Romans 12 is the twelfth chapter of the

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that salvation is offered through the gospel of Jes ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

. It is authored by

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, while he was in

Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part ...

in the mid 50s AD, with the help of an

amanuensis An amanuensis () is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another, and also refers to a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In one example Eric Fenby ...

(secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22.

Text

Codex Carolinus Tischendorf (Monumenta p

Codex Guelferbytanus 64 Weissenburgensis, page 00507

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *In Greek: **

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(AD 325–350) **

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330–360) **

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) *In

Gothic language Gothic is an extinct East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the '' Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizeable te ...

Codex Carolinus Codex Carolinus is an uncial manuscript of the New Testament on parchment, dated to the 6th or 7th century. It is a palimpsest containing a Latin text written over a Gothic one. The Gothic text is designated by siglum ''Car'', the Latin text is ...

(6th/7th century; extant verses 1–5, 17–21) *In

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

(6th/7th century; extant verses 1–5, 17–21)

Old Testament references

* = * =

A living sacrifice and the renewal of your minds (12:1–2)

Verse 1

:''I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your

reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, lang ...

able service.'' The first letter of Peter uses a similar expressions: :''You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ'' (). Paul speaks of "reasonable service (worship)", ( gr, τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν, ''tēn logikēn latreian'') in contrast to the gr, λατρεια (''latreia'', worship) which formed part of the Jewish covenant with God (). Lutheran theologian

Johann Albrecht Bengel Johann Albrecht Bengel (24 June 1687 – 2 November 1752), also known as ''Bengelius'', was a Lutheran pietist clergyman and Greek-language scholar known for his edition of the Greek New Testament and his commentaries on it. Life and career B ...

summarises the contrasts to which Paul refers: :The service orship λατρέια, of the

Gentiles Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

is unreasonable, ἄλογος, (cf. ), the confidence of the Jews is unreasonable, ἄλογος, ), but the Christian considers all things rightly, and collects nfershis duty from the kindness of a merciful God. The epithet λογικὴν now corresponds to that verb, λογίζεσθαι, which is often used (, and ).

Verse 2

:''And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'' *"Be conformed": translated from grc, συσχηματίζεσθε, ; "to become like-shaped";Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm (1880)
''Commentary on the New Testament.'' Romans 12
Translation by Peter Christie from Meyer's sixth edition. Accessed February 14, 2019. same word as . The verb is based on the Greek noun ''schema'', indicating a "form" that is external rather than internal, which occurs in ("the fashion of this world") and ("in fashion as a man"). *"To this world": The "world" here is in the sense of "age" Same phrase as in Matthew 12:32; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . *"Be transformed": translated from Greek , Greek Text Analysis: Romans 12:2
Biblehub having a root verb ''metamorphóō'' (the root of the English terms "metamorphosis" and "metamorphize"; from , "change after being with" and , "changing form in keeping with inner reality") meaning "transformed after being with"; "transfigured", occurring 4 times in the New Testament, including in , (“was transfigured”, applied to Jesus), this verse, and (“are changed”).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologi ...

Romans 12
Accessed 28 April 2019.

Exhortations for the Christian Community (12:3–8)

Verses 3–8 is in a form of sermon, closely paralleled by . Paul starts the exhortation first to the humility and Christian unity, reflecting that he writes from

, 'the native habitat of spiritual pride and factional division' (cf.

1 Corinthians 1 1 Corinthians 1 is the first chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus, composed between 52–55 CE, and sent to the church in Cor ...

– 4). A major difference with the epistle to the Corinthians is that the list of gifts in verses 6–8 includes gifts of exhortation, generosity, and compassion but not deeds of power, healings, and tongues as found in . In Romans the gifts are not related specifically to the activity of the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

Verse 3

:''For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.'' *"Through the grace given to me": translated from Greek , '' '';Greek Text Analysis: Romans 12:3
Biblehub "by means of (in virtue of) the divine grace bestowed on me"; which characterizes Paul's apostleship (; cf. ; ; ).

Verse 4

:''Each one of us has a body with many parts, and these parts all have different uses.''

Verse 5

:''so we, being many, are one body in

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

, and individually members of one another.'' *"In Christ": that is, "by virtue of the union with Christ" (cf. ; ).

Verse 6

:''We have different gifts, according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in complete agreement with the faith.''

Love in Action (12:9–21)

Described by Moo as "Love and its manifestations", the section is proverbial in tone, the style is known as ''parenesis''. Some verses echo the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, notably 16c, 19c, and 20, while others are reflections of Jesus' teachings (especially 14, 17, 18 and 21). William Barclay suggests that in verses 9 to 13, "Paul presents his people with welvetelegraphic rules for everyday life".

Verses 17–21

These verses form a chiasm, bracketed by lines containing the word "evil" – verse 17a and verse 21. The next layer comprising verses 17b–18 and verse 20, deals with the way to treat non-Christians. The central portion is the prohibition of vengeance.

Vengeance is mine (12:19)

: ''Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.'' Part of this verse – "I will repay" or in older translations "vengeance is mine" (''Vengeance is mine, and recompense'' ESV) – is a

quotation A quotation is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written. In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance (i.e. of something that a speaker actually said) that is introduced by ...

from . Paul's instruction here is not to be vengeful.

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...

and his colleagues

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

as "not defending yourselves" ( WYC)

Verse 21

:''Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.'' NKJV This verse is a comprehensive summary of Romans 12:19–20, that is, "be not carried away to revenge and retaliation (verse 19) by evil which is committed against ''you'', but overcome the evil by the good which ''you'' show to ''your'' enemy (verse 20), put to shame by ''your'' noble spirit, ceases to act malignantly against ''you'' and becomes ''your'' friend".

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle to the Romans 12