Passage

Romans 14.14

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

12. So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock in his brother's way, or an occasion of falling.

14. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself: save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

For if because of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer in love. Destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died. 16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: (Romans 14:12-16, ASV)

WEB

12. So then each one of us will give account of himself to God. 13. Therefore let’s not judge one another any more, but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block in his brother’s way, or an occasion for falling.

14. I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. 16. Then don’t let your good be slandered, (Romans 14:12-16, WEB)

KJV

12. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

14. I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. ^{unclean: Gr. common}

But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. ^{charitably: Gr. according to charity} 16. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: (Romans 14:12-16, KJV)

YLT

12. so, then, each of us concerning himself shall give reckoning to God; 13. no longer, therefore, may we judge one another, but this judge ye rather, not to put a stumbling-stone before the brother, or an offence.

14. I have known, and am persuaded, in the Lord Jesus, that nothing [is] unclean of itself, except to him who is reckoning anything to be unclean, to that one [it is] unclean;

and if through victuals thy brother is grieved, no more dost thou walk according to love; do not with thy victuals destroy that one for whom Christ died. 16. Let not, then, your good be evil spoken of, (Romans 14:12-16, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: the mixed Jewish and Gentile house churches at Rome, a congregation Paul had neither founded nor yet visited
Location: composed at Corinth, addressed to Rome
Time period: c. AD 57

Theological reading

I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself, save that to him who accounteth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Two claims, and holding both is the whole difficulty of the chapter. Objectively, nothing is unclean in itself. Subjectively, for the person who regards it as unclean, it is. Paul does not resolve the tension by declaring the second view mistaken and therefore irrelevant; he treats the conscience as binding on its holder even when its judgment is wrong, and verse 23 states the principle plainly: whatever is not of faith is sin.

The phrase persuaded in the Lord Jesus is the strongest clue to where the conviction came from. Paul, a Pharisee by training, is stating a position on ritual purity that reverses his formation, and he grounds it in the Lord rather than in argument. It is a close verbal parallel to the verdict recorded at Mark 7:19, and the most economical explanation is that he is drawing on the teaching of Jesus rather than reasoning independently to the same conclusion.

The pastoral application is uncomfortable in a predictable direction. The verse gives the strong their point and then removes the use they want to make of it. Being right about liberty confers no permission to injure someone who is wrong about it, and verse 15 escalates the stakes considerably: destroy not with thy meat him for whom Christ died. Paul's method throughout is to settle the question of fact and then subordinate it to the question of love.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G3049 - logizomai, logizomai, Strong's G3049
G1492 - oida, oida, Strong's G1492
G2962 - kyrios, kyrios, Strong's G2962
G2424 - Iesous, Iesous, Strong's G2424

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.