What Does Romans 13:2 Mean in the King James?
Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same Greek root is hidden in “resisteth” and “ordinance”: one is setting oneself against an order, and the other names that order.
THE MEANING
The verse places authority under God’s ordering, so resisting it also resists that ordering. The resister receives judgment, and the consequence falls back upon the one resisting.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that resistance to authority is only a dispute between people; it treats the act as reaching into one’s relation to God’s ordering and carrying judgment upon the resister.
THE ROOT
ἀντιτασσόμενος
antitassomenos
GROWS FROM
τάσσω
tassō
To arrange, place, or appoint.
The verb translated “resisteth” is ἀντιτασσόμενος (antitassomenos, “setting oneself against”), built from the root for arranging or placing. “Ordinance” is διαταγή (diatagē, “arrangement” or “order”), from that same root family: the verse links resistance with opposition to an ordering.
ALSO GROWS
tassō: To arrange, put in place, or appoint.
τάσσω
This is the root within antitassomenos; the anti- prefix gives the sense of setting oneself against.
diatagē: An arrangement, order, or ordinance.
διαταγή
This is the word translated “ordinance” here, exposing the shared root beneath the act of resisting and the order being resisted.
κρίμα
krima
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
To distinguish, decide, or judge.
“damnation” in this verse is krima. The Greek noun κρίμα (krima, “judgment” or “verdict”) presents the consequence as something the resister receives. Its word family connects that consequence to judging and to the one who judges.
ALSO GROWS
krinō: To judge, decide, or distinguish.
κρίνω
This verb is the root behind the judgment the resister receives.
kritēs: A judge, one who decides.
κριτής
This related word makes the judicial shape of κρίμα visible: the consequence is a judgment rendered.
THE PATTERN
Authority’s place and exercise remain within God’s ordering, so resistance carries consequence beyond a human dispute.
By me kings reign, and princes decree justice.And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.THE THREAD
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.In verse 1, “ordained” renders τεταγμέναι (tetagmenai, “placed” or “appointed”), a form from τάσσω (tassō, “arrange” or “place”), the same root carried by “resisteth” and “ordinance” in verse 2. The shared root makes the pair read as opposition to a placement or order, not merely conflict with a person.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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