In Greek the verb eat does not have an object (see Revised Standard Version “let not him who eats”), but the Good News Translation supplies anything as the object (so also An American Translation* and New American Bible). In the context the contrast is apparently between the person who eats meat and the person who does not, and both Phillips (“the meat eater should not despise the vegetarian”) and the Jerusalem Bible (“meat-eaters must not despise the scrupulous”) make this information explicit.

The word translated despise is a very strong term and means “to count as nothing.” Once again Paul reminds his readers, though indirectly, that God’s acceptance of a person is based on his own grace and not on what a person does or does not do. For this reason all believers are obligated to accept one another, regardless of their differences of opinion over certain matters. Languages differ considerably in the way in which they express the concept of despise—for example, “look down upon,” “say, You are nothing,” “are proud against,” or “consider one’s self far better than.”

Pass judgment on may be rendered as “condemn” or “say, You are doing wrong.”

In the last clause of verse 3, because God has accepted him, it is important to indicate that the pronoun refers to the one who eats anything.

In translating anything one should avoid a term which implies “everything” in the sense that “he eats too much” or “he eats everything that is available.” To avoid this interpretation it is necessary in some languages to employ a double negative—for example, “there is nothing which he does not eat” or “there is nothing which he is unwilling to eat.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .