heautois areskein.)
TC-GNT Ὀφείλομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοὶ τὰ ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνάτων βαστάζειν, καὶ μὴ ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν.
(Ofeilomen de haʸmeis hoi dunatoi ta asthenaʸmata tōn adunatōn bastazein, kai maʸ heautois areskein. )
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).
15:1-4 We who are strong: Paul aligns himself with those he identifies as strong in faith, and he reveals that the division in the Roman church was not simply between Jews and Gentiles. Like Paul, some Jews had enlightened consciences and so were counted among the strong. Similarly, some Gentiles were so strongly influenced by Jewish teaching and tradition that they were among the weak in faith.
• must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this: This phrase is reminiscent of Gal 6:2. Paul did not want the strong to simply put up with those who were weak in faith; rather the strong were to actively and sympathetically assist the weak in living out their Christian faith with integrity (see also Gal 5:13-15).
In this section, Paul said that believers who are strong, as he defined “strong” in 14:1–9, should help believers who are weak (also as in 14:1–9). The strong are to encourage the weak, with the result that all may have hope in God.
Paul prayed that God would help the believers, strong and weak, to live in unity and glorify God.
Paul urged the believers to always welcome one another, because doing that glorifies God. Jesus served the Jews to show that God’s word was true and confirm his promises, which in turn encourages the non-Jews to glorify God for his mercy to them.
Then Paul prayed that God would fill them with joy and peace in their faith, with the result that the Holy Spirit would fill them with hope.
Here are other possible headings for this section:
Carry weak believers, encourage them and accept them
Help believers who are not strong
We who are strong ought to bear with the shortcomings of the weak
¶ We(incl) who are strong in our freedom have a duty to carry the weaknesses of those who are weak in that freedom.
¶ We who have a full freedom must help believers who are weak in that area.
We who are strong ought to: The word ought refers to something that is required to be done. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
We who are strong have a duty to
it is necessary that we who are strong
We who are strong are required to
We who are strong must
We who are strong: Here the word strong refers to believers who are strong in the freedom of behavior we have as believers.Kruse (page 527) says it refers to “their understanding of Christian freedom.” Longenecker (page 1012) says, “it seems most likely…that the group that spoke of itself as “the Strong” was made up largely (if not entirely) of Gentile Christians, who had no commitment to any Jewish scruples about the propriety or impropriety of certain foods, the sanctity of certain days, and the drinking of wine.” The “weak” believers restrict their freedom by only following Jewish behavior (chapter 14).
This clause does not refer to physical strength. In some languages a literal translation would refer only to physical strength. If that is true in your language, you may want to:
Explain the meaning in your translation. For example:
We who are strong in our freedom
Translate literally and explain the meaning in a footnote. Here is an example footnote:
This refers to being strong in the freedom we have as believers. The weak here are tied to Jewish behaviors.
bear with: The Greek word refers to carrying something heavy. Here it refers to coming alongside the weak believers and helping them. It does not imply trying to change their minds about their weaknesses. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
help the weak to carry their burdens (GNT)
bear the weaknesses of (NASB)
shortcomings: The Greek word is literally “weaknesses.” It refers here to any weakness that a believer might have. The main example in chapter 14 was eating only vegetables, perhaps out of fear of being influenced by idols should he eat meat dedicated to them. The word does not refer to sins or physical weaknesses here. Here are other ways to translate this word:
weaknesses (NASB)
whose freedom is not strong
and not to please ourselves.
And we have a duty to not please ourselves.
And we must not just please ourselves.
and not to please ourselves: The words “we who are strong ought” are implied from 15:1a. Some languages must repeat all or some of those words for a natural translation. For example:
and we have an obligation not to please ourselves
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ἡμεῖς & ἑαυτοῖς
we & ˱to˲_ourselves
Here and throughout this chapter the pronouns we and ourselves refer inclusively to all believers in Christ. Your language may require you to mark these forms.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἡμεῖς, οἱ δυνατοὶ
we the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὀφείλομεν Δέ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοί τά ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνατῶν βαστάζειν καί μή ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν)
Here, we, being able refers to Paul and other people who have mature faith. See the discussion about this in the General Notes for this chapter. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [we, having mature faith] or [we, being spiritually strong]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τὰ ἀσθενήματα & βαστάζειν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὀφείλομεν Δέ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοί τά ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνατῶν βαστάζειν καί μή ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν)
Paul speaks of weaknesses as if they were objects that a person could bear. He means that mature Christians should patiently help spiritually weak Christians. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [help overcome the weaknesses]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
τὰ ἀσθενήματα
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὀφείλομεν Δέ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοί τά ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνατῶν βαστάζειν καί μή ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν)
If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of weaknesses, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [the weak qualities]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τῶν ἀδυνάτων
˱of˲_the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὀφείλομεν Δέ ἡμεῖς οἱ δυνατοί τά ἀσθενήματα τῶν ἀδυνατῶν βαστάζειν καί μή ἑαυτοῖς ἀρέσκειν)
Here, the ones who are unable refers to Christians who are not spiritually mature. See the discussion of this in the General Notes for this chapter. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [of the ones who have immature faith] or [of the ones who are spiritually weak]