Romans 14:15

Romans 14:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
• New International Version (NIV)If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.

Context of Romans 14:15

13Then let us not criticize one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block or a source of temptation in another believer’s way. 14I know and am convinced [as one] in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean [ritually defiled, and unholy] in itself; but [nonetheless] it is unclean to anyone who thinks it is unclean. If your brother is being hurt or offended because of food [that you insist on eating], you are no longer walking in love [toward him]. Do not let what you eat destroy and spiritually harm one for whom Christ died. 16Therefore do not let what is a good thing for you [because of your freedom to choose] be spoken of as evil [by someone else]; 17for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [what one likes], but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:15 word by word

εἰ γὰρ διὰ βρῶμα ὁ ἀδελφός σου λυπεῖται, οὐκέτι κατὰ ἀγάπην περιπατεῖς. μὴ τῷ βρώματί σου ἐκεῖνον ἀπόλλυε ὑπὲρ οὗ Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• thyσύsu · youG4771
• brotherὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• brotherἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• be grievedλυπέωlupeō · to grieveG3076
• withδιάdia · through/because ofG1223
• meatβρῶμαbrōma · foodG1033
• nowοὐκέτιouketi · not any moreG3765
• walkest thouπεριπατέωperipateō · to walkG4043
• ·κατάkata · according toG2596
• charitablyἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• Destroyἀπολλύωapollumi · to destroyG622
• notμήmē · notG3361
• himἐκεῖνοςekeinos · thatG1565
• forὑπέρhuper · above/forG5228
• whomὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• diedἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599

Cross-references for Romans 14:15

• Ezekiel 13:22Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life,
• 1 Corinthians 8:12And when you sin against the brothers and sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience [by confusing them], you sin against Christ.
• Romans 13:10Love does no wrong to a neighbor [it never hurts anyone]. Therefore [unselfish] love is the fulfillment of the Law.
• Romans 15:2Let each one of us [make it a practice to] please his neighbor for his good, to build him up spiritually.
• 1 Corinthians 8:1Now about food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge [concerning this]. Knowledge [alone] makes [people self-righteously] arrogant, but love [that unselfishly seeks the best for others] builds up and encourages others to grow [in wisdom].
• 1 Corinthians 13:1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying distraction].
• Galatians 5:13For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through love serve and seek the best for one another.
• Philippians 2:2make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love [toward one another], knit together in spirit, intent on one purpose [and living a life that reflects your faith and spreads the gospel—the good news regarding salvation through faith in Christ].
• 1 Corinthians 8:11For through your knowledge (spiritual maturity) this weak man is ruined [that is, he suffers in his spiritual life], the brother for whom Christ died.
• 2 Peter 2:1But [in those days] false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will subtly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.
• 1 John 2:2And He [that same Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins [the atoning sacrifice that holds back the wrath of God that would otherwise be directed at us because of our sinful nature—our worldliness, our lifestyle]; and not for ours alone, but also for [the sins of all believers throughout] the whole world.

Commentaries on Romans 14:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15If thy brother be grieved - If he think that thou doest wrong, and he is in consequence stumbled at thy conduct. Now walkest thou not charitably - , According to love; for love worketh no ill to its neighbor; but by thy eating some particular kind of meat, on which neither thy life nor well-being depends, thou workest ill to him by grieving and distressing his mind; and therefore thou breakest the law of God in reference to him, while pretending that thy…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15But if thy brother … - This address is to the “Gentile” convert. In the previous verse, Paul admitted. that the prejudice of the Jew was not well-founded. But admitting that still the question was, “how” he should be treated while he had that prejudice. The apostle here shows the Gentile that “he” ought not so to act as unnecessarily to wound his feelings, or to grieve him. Be grieved - Be pained; as a conscientious man always is, when he sees another…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-18Verses 14-18 Christ deals gently with those who have true grace, though they are weak in it. Consider the design of Christ's death: also that drawing a soul to sin, threatens the destruction of that soul. Did Christ deny himself for our brethren, so as to die for them, and shall not we deny ourselves for them, so as to keep from any indulgence? We cannot hinder ungoverned tongues from speaking evil; but we must not give them any occasion. We must deny…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15The word translated as destroy (from the Greek apollumi) often used to describe eternal judgment (see 2:12; Matthew 10:28; 18:14; Luke 9:24; 13:2–5; John 3:16; 10:10, 28; 1 Corinthians 1:18–19; James 4:12; 2 Peter 3:9). By insisting on their freedom to eat any food, believers who were strong in faith could harm others. They might cause sensitive Jewish Christians, for whom Christ died, to turn away from the faith.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1514-15. I know, and am persuaded by--or rather, "in" the Lord Jesus--as "having the mind of Christ" (1Co 2:16). that there is nothing unclean of itself--Hence it is that he calls those "the strong" who believed in the abolition of all ritual distinctions under the Gospel. (See Ac 10:15). but--"save that" to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean--"and therefore, though you can eat of it with out sin, he cannot."Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 14:15

• Charitableness
• Commandments
• Conscience
• Evil
• Expediency
• Fellowship
• Jesus, the Christ
• Rome
• Self-Denial
• Selfishness
• Suffering
• Temptation
• Uncharitableness

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Esteem
• Faith
• Receive
• Regard
• Revive
• Unclean
• Bible, the
• Charitably

Commentaries on Romans 14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings