complete verse (Romans 13:2)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 13:2:

  • Uma: “So, people who oppose the government are rejecting what God made-certain. And people whose behavior is like that will certainly be punished.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Everyone who opposes a person who rules in the land/place, they also oppose God, because God is the one who placed/put them in that their work. And the ones who oppose them will be punished.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And as for the people who resist the government, what they are resisting is that which God has set up, and because of this, God will punish them.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore the one who opposes those who rule opposes those whom God has appointed. The one who does that will of course be punished.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Concerning the person who rejects what an authority says, then it is God himself who appointed the authority who is being rejected. Then it is the person’s own fault when he is punished by the authority.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 13:2

In Greek this verse begins with a particle meaning “so that” (An American Translation*), and this appears in the New English Bible as “consequently” (New American Bible “as a consequence”) and in the Revised Standard Version as “therefore.” The force of the particle is to introduce a conclusion based on the judgment in the previous verse. However, it is not always necessary to have a transitional particle such as “then” or “hence.” The fact that verse 2 is a conclusion to verse 1 is evident from the content itself. Note that there is no particle in the Good News Translation rendering.

What God has ordered (Revised Standard Version “what God has appointed”) renders a noun phrase in Greek (“the thing ordered by God”). Ordered may be rendered in some languages as “put there,” “arranged,” or “established.” It is important to avoid a term which would suggest “command” in the sense of a verbal order.

Anyone who does so is plural in Greek (“those who resist”), but in English discourse structure it is more natural to employ a singular after anyone, whoever, or everyone (v. 1).

Will bring judgment on himself is naturally taken as a reference to God’s judgment (see the similar expression in Mark 12.40 and James 3.1); however, this may be a reference either to God’s judgment as exercised by the government authorities or to the final exercise of God’s judgment at the last day. In the present context the first of these possibilities seems more probable. Accordingly, an equivalent expression may be “will cause the ruler to condemn him,” “will cause his own condemnation,” or “will cause himself to be punished.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 13:2

13:2a

Consequently: Here this word introduces a consequence of God instituting all government authority (13:1b–c). One should not resist government authority, because God caused that authority to exist.

whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place: Here the Greek words that the Berean Standard Bible translates as resists and opposing are words with similar meanings. The Greek lexicons use similar definitions for these words. They both refer to opposing something or someone. The scholars who say the two words mean nearly the same thing do not say how they differ in meaning. Dunn (page 762) suggests that Paul used two different words here only for good Greek style.

Some languages may have two words that mean nearly the same thing here. For example:

whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
-or-
people who oppose the government are rejecting what God made-certain

In other languages it will be more natural to use the same word both times. For example:

whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed (English Standard Version)

whoever: The Greek is singular but refers to anyone. For example:

he who (New International Version)

resists: Here this word refers to opposing something or someone. It implies more than a difference of opinion. It implies here that someone refuses to do what the government requires. Here are other ways to translate this word:

rebels (New International Version)
-or-
fights
-or-
rejects

authority: The Greek is singular, but it refers to any of the governing authorities in 13:1a. For example:

those authorities

what God has set in place: The Greek is more literally “the command/order of God.” It refers to the system of government implied by “the authorities” above. God put it there. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

what God has commanded (New Century Version)
-or-
God is the one who placed/put them in that their work
-or-
that which God had established

13:2b

those who do so: This refers to people who are doing the same thing as the person resisting the authorities in 13:2a.

will bring judgment on themselves: The Greek is more literally “will receive judgment upon-themselves.” The phrase “upon-themselves” is emphasized in the Greek by being first in the clause.

This phrase indicates that someone will judge the people who resist the government. Some scholars think that Paul was thinking of both God and government leaders judging these people. Other scholars think that Paul was thinking mostly of God here. It is probably best to think that Paul was thinking of both God and government leaders here.

In some languages one word translates both the English word “receive” and “take.” But “take” does not imply that someone gave. Your translation should indicate or imply that someone gave this judgment. For example:

will be given judgment
-or-
will experience judgment and punishment ⌊from them⌋

judgment: Here this word refers to deciding someone has done something bad and what the punishment should be. For example:

condemnation (New Jerusalem Bible)

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