Every soul is subject to a superior and divine moral authority. There is no divine moral authority other than what God instituted.
— Romans 13:1Therefore, the ones resisting divine moral authority are resisting what God instituted, and therefore condemn themselves.
— Romans 13:2
Editorial: You can reject goodness/truth/integrity, but this is self-destructive.
Leaders of divine moral authority are not frightening for good works, but for evil. If you don’t want to fear their authority, do good and they will praise you.
— Romans 13:3
Editorial: Listen and learn from those who provide superior moral truths. There is no shame in uncovering your mistakes so that you can work to improve your actions. They find satisfaction in helping you improve. Avoid these at your own peril.
They are God’s servant to you for good. But if you do evil, be frightened, for they don’t carry God’s sword for their own vanity. They are punishing avengers for evil doers.
— Romans 13:4
Editorial: If you “lose” an argument, you still win. You can take what you learned to improve your future. But if you instead choose what you now know to be wrong, your opponent is right to fight your evil.
Therefore it is necessary to submit, not only to avoid punishment, but also for conscience.
— Romans 13:5Because of this, also pay your tributes, for they are God’s servant continually attending to this very thing.
— Romans 13:6Render what is due to everyone: tributes to the tributees, tolls to the tollers, respect the respectable, and honor the honorable.
— Romans 13:7
Editorial: Give credit where credit due; through respect, honor, payment, or however it is proper. Your conscience will thank you.
Note:
I derived this translation independently using Strong’s Concordance of the original Greek (without consulting other translations). However, upon completion, I searched and found similar translations, such as the Jubilee Bible translation, KJV, NMV, DARBY, CPDV, Young’s Literal Translation, etc.
Government / Taxes
Some consider Paul’s letter to the Romans to indicate support for government / aristocracy / taxes / “just wars” / etc.
Two words significantly affect the translation: “leaders” (Greek: archontes) and “tribute” (Greek: phorous) which may also translate to ruler/chief/magistrate and taxes respectively. Misconstruction of those two words may have misguided some translations to use “government authority” or “state authority” instead of “divine moral authority”.
Notably, “authority” (Greek: exousia) is translated as:
power, authority, weight, especially: moral authority, influence.
The context of the verse, in addition to the definition, demands a moral authority. Otherwise, any criminal who put themselves in a position of violent dominance over another would qualify as an authority acting on behalf of God; certainly a gross self-contradiction.
For a similar reason, “leaders” (Greek: archontes) appears to be the appropriate translation; those who demonstrate excellence or superb moral authority. “Rulers of amoral authority” would inject a similar self-contradiction.
“Tribute” (Greek: phorous) is often translated as “taxes”. However, given the context and understanding above, “tax” appears as a non-sequitur and highly inappropriate translation. A tax need not be imposed morally and may be extracted involuntarily. A tribute is given voluntarily as a result of one’s own conscience towards a deserving moral superior. Unlink “taxes”, “tribute” sensibly connects to the other verses.
