Romans 12 is the twelfth chapter of the

Epistle to the Romans The Epistle to the Romans is the sixth book in the New Testament, and the longest of the thirteen Pauline epistles. Biblical scholars agree that it was composed by Paul the Apostle to explain that Salvation (Christianity), salvation is offered ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. It is authored by

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

, while he was in

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an

amanuensis An amanuensis ( ) ( ) or scribe is a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. It may also be a person who signs a document on behalf of another under the latter's authority. In some aca ...

(secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22. According to

Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 21 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

containing the text of this chapter are: *In Greek: **

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(AD 325–350) **

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) **

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible,The Greek Bible in this context refers to the Bible used by Greek-speaking Christians who lived in Egypt and elsewhere during the early ...

(400–440) *In

Gothic language Gothic is an extinct language, extinct East Germanic languages, East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the ''Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only Ea ...

** Codex Carolinus (6th/7th century; extant verses 1–5, 17–21) *In

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

** Codex Carolinus (6th/7th century; extant verses 1–5, 17–21)

Old Testament references

* Romans 12:19 references Deuteronomy 32:35 * Romans 12:20 references Proverbs 25:21,22

A living sacrifice and the renewal of minds (verses 1–2)

Verse 1

The first letter of Peter uses a similar expressions: The word "therefore" links Paul's general exhortation to

holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

with the foregoing verses in Romans 11 (Romans 11:33-36), "where the riches of God were described as, and shown to be, imparted apart from merit", although there have been a number of theologians who have treated "therefore" as following on from "the whole dogmatic part of the epistle, beginning with Romans 1:16". Paul speaks of "reasonable service (worship)", () in contrast to the which formed part of the Jewish covenant with God (Romans 9:4). Lutheran theologian Johann Albrecht Bengel summarises the contrasts to which Paul refers:

Verse 2

*"Be conformed": translated from 'to become like-shaped';Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm (1880)
''Commentary on the New Testament'', Romans 12
Translation by Peter Christie from the German sixth edition, accessed February 14, 2019. same word as 1 Peter 1:14 The verb is based on the Greek noun , indicating a 'form' that is external rather than internal, which occurs in 1 Corinthians 7:31 ("the fashion of this world") and Philippians 2:8 ("in fashion as a man"). *"To this world": 'This world' here is used in the sense of 'this age'. The same phrase appears in Matthew 12:32; Luke 16:8; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:3; Galatians 1:4; Ephesians 1:21; 1 Timothy 6:17; 2 Timothy 4:10; and Titus 2:12. *"Be transformed": translated from Greek Greek Text Analysis: Romans 12:2
Biblehub having a root verb (the root of the English terms ''metamorphosis'' and ''metamorphize''; from , 'change after being with' and , 'changing form in keeping with inner reality') meaning 'transformed after being with'; 'transfigured', occurring 4 times in the New Testament, including in Matthew 17:2, Mark 9:2 ('was transfigured', applied to Jesus), this verse, and 2 Corinthians 3:18 ('are changed'). Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Romans 12
Accessed 28 April 2019.

Exhortations for the Christian community (verses 3–8)

Verses 3–8 take the form of sermon, closely paralleled by 1 Corinthians 12:12–28. Paul starts the exhortation first to the humility and Christian unity, reflecting that he writes from

, "the native habitat of spiritual pride and factional division" (cf. 1 Corinthians 1– 4). A major difference with the epistle to the Corinthians is that the list of gifts in verses 6–8 includes gifts of exhortation, generosity, and compassion but not deeds of power, healings, and tongues as found in 1 Corinthians 12:28. In Romans the gifts are not related specifically to the activity of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

Verse 3

*"Through the grace given to me": translated from Greek ;Greek Text Analysis: Romans 12:3
Biblehub 'by means of (in virtue of) the divine grace bestowed on me'; which characterizes Paul's apostleship (1 Corinthians 15:10; cf. Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 3:10; Ephesians 3:7–8).

Verse 4

:''Each one of us has a body with many parts, and these parts all have different uses.'' Heinrich Meyer criticised the Dutch theologian for interpreting μέλη πάντα, ''melē panta'', as if it read οὐ πάντα, ''ou panta'', meaning "not all the parts".

Verse 5

:''so we, being many, are one body in

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, and individually members of one another.'' *"In Christ" means "by virtue of the union with Christ" (cf. ; ).

Love in action (verses 9–21)

Described by Moo as "love and its manifestations", verses 9–21 are proverbial in tone, a style known as . Some verses echo the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

, notably 16c, 19c, and 20, while others are reflections of Jesus' teachings (especially 14, 17, 18 and 21). William Barclay suggests that in verses 9 to 13, "Paul presents his people with welvetelegraphic rules for everyday life".

Verses 17–21

Verses 17–21 form a chiasm, bracketed by lines containing the word "evil" – verse 17a and verse 21. The next layer comprising verses 17b–18 and verse 20, deals with the way to treat non-Christians. The central portion is the prohibition of vengeance.

Verse 19

Part of this verse – "I will repay" or in older translations "vengeance is mine" ("Vengeance is mine, and recompense", in the

English Standard Version The English Standard Version (ESV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English. Published in 2001 by Crossway, the ESV was "created by a team of more than 100 leading evangelical scholars and pastors." The ESV relies on recently pu ...

) – is a

quotation A quotation or quote is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written. In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance (i.e. of something that a speaker actually said) that is intro ...

from Deuteronomy 32:35. Paul's instruction here is not to be vengeful:

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

and his colleagues translated it as "not defending yourselves" (Romans 12:19).

Verse 21

This verse is a comprehensive summary of Romans 12:19–20, that is, "be not carried away to revenge and retaliation (verse 19) by evil which is committed against ''you'', but overcome the evil by the good which ''you'' show to ''your'' enemy (verse 20), put to shame by ''your'' noble spirit, ceases to act malignantly against ''you'' and becomes ''your'' friend".REAL Meaning of Romans 12:18
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References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle to the Romans 12