Paragraph 14:10–12

14:10a

Why, then, do you judge your brother?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that believers should not judge another believer. It is a rebuke to anyone who does that. Here are some ways to translate that meaning:

• As a rhetorical question. For example:

why do you judge your brother or sister? (New International Version (2011))
-or-
Why do you think it is right to consider a fellow believer to be a bad person?

• As a statement. For example:

You have no reason to judge your brother or sister as a bad person!
-or-
You have no reason to consider a fellow believer to be a bad person.

• As a command. For example:

Do not think that you have a good reason to judge your brother or sister as a bad person!
-or-
Do not think that you have a good reason to consider a fellow believer to be a bad person.

then: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as then is often translated as “but” or “and.” However, this verse uses some of the wording from 14:3 and exhorts believers to not pass judgment on a fellow believer or despise him or her. So, the Berean Standard Bible uses then to indicate that Paul is returning to those thoughts. Here is another way to express the idea:

You, then, why… (New International Version)

do you judge: Here this phrase refers to considering someone to be a bad person. It does not refer here to what a judge does in a courtroom. See how you translated this phrase in 14:3b.

you: This word is emphasized in the Greek by being first in the clause. If possible, emphasize this word. For example:

As for you, why do you…
-or-
Hey you, why do you…

brother: Here this word refers to any believer living in Rome, either man or woman. See how you translated this word in 1:13 or 12:1.

By using the singular brother, Paul referred generally to any believer, where the plural might imply all the believers in Rome. In some languages a simple singular might indicate that Paul was thinking of one specific person. If that is true in your language, translate in a way that can refer generally to one or a few. For example:

some of you, brothers,

14:10b

Or why do you: The Greek is more literally “Or and/indeed why do you.” The word “and/indeed” emphasizes the following question.

you: This word is emphasized in the Greek, as it is in 14:10a.

why do you belittle your brother?: This is a rhetorical question with the same emphasis as the rhetorical question in 14:10a, except that the word belittle is used here instead of “pass judgment.” Translate this rhetorical question in the same way you did in 14:10, except for the word belittle here.

belittle: This word refers to considering someone to be worthless. See how you translated this word in 14:3a.

14:10c

For: Here this word introduces the reason for not despising or passing judgment on a brother.

we will all stand before God’s judgment seat:
This refers to standing before God when he will judge us on the final judgment day. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

All of us will stand before God to be judged by him. (Good News Translation)
-or-
The day is coming when God will judge all of us. (Contemporary English Version)

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.