Romans 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans 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 Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in

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

in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22.

Protestant Reformer Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

summarised this chapter as Paul's teaching that "one should carefully guide those with weak conscience and spare them; one shouldn't use

Christian freedom Adiaphoron (; plural: adiaphora; from the Greek (pl. ), meaning "not different or differentiable") is the negation of ''diaphora'', "difference". In Cynicism, adiaphora represents indifference to the s of life. In Pyrrhonism, it indicates thing ...

to harm, but rather to help, the weak". 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 ...

says that Paul "refers all things to faith".

Text

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 23 verses in most modern-day translations, but many historic Greek editions placed Romans 16:25–27 at the end of this chapter instead, making it consist of 26 verses in total.

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) ** Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; complete) *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 text c ...

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 d ...

(6th/7th century; extant verses 9–20) *In

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power of the ...

(6th/7th century; extant verses 9–20)

Old Testament references

* Romans 14:11 referencea Isaiah 45:23

The weak in faith

The word which Paul uses for "weakness" in faith ( grc, τον .. τῇ πίστει, ton tē pistei, label=none) refers to both physical illness and moral weakness. In 2 Timothy 4:20, a book traditionally ascribed to Paul, it is stated that Paul'a missionary companion

Trophimus Trophimus ( el, Τρόφιμος, ''Tróphimos'') or Trophimus the Ephesian ( el, Τρόφιμος ὁ Ἐφέσιος, ''Tróphimos ho Ephésios'') was a Christian who accompanied Paul of Tarsus, Paul during a part of his third missionary jou ...

was sick ( grc, ἀσθενοῦντα, asthenounta, label=none) when he left him at Miletus.

Verse 4

Verse 4 is reminiscent of the teaching of

Jesus 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 religious ...

(and one of the most-cited biblical quotations) in Matthew 7:1: "Judge not, lest you be judged."

Verse 23

The statement about faith in verse 23 is similar to that found in Hebrews 11:6, "...without faith it is impossible to please God."

Verses 24–26

Verses 24–26 are not contained here in most modern-day English translations, but rather they are placed at the end of

Romans 16 Romans 16 is the sixteenth (and the last) chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while Paul was in Corinth in the mid 50s AD, with the help of a secretary ( amanuen ...

as verses 25–27. However, the majority of Greek manuscripts, most of which are in the

Byzantine Text In the textual criticism of the New Testament, the Byzantine text-type (also called Majority Text, Traditional Text, Ecclesiastical Text, Constantinopolitan Text, Antiocheian Text, or Syrian Text) is one of the main Textual criticism#New Testamen ...

tradition, place these verses here at the end of Romans 14. A very small minority of other manuscripts either place them after

Romans 15 Romans 15 is the fifteenth Chapters and verses of the Bible, chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christianity, Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid 50s AD, with the he ...

, place them in multiple places, or omit them altogether. Most scholars today believe that these verses belong at the end of chapter 16, but some defend the authenticity of their placement at this location.See H. Gamble, ''The Textual History of the Letter to the Romans''; Zane C. Hodges & Arthur L. Farstad, ''The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text''; and Maurice A. Robinson & William G. Pierpont, ''The New Testament in the Original Greek according to the Byzantine/Majority Textform''

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 14