Romans
Romans 13:8-14
As the night sky begins to lighten as the dawn approaches we are reminded of our Lord's own words - Love your neighbor as yourself.
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Published April 8th, 2022; Updated April 8th, 2022
Main point summary
Arc 13:8-14
Issues 13:8-14
Dia 13:8-14
notes
Main point summary
The Ground for the entire ethical section Ch 13-15
editing
Arc 13:8-14
NT
Romans 13:8-14
The alla here is opposed to the subjunctive sense of the previous
The emphasis here is to love one another. The owing could refer to being slow to fulfill obligations, both physical and spiritual but here is just a transition to the fundamental topic of loving one's neighbor.
Matt 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-28; John 13:34-35
This imperative is offered as a more concrete contrast to the subjunctive and more figurative statements at v12c,13a,13b. Rom 8:2.
Μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὀφείλετε,
Owe no one anything,
εἰ μὴ τὸ ⸂ ἀλλήλους ἀγαπᾶν ⸃ ·
except to love each other,
concessive
ὁ γὰρ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἕτερον νόμον πεπλήρωκεν.
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
τὸ γάρ· Οὐ μοιχεύσεις, Οὐ φονεύσεις, Οὐ κλέψεις, Οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις, καὶ εἴ τις ἑτέρα ἐντολή, ἐν ⸂ τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ⸃ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται, ⸂ ἐν τῷ ⸃ ·
For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery (VI), You shall not murder (V), You shall not steal (VII), You shall not covet (IX,X),” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word:
Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν.
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
ideaexplanation
ἡ ἀγάπη τῷ πλησίον κακὸν οὐκ ἐργάζεται·
Love does no wrong to a neighbor;
πλήρωμα οὖν νόμου ἡ ἀγάπη.
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
inference
progression
Καὶ τοῦτο
And this [being the case] (v8a-10b)
εἰδότες τὸν καιρόν,
knowing the time,
ὅτι ὥρα ⸂ ἤδη ὑμᾶς ⸃ ἐξ ὕπνου ἐγερθῆναι,
that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep.
generalspecific
νῦν γὰρ ἐγγύτερον ἡμῶν ἡ σωτηρία ἢ ὅτε ἐπιστεύσαμεν.
For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν,
The night is far gone;
ἡ δὲ ἡμέρα ἤγγικεν.
the day is at hand.
Parallelism
restate
Par
⸀ ἀποβαλώμεθα οὖν τὰ ἔργα τοῦ σκότους,
So then we should want (Subj) to cast off the works of darkness
⸂ ἐνδυσώμεθα δὲ ⸃ τὰ ὅπλα τοῦ φωτός.
and we should want (Subj) to put on the armor of light.
negativepositive
ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν,
We should want (Subj) to walk properly as in the daytime,
μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις,
not in orgies and drunkenness,
μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις,
not in sexual immorality and sensuality,
μὴ ἔριδι καὶ ζήλῳ,
not in quarreling and jealousy.
series
ἀλλὰ ἐνδύσασθε τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν,
But put on (Imper) the Lord Jesus Christ,
καὶ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν μὴ ποιεῖσθε εἰς ἐπιθυμίας.
and make (Imper) no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
bilateral
sbl
mine
discourse
Issues 13:8-14
Why discuss fulfilling the law? The OT promise of the New Covenant was that God would write the law on the hearts of His people. Jer 31:33. This is done by the baptism of the Spirit and the life in Christ which fulfills the law, not by being bound to the law but by being bound to Christ to fellowship with him in prayer and worship, and to worship both privately and corporately and to serve wherever He sends us by loving one another, both in the Church and outside the Church. Christ's teaching on the Good Samaritan was about 'Who is our neighbor?' The passage on the law in our text contains no imperatives - it is (v8-10) by and large an observation which provides the ground for v8-14, which taken as a whole provides the Ground for Ch12-15.
Dia 13:8-14
scripturetext
Romans 13:8-14
subjectverb
solid
drop
equal
revrocket
line
pred
ὀφείλετε
directobject
μηδὲν
indirectobj
pstack
cword
Μηδενὶ
obtuse
shelf
vertical
infinitive
ἀγαπᾶν
τὸ
ἀλλήλους
ὁ
πεπλήρωκεν
ἀγαπῶν
τὸν
ἕτερον
νόμον
dblrocketship
τὸ
rocketship
μοιχεύσεις
Οὐ
φονεύσεις
Οὐ
κλέψεις
Οὐ
ἐπιθυμήσεις
Οὐκ
ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται
prepphrase
ἐν
τῷ
λόγῳ
τούτῳ
ἐν
τῷ
dblaccusative
Ἀγαπήσεις
τὸν
πλησίον
σου
(Ἀγαπήσεις)
σεαυτόν
ὡς
ἐντολή
τις
ἑτέρα
εἴ
καὶ
γάρ
γὰρ
εἰ
μὴ
vsnum
Romans 13:8
Romans 13:9
Romans 13:10
ἡ
ἀγάπη
ἐργάζεται
οὐκ
κακὸν
τῷ
πλησίον
ἡ
ἀγάπη
(X)
predicate
πλήρωμα
νόμου
table
οὖν
dashed
free
line2
line2
Romans 13:11
Καὶ
τοῦτο
εἰδότες
τὸν
καιρόν
ὥρα
(X)
ἤδη
quoteshelf
ὑμᾶς
ἐγερθῆναι
ἐξ
ὕπνου
ὅτι
line2
line1
smartline
line2
line2
ἡ
σωτηρία
(X)
νῦν
ἐγγύτερον
ἡμῶν
ἐπιστεύσαμεν
ἢ
ὅτε
γὰρ
Romans 13:12
ἡ
νὺξ
προέκοψεν
ἡ
ἡμέρα
ἤγγικεν
ἀποβαλώμεθα
τὰ
ἔργα
τοῦ
σκότους
ἐνδυσώμεθα
τὰ
ὅπλα
τοῦ
φωτός
δὲ
οὖν
δὲ
Romans 13:13
περιπατήσωμεν
εὐσχημόνως
ἐν
ἡμέρᾳ
ὡς
μὴ
μὴ
μὴ
κώμοις
μέθαις
καὶ
κοίταις
ἀσελγείαις
καὶ
ἔριδι
ζήλῳ
καὶ
ἐνδύσασθε
ποιεῖσθε
μὴ
τὸν
κύριον
equals
Ἰησοῦν
Χριστόν
πρόνοιαν
τῆς
σαρκὸς
εἰς
ἐπιθυμίας
καὶ
ἀλλὰ
Romans 13:14
diagram
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