Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 65:4 (Dec 2022)
Article: Romans 12:9–13: Greek Grammar And How To Worship God
Author: Martin M. Culy

JETS 65:3 (September 2022) p. 719

Romans 12:9–13: Greek Grammar And How To Worship God

Martin M. Culy*

^* Martin Culy is the Director of Cypress Hills Ministries and former Professor of New Testament and Greek at Briercrest Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan, Canada. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: Romans 12:9–13 has traditionally been viewed as a discreet unit composed of a series of commands, even though there is no clear discourse boundary at 12:9 and the passage does not contain a single imperative form. Careful attention to the Greek text, however, reveals that 12:9–13 is part of a subunit that begins in 12:6 and that 12:1–13 in its entirety is concerned with how to offer our bodies as living sacrifices in genuine worship that is holy and acceptable to God. Paul conveys this profound message using a cluster of lexical forms in 12:1–2, followed by a conjunction that tells us that 12:3–13 serves to strengthen his statement in 12:1–2. And using a single sentence that includes two rhetorical lists in 12:6–13, Paul makes it clear that the strengthening unit that begins in 12:3 extends all the way to verse 13, rather than stopping at the end of verse 8, as most scholars and English translations suppose.

Key words: Romans, Greek grammar, lexical clusters, rhetorical lists, conjunctions, participles, discourse structure, living sacrifices, worship

At first glance, Romans 12:9–13 looks like a random group of commands1 or, as the heading in the ESV and NRSV states, a passage that presents the “Marks of the True Christian.” Moo notes the loose structure of 12:9–21, observing that “there are few conjunctions or particles to indicate the flow of thought.” He suggests that “Paul fires off a volley of short, sharp injunctions with little elaboration” and concludes that “the apparently haphazard arrangement makes it especially difficult to pinpoint the theme of the passage.”2 In what f...