Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God1, and those that exist are ordained by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authority, opposes the ordinance of God; and those who oppose will receive to themselves judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to those who do good, but to evildoers. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same, 4for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger to punish him who does evil. 5Therefore you need to be in submission, not only because of the punishment, but also for conscience’ sake. 6For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God, attending continually on this very thing. 7Give therefore to everyone what you owe: taxes to whom taxes are due; customs to whom customs; respect to whom respect; honour to whom honour.
8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves his neighbour has fulfilled the Taurat2. 9For the commandments,
“You shall not commit adultery,”
“You shall not murder,”
“You shall not steal,”
“You shall not give false testimony,”
“You shall not covet,” 3
and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 4
10Love does not harm a neighbour. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the Taurat.
11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. 12The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let us therefore throw off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. 13Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the LORD ‘ISA5 AL-MASIH6, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
- 13:1 God, English translation of theos. It is the Greek equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew) which are related to allah (Arabic) and alaha (Syriac), all of which translate as “God,” and refer to the one true God. ↩︎
- 13:8 Taurat, this Arabic word derived from Torah (Hebrew) literally means “instruction” or “teaching.” In the Injil, the Greek text says nomos (meaning, “law”). Depending on context, Taurat can refer to,
1. The whole Hebrew Bible contained here under the title Taurat, equivalent to what Jews today call Tanakh, and what Christians call the Old Testament.
2. The revelation given to Prophet Musa, that is, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, sometimes called the Pentateuch. Pentateuch is a Greek word meaning “five books” and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are attributed to Prophet Musa himself. This is the traditional and most common meaning given to Taurat or Torah.
3. The Law of Musa found within the Pentateuch, with its hundreds of rules and regulations covering many aspects of daily life for the people of Israel. The most famous of these laws are the Ten Commandments, found in Exodus 20.
4. Taurat can also refer to divine instruction and teaching in general without reference to a particular book of the Hebrew Bible. ↩︎ - 13:9 Quoting the Taurat, Exodus 20:13-17 which says: “You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbour’s.” ↩︎ - 13:9 Quoting the Taurat, Leviticus 19:18 which says: “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbour as yourself. I am YAHWEH.” ↩︎
- 13:14 ‘ISA – The names ‘ISA (Arabic), ISHO (Syriac) and JESUS (Greek, IESOUS) are all derived from the Hebrew name YEHOSHUA, which means “YAHWEH saves.” (YAHWEH is God’s personal name revealed to Prophet Musa in the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 – God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”) ↩︎
- 13:14 AL-MASIH – an Arabic title equivalent to the Messiah (Hebrew) or Christ (Greek), all of which mean the Anointed One, that is, God’s Chosen One. In ancient times, divinely-appointed kings, priests and prophets were anointed with oil to signify their appointment to office. All of them point ahead to God’s ultimate Anointed One, the Messiah, AL-MASIH. Al-Kitab unanimously points to ‘ISA Ibn Maryam as the only person worthy to bear the title AL-MASIH. He is the one whom God sent into this world to save people from sin, and to usher in God’s Kingdom at his Second Coming. ↩︎