conscience

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The Hebrew and Greek that is rendered in English as “conscience” is translated into Aari as “our thoughts speak to us,” in Nuer it is “the knowledge of their heart” (source: Jan Sterk), in Cheke Holo “to know what is straight and what is wrong” (source: Carl Gross), in Chokwe “law of the heart” (source D.B. Long in The Bible Translator 1953, p. 135ff. ), in Toraja-Sa’dan penaa ma’pakilala or “the admonishing within” (source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1950, p. 21 ff. ), in Yatzachi Zapotec as “head-hearts,” in Tzeltal as “hearts” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), in Enlhet as “innermost,” in Northern Emberá as “thinking” (source: Jacob Loewen in The Bible Translator 1975, p. 201ff. ), and in Elhomwe as “what reminds the heart” or “whole heart” (“since the idea of conscience is something that reminds the heart”) (source: project-specific translation notes in Paratext).

In Warao it is translated with obojona, a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.

In Mbudum it is translated as “the heart that does not leap.” (Source: Ervais Fotso Noumsi in Le Sycomore, 16/1, 2022 )

See also conscience seared and perfect conscience / clear conscience, clear conscience towards God and all people, and brothers, up to this day I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God.

complete verse (Romans 13:5)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 13:5:

  • Uma: “That’s why we must submit to the commands of the government. We submit so we won’t be punished. But more than that, we submit because we know in our hearts that is what is proper for us to do.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Therefore you ought to obey/follow the people who rule in your land/place so that you are not punished and because you know in your livers that this is what you ought to do.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “You obey the laws of the government, not because you are afraid of the punishment of God, but rather because you know that this is the right thing to do.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Therefore we must submit to the officials of the town/country, not only because we are afraid to be punished but because we know that that is the proper thing we ought to do.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Therefore it is important that what the authorities order be obeyed. But people should not obey the authorities just because they will thus escape punishment, but they must obey what the authorities say because it is right that what they command be obeyed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 13:5

For this reason refers back to the grounds of obedience given in the previous verse. God’s wrath (see also Revised Standard Version, An American Translation*, Moffatt) is literally “the wrath,” but in light of verse 4 (and in light of the way in which Paul uses the word “wrath” elsewhere in this letter) it is better to take this as a specific reference to God’s wrath. However, the New English Bible appears to try to avoid this conclusion and to make the word refer to the retribution imposed by the authorities. In a sense both of these translations are legitimate. Christians are encouraged to obey the civil authorities so that they will not be punished by them, but Paul definitely looks upon the punishment handed out by the civil authorities as God’s wrath on people who do evil. This seems to be the primary focus in the present passage.

In the first part of this verse the authorities is supplied by the Good News Translation as the understood object of the verb obey (An American Translation* “obey them”); most translations do not supply an object to the verb. For Paul the Christian is obligated to obey the civil authorities, not only out of the fear of punishment but for the sake of his conscience towards God. But also as a matter of conscience is rendered in some languages as “but because your heart also tells you to” or “because in your heart you know it is what you should do.”

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 13:5

13:5a

Therefore: Here this word introduces a logical conclusion to what Paul said earlier.

it is necessary: The Greek is literally “it-is-necessary to.” It indicates that the only right thing to do is to be in subjection.

to submit to authority: This refers to being under the authority of someone. He or she can tell believers what they should do, and they should do it. See how you translated this Greek word at 13:1 (“submit”).

The context implies that believers are to be subject to government authorities (13:1–4). For example:

to submit to the authorities (New International Version)

13:5b

The same interpretation issue about whose wrath this is occurs here as it does in 13:4e. This author follows the same interpretation here.

not only to avoid punishment, but also as a matter of conscience: The grammar of the words not only…but also acknowledges the importance of the first part and emphasizes the importance of the second part. In some languages it is more natural for the not only part to be second. For example:

as a matter of conscience, not only to avoid punishment

to avoid punishment: This implies not doing things that cause the government authorities to be angry. For example:

because of the wrath of the authorities (NET Bible)
-or-
because you might be punished (New Century Version)

punishment: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as punishment is more literally “wrath.” It refers to the same thing as in 13:4e, where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “retribution.” See how you translated this word there.

conscience: Here this word refers to someone’s internal record of past deeds, as in 2:15 and 9:1. It probably also implies that the person knows that doing evil will cause him to feel guilty or ashamed, so it is best not to do evil.

See how you translated this word in 2:15 or 9:1.

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