Corpus-Paul

["Justin Dombrowski" <jedombrowski AT msn.com>]

On 13.7:  I suspect "taxes" is an unfortunate translation of "foros".  The 
"telwn-" wordgroup more customarily refers to taxes.  Rom 13 says, 
"apodote...tw ton foron, ton foron"; and "foros" is something more general 
like just a payment, something owed, and sometimes a tribute which is a bit 
different than a tax, etc.  Probably, Paul merely intended to exhort his 
readers to pay back (the closer sense of apodote) what is owed.  In which 
case, Paul's command is generic enough that this need not imply Roman 
provincials.

Personally I'm not entirely sure what to make of this passage.  A couple 
reasons why I feel uncomfortable with the traditional "civil magistrate" 
reading are that it strikes me as a little odd that Paul would refer to a 
roman civil magistrate as a "diakonos tou theou"--seems like really 
overstating things--and because it seems like a pretty big jump from ch.12 
to civic leaders.  Moving to ecclesiastical authorities is a smaller step. 
But then again, Paul's language about the "exousia" and "hoi arxontes" seems 
pretty strong, and seems to me more apropos if applied to a roman provincial 
than a church leader.  And if Paul was referring to ecclesiastical leaders, 
it makes me wonder exactly how he thought the church was organized and 
operating there.

I'm not really partial to either reading.

Justin D.
The Jewish Theological Seminary

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard W. Wilson" <rwwilson147 AT swbell.net>
To: <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>; <tiona AT comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2005 12:58 PM
Subject: [Corpus-Paul] Re: Rom. 13 not about civil government??


> Hello all,
> Briefly, if someone doesn't mind, how does that Mark Nano argument go? And 
> how do you, Jeff, say that it refers to synagogue rulers? It seems 
> apparent to me (as it would have even prior to theological studies) that 
> the reason no one else has so argued is that Rom. 13:4 speaks of a kind of 
> sword weilding in which a synagogue ruler never engaged.
>
> 13:4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be in 
> fear, for it does not bear the sword in vain. It is God’s servant to 
> administer retribution on the wrongdoer.
>
> Moreover, I don't know of situations where a synagogue would have been 
> said to collect taxes or revenue.
>
> 13:6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s 
> servants devoted to governing.6 13:7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to 
> whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, , , ,
>
> Regards, Richard W. Wilson
>
> > -------------- Original messages --------------
> >
> > Message: 1 Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 From:
> > tiona AT comcast.net
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I spent the better part of a full year studying Romans without having
> > been predisposed to an opinion by a prior theological training.  My
> > question is how anyone can read verses 13:3 and 13:4 as anything
> > other than Paul referring to interaction with the leaders of the
> > synogogues?
> >
> > Sincerely, Jeff
> >
> > -------------- Original message --------------
> >
> >
> > > As far as I know:
> > >
> > > on 5/3/05 6:08 PM, billy lejeune at lejeune AT comcast.net wrote:
>
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > I am very intrigued by Mark Nanos's take on Romans 13. Other than
> > > >  Nanos, are there any treatments of 13 arguing that Paul has
> > > > something other than civil government in mind?
> > >
> > > No. Some suggest lower level administrators. I discuss the only
> > > options of which I was aware, and no one has made me aware of
> > > others since publication (Mystery of Romans was published in Jan. 9
> > > years ago, hard to believe how quickly time passes).
>
> > > > And was Mark the first to suggest this?
> > >
> > > As far as I knew, and know.
>
> > > Take care, Mark
>
> --
> Richard W. Wilson, St. Louis, MO 63119
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