Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
Romans 13:1-7, The sword and the tax
Paul tells believers to be subject to the governing authorities, whom God has put in place. The ruler bears the sword, and they should pay taxes and give honor where it is owed.
Romans 13:1-7, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul tells believers in the capital to submit to the ruling authorities, on the ground that all authority comes from God. Rulers exist to restrain wrongdoing and reward good conduct, and they carry the sword for that purpose. So believers should pay their taxes and give each official the respect and honor that is due.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/rome-in-charge\/","n":"Rome in charge","s":"Rome ruled through client princes, local elites and governors. It kept the power to execute, and its soldiers, coins and taxes were everywhere.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/tax-collectors\/","n":"Tolls and tax collectors","s":"Local men who collected tolls and taxes for rulers backed by Rome, distrusted as collaborators and cheats.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/imperial-cult\/","n":"Caesar worshiped as savior and lord","s":"Augustus and the emperors after him were hailed as savior, lord and son of a god, and in the eastern provinces they were worshiped. The titles the Gospels give Jesus were already being used for Caesar.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/diaspora-jews\/","n":"Jews of the dispersion","s":"Most Jews of the first century lived outside the land, in cities from Parthia to Rome. They kept the law and their own synagogues, spoke Greek or Aramaic, and came up to Jerusalem for the feasts when they could.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
Loyalty to the state was a standard topic of moral writers, though they meant a general principle, not submission to evil (Keener and his notes). Rome's Jews had been expelled less than a decade before, minorities worked to avoid scandal, and Jews and Christians stressed their good citizenship against charges of subversion (Keener and his notes). Nero had not yet persecuted anyone (Keener and his notes). The sword stood for the right to execute, and Keener writes that "Swords were carried in front of Roman officials" to show it. The empire levied a property tax and a head tax, with local taxes and customs on top, and the money paid for roads, armies and temples to the emperor; the cultural backgrounds notes observe that "Paul does not ask Christians to pay only for what they approve of." Wright notes that rulers put in place by God would be news to emperors who claimed to be divine. What being subject means is read two ways: Keener says submission in Judaism meant not resisting, not always obeying, while the ESV Study Bible says it generally means obeying, except where obeying the state would mean disobeying God.
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Romans 13:1-7, 13:1-2, 13:3-5 and 13:6-7
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Romans 13:1-7, 13:2, 13:4, 13:6-7 and 13:7
- ESV Study Bible, study note on Romans 13:1-7
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: Romans, Part Two, comment on Romans 13:1-7
