What Does Romans 13:7 Mean?
Therefore give back to all what is owed; the carried to whom the carrying is owed, the toll to whom the toll is owed, the trembling to whom trembling is owed, the weight to whom weight is owed.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.THE KEY
Fear and honor are counted as dues alongside money, so what you owe cannot be measured in currency alone.
THE MEANING
Your obligations are not all financial: payment, civic charges, fear, and honor are named as distinct dues. What is owed takes its form from the claim and the one it is owed to.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that only money counts as a real obligation dissolves here: fear and honor are also named as dues.
THE ROOT
ὀφειλάς
opheilas
GROWS FROM
ὀφειλ-
opheil-
Owe; be under obligation
“what is owed” in this verse is opheilas. “Dues” translates ὀφειλάς (opheilas, obligations owed), from the ὀφειλ- (opheil-, owe) word family. The list places payment, fear, and honor under one grammar of obligation, while directing each to its own recipient.
ALSO GROWS
opheílō: Owe; be obligated
ὀφείλω
This verb shows the root’s basic sense: each item in the verse is something owed.
opheilétēs: Debtor; one who owes
ὀφειλέτης
The same root names a person in relation to an outstanding claim, making “dues” more than a loose request.
ἀπόδοτε
apodote
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (do-/dō-)
Give
The command uses ἀπόδοτε (apodote, render or give back), from ἀποδίδωμι (apodidōmi, repay or return), built on δίδωμι (didōmi, give). Its returning sense pictures what is owed being handed back to its proper recipient.
ALSO GROWS
didōmi: Give
δίδωμι
This is the giving root beneath “render,” the basic act the verse directs toward each recipient.
antapodidōmi: Repay in return
ἀνταποδίδωμι
This related form makes the return embedded in “render” especially clear.
τιμήν
timēn
GROWS FROM
τιμ-
tim-
Worth, value, price, honor
The word for “honour,” τιμήν (timēn, honor or value), belongs to a family that also speaks of worth and price. The verse counts honor as something owed, giving it the weight of a real claim.
ALSO GROWS
timaō: Honor; esteem
τιμάω
This verb carries the same root into the act of recognizing someone’s worth.
timios: Valued; precious
τίμιος
This branch makes the root’s connection between honor and worth visible.
THE PATTERN
What is owed takes its form from the claim and the one to whom it is owed.
When you vow a vow to God, do not linger to make it whole. For there is no delight in the thick-headed. Make whole what you have vowed.They said to him, Caesar's. Then he said to them, Give back therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.Give the LORD weight with your wealth, and with the first of all your yield.THE THREAD
Honor all people. Love the brothers. Stand in awe of God. Honor the king.Both verses use the τιμ- (tim-, worth and honor) word family for “honour.” Peter distinguishes the recipients in one line, honor toward all, fear toward God, and honor toward the king, opening Romans’ repeated “to whom” as a map of distinct dues.
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