Romans 13:6-7

“ For it is for this cause also that ye pay tribute; for they are God's ministers for this very thing, attending thereto continually. Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. ”

There is a usage universally practised, and whose propriety no one disputes: that is, the payment of tribute for the support of the state. How are we to explain the origin of such a usage, except by the general conviction of the indispensable necessity of the state? The: for this cause, does not refer specially to the idea of Romans 13:5, but to the whole preceding development from Romans 13:1. The for makes the practical consequence (the payment of tribute) the proof of the principle, and the also refers to the agreement between the general idea and the particular fact. It is unnecessary, therefore, with Hofmann, to make the verb τελεῖτε, ye pay, an imperative: Pay. It is a simple fact which Paul states.

The apostle, to designate the divine character of the state, here uses a still graver term than that of servant, Romans 13:4. He calls him λειτουργός, minister. This term, compounded of the words λαός, people, and ἔργον, work, denotes one who labors for the people, who fills a public office, and with the complement Θεοῦ, of God, a public office in the religious sphere, like the priests and Levites in the theocracy. Among the Jews these divine functionaries were supported by means of the tithe; the same principle, in the view of the apostle, explains the tribute paid by citizens to the state: for the state performs a function for God.

Some have translated: “For ministers are of God. ” The meaning is impossible grammatically; it would require the article before λειτουργοί.

The clause which follows: for this very thing, might depend on the participle προσκαρτεροῦντες, applying themselves to. But it is more natural to make it depend on the expression λειτουργοί : “ministers for this very thing” that is to say, to make justice reign by checking evil and upholding good. Olshausen and Philippi apply the words: for this very thing, to the payment of tribute, which would signify that the state is God's minister to levy tribute, or that it may watch continually on this levying. Neither the one nor the other of these two ideas rises to the height of the notion of the state as it has just been expounded. This appendix: προσκαρτεροῦντες, attending thereto continually, seems at the first glance superfluous; but it is intended to account for the payment of tribute because the magistrates, devoting their whole time to the maintenance of public order and the well-being of the citizens, cannot themselves provide for their support, and ought consequently to be maintained at the expense of the nation.

Vv. 7. After thus confirming the notion of the state which he has enunciated, the apostle deduces from it some practical applications. Four MSS. reject the therefore, which is read in all the others. We may indeed be content to understand this particle. The imperative render thus becomes somewhat livelier.

Foremost is placed the general obligation which is afterward specified. The verb ἀπόδοτε, render, belongs to the four principal propositions which follow. The verb of the four dependent propositions is understood; it is ὀφείλετε, ye owe, to be taken from the substantive ὀφειλάς : “him to whom ye [owe] tribute, [render] tribute.” Πᾶσι, to all, denotes all persons in office.

The term, φόρος, tribute, refers to a personal impost, the annual capitation (the tributum); the word is connected with συμφέρειν, to contribute regularly to a common expenditure; the word τέλος, custom, denotes the custom duty on goods (vectigal); it comes from the verb τελεῖν, to pay (occasionally); φόβος, fear, expresses the feeling due to the highest authorities, to supreme magistrates before whom the lictor walks, and who are invested with the power of life and death; τιμή, honor, applies generally to all men in office.

The church did not neglect the faithful discharge of all these obligations. The author of the Epistle to Diognetus, describing in the second century the conduct of Christians during a time of persecution, characterizes it by these two words: “They are outraged, and honor (ὑβρίζονται καὶ τιμῶσι).” The passage, 1 Peter 2:13-17, presents, especially in Romans 13:14, a striking resemblance to ours. The Apostle Paul is too original to allow us to suppose that he imitated Peter. Could the latter, on the other hand, know the Epistle to the Romans? Yes, if he wrote from Rome; hardly, if he wrote from Babylon. But it is probable that the two apostles, when they lived together at Jerusalem or Antioch, conversed on a subject so important for the guidance of the church, and so the thoughts, and even the most striking expressions of the Apostle Paul, might have been impressed on the mind of Peter.

From the duty of submission to the state, Paul passes to that of justice in private relations.