1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
Rom 14:1
Τὸν δὲ ἀσθενοῦντα τῇ πίστει, προσλαμβάνεσθε, μὴ εἰς διακρίσεις διαλογισμῶν.
Take to yourself the one being weak in the faith but not for judgment of reasonings.
Paraphrase: Be sure to welcome into your churches those that are not as mature in the faith as you would like them to be. Be kind to them and patient. Don’t right away start challenging their opinions or their way of thinking on certain issues.
Comments:
The weak here are likely Jewish-Christians who struggle with what to let to and what to keep from their Jewish past.
Rom 14:2
ὃς μὲν πιστεύει φαγεῖν πάντα· ὁ δὲ ἀσθενῶν, λάχανα ἐσθίει.
One person believes to eat all things; but another being weak, eats vegetables.
Paraphrase: One person has no problem eating whatever is put in front of him; another person with the same faith as the previous person but perhaps not understanding the full liberty of the gospel, eats only vegetables.
Comments:
For ὃς μὲν …ὁ δὲ, see here.
Rom 14:3
ὁ ἐσθίων, τὸν μὴ ἐσθίοντα μὴ ἐξουθενείτω· ὁ δὲ μὴ ἐσθίων, τὸν ἐσθίοντα μὴ κρινέτω, ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ αὐτὸν προσελάβετο.
The one eating should not despise the one not eating, and the one not eating should not condemn the one eating, for God takes him to Himself.
Paraphrase: Both of these need to be careful. The strong will be tempted to look with contempt and haughty pride on the one who has not yet grasped the full significance of the liberating power of the gospel. The weak will be tempted to condemn those whom he regards as being too free and hasty in breaking with time-honored traditions. Remember, God has welcomed to Himself both the weak and the strong. Do you want to look with contempt on someone whom God has looked with favor? or would you condemn someone whom God has justified?
Comments:
John Murray points out the two sides here which become sinful. The first is “the smile of disdainful contempt” coming from the strong who pride themselves on their greater liberty. The second is “the frown of condemnatory judgment” coming from the weak who condemn the strong for taking so many liberties with things that were once sinful and brought a person into uncleanness. Murray on Romans 14:1-3
προσλαμβάνω is in v1 where Paul exhorts the Christians to do so and also here where God is the agent.
Rom 14:4
σὺ τίς εἶ, ὁ κρίνων ἀλλότριον οἰκέτην; τῷ ἰδίῳ κυρίῳ στήκει ἢ πίπτει. σταθήσεται δέ· δυνατεῖ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος στῆσαι αὐτόν.
Who are you the one judging another’s house servant? to his own master he stands or falls, but he will stand for the Lord is able to cause him to stand.
Paraphrase: Just who do you think you are that you think you are such an important person that you can pass judgment on someone else’s employee? Are you really so puffed up with pride? On the contrary, each employee is judged by his own boss; he will decide whether his employees are doing well or poorly. You’re not the one to do that. In the same way, don’t condemn others for doing things which you regard as wrong. God is the great judge who will pass judgment on His people. He is able to take even the most debauched person and to give him grace and holiness so that on the last day, he will stand justified before the court of God.
Comments:
Rom 14:5
Ὃς μὲν γὰρ κρίνει ἡμέραν παρ’ ἡμέραν· ὃς δὲ κρίνει πᾶσαν ἡμέραν. ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ νοῒ, πληροφορείσθω.
For one person judges days beyond days; another person judges all days. Let each in his own mind be persuaded.
Paraphrase: Let me give you another example of an area where differences of opinion are allowed to exist in the Christian church. Consider the issue of holy days. One person regards certain days as holier than others; and thus lives differently on these days. Other Christians regard all days as equally holy; and when these days roll around, they carry on as normal. Just like the issue of eating, this is an issue upon which Christians are to learn to live with each other and to show love and respect to those who hold different opinions on these subjects. Let each believer make their own decision using their own mind and let the rest of us respect that decision and treat each other as members of one family.
