Rom 12:1-21 KJV –
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies* of God, that ye present your bodies**
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.
(Heterosis* 531; Synecdoche** 641)
2 And be not conformed to this world*: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(Metonymy* 594)
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think
[of himself]* more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
(False Ellipsis* 126; Paregmenon 305)
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
(Anacoluthon 724)
5 So we, [being] many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy,
[let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith;
(Ellipsis 57)
7 Or ministry, [let us wait] on [our] ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
(Ellipsis 57)
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, [let him do it] with simplicity*;
he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
(Ellipsis 57; Idioma* 860)
9 [Let] love be without dissimulation.
Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10 [Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love;
in honour preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit*; serving the Lord;
(Ellipsis 76; Pleonasm 418; Idioma* 832)
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given* to hospitality.
(Antanaclasis* 291)
14 Bless them which persecute* you: bless, and curse not.
(Antanaclasis* 291; Pleonasm 418)
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
(Homœoptoton 177; Polyptoton 274; Heterosis 516 see notes on all three figures)
(Homœopropheron 171)
16 [Be] of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things,
but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
(Anacoluthon 723)
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
(Anacoluthon 723)
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
(Anacoluthon 723)
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto* wrath*:
for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
(Ellipsis* 23; Hyperbaton 696; Anacoluthon 723)
20 Therefore if thine* enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink:
for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
(Synecdoche 635; Anacoluthon 723; Apostrophe* 904)
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Italicized words in [brackets] were added by the King James Version translators.
Notes:
Verse 1 Heterosis: plural used for the singular.
Verse 2 Metonymy: “world” is αἰῶνι, aion, “age”, and means the standards or values of
the people of this age. See also Metonymy.
Verse 3 False Ellipsis: the words “of himself” should not have been added by the translators.
Paregmenon: ὑπερφρονεῖν: to think highly of, with the implication of hautiness,
but Dr. Bullinger includes simply to overthink.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for hyperphroneō (Strong’s 5252)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 7 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5252& amp;t=KJV >
Verse 4 Anacoluthon: I am unable to recognize this figure in the passage.
I have presented the conjunctions “for, but, and so”, to show what I perceive to be continuity.
“For”
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for gar (Strong’s 1063)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 8 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1063& amp;t=KJV >
“but”
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for de (Strong’s 1161)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 8 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1161& amp;t=KJV >
Verse 5
“So”
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for houtō(s) (Strong’s 3779)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 8 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3779& amp;t=KJV >
Verse 6-8 Ellipsis:
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy,
[let us prophesy] according to the proportion of faith ( [given or dealt to us]
verse 3 “…according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith”. );
7 Or ministry, ([let us be diligent]) in the ministy:
or he that teacheth, ([let him be faithful]) in teaching;
8 – Or he who exhorteth, ([let him employ himself]) in exhortation:
he that distributeth, [let him distribute] with simplicity;
he who presideth, ([let him preside]) with care;
he that sheweth mercy, ([let him show it]) with cheerfulness.
(Ellipsis 57)
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for haplotēs (Strong’s 572)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 10 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G572& amp;t=KJV >
Verse 11 Ellipsis: business is the Greek word spoude and means haste, earnestness, diligence,
earnest care. “Not slothful in earnest care for others” (see verse 10).
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for spoudē (Strong’s 4710)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 10 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4710& amp;t=KJV >
Pleonasm: not sluggish. More is said here by using this figure than is necessary, thereby putting emphasis on the idea being repeated. To be diligent is to be not sluggish here.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for oknēros (Strong’s 3636)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 10 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G3636& amp;t=KJV >
Idioma: “fervent in spirit” means extremely zealous.
Verse 13, 14 Antanaclasis: a figure where the same word is used more than once in the same sentence, or near proximity, but with different meanings. In v 13 the word “given”, διώκοντες, is a verb meaning to persue after with detirmined haste in a positive way. In v 14 “persecute”, διώκοντας is a verb meaning to persue after with detirmined haste in a negative way. Both are from the word διώκω, but their meanings clash in order to direct emphasis upon how earnestly one should be commited to hospitality. The word hospitality here is the word φιλοξενία, and means love toward strangers.
Its only other use is in Hebrews 13:2 . (see also Acts 9:5; 22:4,7,8; 26:11,14,15).
The translators could have presented both words in English correctly as “pursue”, but instead they incorporated some of the effect of the figure into their choice of words in translation.
This occurrence of the figure Antanaclasis is very similar to the figure Paregmenon, because the words have different endings. But this is actually due to the same verb being used in different cases. Also, Paregmenon does not necessarily clash the meaning of the same word in each use, but focuses upon the difference derived from the same root. An example of Paregmenon doing this is in
Matt. 16:18 between the words Petros (Πέτρος) meaning rock and (πέτρα) petra, also meaning rock, are used together to show a difference. Petra is a larger rock than petros, and petros could be a chip off of a petra.
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for diōkō (Strong’s 1377)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 11 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1377& amp;t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for philoxenia (Strong’s 5381)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 11 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5381& amp;t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for Petros (Strong’s 4074)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 12 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4074& amp;t=KJV >
Blue Letter Bible. “Dictionary and Word Search for petra (Strong’s 4073)”.
Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2019. 12 Feb 2019.
< http:// www.blbclassic.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4073& amp;t=KJV >
Pleonasm: another Pleonasm is used in v 14 as “ bless, and curse not”. It could have been said “bless”, without mentioning “curse not”, but the idea is repeated to focus upon the importance of the command.
Verse 15 Homœoptoton: The repetition of inflections.
Chairein, χαίρειν means to rejoice. It is an infinitive verb form in the present tense, active voice,
and indicative mood, making it a simple statement of fact. This pattern is repeated in the word
κλαίειν, while χαιρόντων, chairontōn (rejoicing) and κλαιόντων, klaiontōn (weeping)
both are the present tense of active participles (verb with -ing ending).
χαίρειν μετὰ χαιρόντων και κλαιειν μετα κλαιοντων .
(chairein meta chairontōn kai klaiein meta klaiontōn).
The word kai appears in the Stephen’s “Received Text”, but not in the Alexandrian based texts. Because this figure can only be seen in the Greek, Dr. Bullinger translates it with different English words so the figure can be better understood.
“Be cheerful with those that are glad,
be tearful with those that are sad”.
Polyptoton: many inflections. This is similar to the figure Homœoptoton,
only Homœoptoton repeats the inflection, but Polyptoton does not.
In Eph. 1:3 the word “bless” is used as an adjective, a verb, and then as a noun. This is unlike Antanaclasis which uses the same word, spelled the same way, but with different meanings.
Homœopropheron is alliteration, which is beginning successive words, or those in close proximity, with the same letter.
Verses 16-20 Anacoluthon: changes from second person plural to singular.
Verse 19 Ellipsis:
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but [rather] give place unto [the] wrath [of God]:
for it is written, Vengeance [is] mine; I will repay, saith the Lord”.
Another way this could be expressed is “…give place unto [divine] wrath”.
Hyperbaton: this is when a word or words are placed out of their normal order in a sentence.
In v 19 “…yourselves avenge not…” puts emphasis on “yourselves”.
Verse 20 Synecdoche: a part for the whole.
Feeding and giving drink to those in need are only among the ways one can express God’s love.
Apostrophe: a turning aside from the main subject to address another topic.
Thanks to the Bible Hub website for their online interlinear.
Thanks go to Blue Letter Bible and Internet Archive and The Cornell University Library
for providing public domain material.
Thanks also to E. W. Bullinger for his work
“Figures Of Speech Used In The Bible”, and thanks to you for taking the time here.
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