The Curmudgeon's Bible - What Are The "Governing Authorities" of Romans 13:1?

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities."
- Romans 13:1, ESV -

This is my "lightning rod" post of the week.

It's time to address the translation corruption of Romans Chapter 13, Verse 1.

I consider modern-day bad rendering of this verse the "great granddaddy" of egregious bible translation errors.

Why would I classify this as possibly the worst?

I believe this is part and parcel of a systematic conspiracy to divert to the state worship properly belonging to God alone.

Who or What Are The "Governing Authorities?"
Image courtesy of Pete Linforth and http://pixabay.com

In today's "Curmudgeon's Bible" article,

I'll limit myself to one verse, examining only a few key words.

Virtually every modern English "translation" of Romans 13:1 renders two key Greek words as a variant of "governing authorities." If you scroll through this list at BibleGateway, you can see how many. On closer examination, you will find that all are relatively recent translations, most within the last thirty years or so.

Is your favorite translation among them?

With such a long laundry-list of modern translations going this route, I will now raise the key question:

Is "governing authorities" a legitimate translation?

I don't believe so. In this article, we will begin to scratch the surface of "why."

These are the original Greek words:

"ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις"

It's all Greek to me...
Image courtesy of meineresterampe and http://pixabay.com

Here is each word, with a link to its usual lexical meaning(s) and notes on the grammatical form:

ἐξουσίαις - noun: dative, plural, feminine

1. power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases
       a. leave or permission
2. physical and mental power
       a. the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises
3. the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)
4. the power of rule or government (the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed)

The word "ἐξουσίαις" has been translated as "authorities." Looking at the hierarchy of possible meanings, by itself, this may not be unreasonable.

ὑπερεχούσαις - verb: present, active, participle, dative, plural, feminine

1. to have or hold over one
2. to stand out, rise above, overtop
     a. to be above, be superior in rank, authority, power
        i. the prominent men, rulers
     b. to excel, to be superior, better than, to surpass

The word "ὑπερεχούσαις" has been translated as "governing." I believe this is quite a stretch. You could possibly bend the sense of "superior in rank" to "governing," but it is far from a clear choice.

How then did translators come up with "governing authorities?"

Using Google search, it is extremely difficult to find a concise answer to that question. I will probably have to make a trip to the local seminary library to try and unearth the history of those choices.

One thing, however, is quite clear:

The phrase governing authorities is a novel interpretation of the passage, not really a translation at all.

It is really a paraphrase. It is a departure from, for example, the professed "essentially literal" translation policy of The English Standard Version.

Prior to the middle of the 20th century, available translations rendered these Greek words as "higher powers" or "superior authorities." In my opinion, either of those renderings is a distinctly better and far more literal translation.

In none of the other four instances in the bible where this Greek word appears is it translated as "govern." I'll use the English Standard Version to illustrate that this is true, even in a "modern" translation:

• Philippians 2:3 - "more significant"
• Philippians 3:8 - "surpassing"
• Philippians 4:7 - "surpasses"
• 1 Peter 2:13 - "supreme"

The novel translation "governing authorities,"

and the myriad commentaries that now exist reflecting that rendering, act precisely like the first domino in a row... Once you topple the first, the rest are all lined up and doomed to fall.

I conclude that translators who chose the word "governing" knew that it would not be taken in its most generic sense. They knew that the connotative connection with "government" would rule (pun intended) all subsequent thought.

Once you embrace the notion that the first words of this chapter relate to human government, you simply assume the rest. Your mind is open to being brainwashed into sycophantic subservience to human government.

Here is my curmudgeonly opinion.

Beginning in the latter half of the twentieth century, and continuing to the present, most bible translators have chosen to translate ὑπερεχούσαις as "governing."

I believe this is a choice driven by dark and subversive influences. Translating this way provides the translation committees plausible deniability.

Translators chose the English word possible, but least likely to match the meaning of the original Greek.

Simultaneously, although governing is an English word that could be understood as "superior" or "supreme," it most likely would instead convey the wrong and misleading meaning to the English reader.

God laughs at "governing authorities." (read Psalm 2:4)
Image courtesy of Ben White and http://unsplash.com

What's the bottom line for readers of the English Bible?

If you come across something in the bible that doesn't quite seem to fit the overall context, be suspicious. Do some digging. There are a plethora of online tools these days that can help you investigate and study the bible more deeply.

When it comes to translations, ask questions!
Image courtesy of ShonEjai and http://pixabay.com

The modern "governing authorities" is not a good translation.

It is a novel, intentional misdirection designed to muddle your thinking.

Don't be fooled into misdirecting your worship to the state. Remember the words of Jesus:

"And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."
- Matthew 28:18

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Visit my Library Christianity Shelf for more in the "Curmudgeon" series.

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