Comments:
Winer notes the following about the preposition παρα:
Further παρά indicates that something has not hit the mark, but has fallen beside the mark; and hence, according to the nature of the words with which it is connected, it sometimes signifies “beyond”… source
Rom 14:6
ὁ φρονῶν τὴν ἡμέραν, Κυρίῳ φρονεῖ· ὁ ἐσθίων, Κυρίῳ ἐσθίει, εὐχαριστεῖ γὰρ τῷ Θεῷ· καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων, Κυρίῳ οὐκ ἐσθίει, καὶ εὐχαριστεῖ τῷ Θεῷ.
Rom 14:7
Οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἡμῶν ἑαυτῷ ζῇ, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἑαυτῷ ἀποθνῄσκει.
Rom 14:8
ἐάν τε γὰρ ζῶμεν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ζῶμεν· ἐάν τε ἀποθνήσκωμεν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἀποθνήσκομεν. ἐάν τε οὖν ζῶμεν, ἐάν τε ἀποθνήσκωμεν, τοῦ Κυρίου ἐσμέν.
Rom 14:9
εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ, Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἔζησεν, ἵνα καὶ νεκρῶν καὶ ζώντων κυριεύσῃ.
Rom 14:10 Σὺ δὲ, τί κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, ἢ καὶ σὺ τί ἐξουθενεῖς τὸν ἀδελφόν σου; πάντες γὰρ παραστησόμεθα τῷ βήματι τοῦ Θεοῦ.
Rom 14:11 γέγραπται γάρ· Ζῶ ἐγώ, λέγει Κύριος, ὅτι ἐμοὶ κάμψει πᾶν γόνυ, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ Θεῷ.
Rom 14:12 Ἄρα οὖν, ἕκαστος ἡμῶν περὶ ἑαυτοῦ, λόγον δώσει τῷ Θεῷ.
Rom 14:13 Μηκέτι οὖν ἀλλήλους κρίνωμεν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο κρίνατε μᾶλλον, τὸ μὴ τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ, ἢ σκάνδαλον.
Rom 14:14 Οἶδα καὶ πέπεισμαι ἐν Κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ ὅτι οὐδὲν κοινὸν δι’ ἑαυτοῦ· εἰ μὴ τῷ λογιζομένῳ τι κοινὸν εἶναι, ἐκείνῳ κοινόν.
Rom 14:15 εἰ γὰρ διὰ βρῶμα, ὁ ἀδελφός σου λυπεῖται, οὐκέτι κατὰ ἀγάπην περιπατεῖς. μὴ τῷ βρώματί σου ἐκεῖνον ἀπόλλυε, ὑπὲρ οὗ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν.
Rom 14:16 Μὴ βλασφημείσθω, οὖν, ὑμῶν τὸ ἀγαθόν.
Rom 14:17 οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ βρῶσις καὶ πόσις, ἀλλὰ δικαιοσύνη καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ χαρὰ ἐν Πνεύματι Ἁγίῳ.
Rom 14:18 ὁ γὰρ ἐν τούτῳ δουλεύων τῷ Χριστῷ εὐάρεστος τῷ Θεῷ καὶ δόκιμος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
Rom 14:19 Ἄρα οὖν, τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης διώκωμεν*, καὶ τὰ τῆς οἰκοδομῆς τῆς εἰς ἀλλήλους.
Rom 14:20 μὴ ἕνεκεν βρώματος, κατάλυε τὸ ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ. πάντα μὲν καθαρά, ἀλλὰ κακὸν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ διὰ προσκόμματος ἐσθίοντι.
Rom 14:21 καλὸν τὸ μὴ φαγεῖν κρέα, μηδὲ πιεῖν οἶνον, μηδὲ ἐν ᾧ ὁ ἀδελφός σου προσκόπτει.
Rom 14:22 Σὺ πίστιν ἣν ἔχεις, κατὰ σεαυτὸν ἔχε ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ. μακάριος ὁ μὴ κρίνων ἑαυτὸν ἐν ᾧ δοκιμάζει.
Rom 14:23 ὁ δὲ διακρινόμενος, ἐὰν φάγῃ, κατακέκριται, ὅτι οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως· πᾶν δὲ ὃ οὐκ ἐκ πίστεως, ἁμαρτία ἐστίν.