Romans 14:1-4

Exhortation to Mutual Forbearance

14:1 Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. ¹  14:2 One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. 14:3 The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord ²  is able to make him stand.

Romans 14:22-23

14:22 The faith ³  you have, keep to yourself before God. Blessed is the one who does not judge himself by what he approves. 14:23 But the man who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not do so from faith, and whatever is not from faith is sin. ⁴ 

¹ tn Grk “over opinions.” The qualifier “differing” has been supplied to clarify the meaning.

² tc Most mss, especially Western and Byzantine (D F G 048 33 1739 1881 Ï latt), read θεός (qeos, “God”) in place of κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) here. However, κύριος is found in many of the most important mss (Ì⁴⁶ א A B C P Ψ pc co), and θεός looks to be an assimilation to θεός in v. 3.

³ tc ‡ Several important Alexandrian witnesses (א A B C 048) have the relative pronoun ἥν ({hn, “the faith that you have”) at this juncture, but D F G Ψ 1739 1881 Ï lat co lack it. Without the pronoun, the clause is more ambiguous (either “Keep the faith [that] you have between yourself and God” or “Do you have faith? Keep it between yourself and God”). The pronoun thus looks to be a motivated reading, created to clarify the meaning of the text. Even though it is found in the better witnesses, in this instance internal evidence should be given preference. NA²⁷ places the word in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

⁴ tc Some mss insert 16:25-27 at this point. See the tc note at 16:25 for more information.