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THE MESSAGE

Romans 14:2

For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Charitableness;   Commandments;   Conscience;   Evil;   Fellowship;   Food;   Self-Denial;   Uncharitableness;   Vegetarians;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Diet of the Jews, the;   Herbs, &C;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Animals;   Disease;   Law of Christ;   Motives;   Strong and Weak;   Thankfulness, Thanksgiving;   Worship;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Paul;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Church;   Food Offered to Idols;   Knowledge;   Life;   Romans, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ethics;   Judging;   Romans, Epistle to the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Herb;   Romans Epistle to the;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Interesting facts about the bible;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Abstinence;   Meats;  

Encyclopedias:

- Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Abstinence;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for May 30;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables.
King James Version (1611)
For one beleeueth that he may eat all things: another who is weake, eateth herbes.
King James Version
For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
English Standard Version
One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
New American Standard Bible
One person has faith that he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables.
New Century Version
One person believes it is right to eat all kinds of food. But another, who is weak, believes it is right to eat only vegetables.
Amplified Bible
One man's faith permits him to eat everything, while the weak believer eats only vegetables [to avoid eating ritually unclean meat or something previously considered unclean].
New American Standard Bible (1995)
One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
Legacy Standard Bible
One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only.
Berean Standard Bible
For one man has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.
Contemporary English Version
Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables.
Complete Jewish Bible
One person has the trust that will allow him to eat anything, while another whose trust is weak eats only vegetables.
Darby Translation
One man is assured that he may eat all things; but the weak eats herbs.
Easy-to-Read Version
Some people believe they can eat any kind of food, but those who have doubts eat only vegetables.
Geneva Bible (1587)
One beleeueth that he may eate of all things: and another, which is weake, eateth herbes.
George Lamsa Translation
For one believes that he may eat all things: another who is weak, eats vegetables.
Good News Translation
Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables.
Lexham English Bible
One believes he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables.
Literal Translation
One indeed believes to eat all things, but being weak, another one eats vegetables.
American Standard Version
One man hath faith to eat all things: but he that is weak eateth herbs.
Bible in Basic English
One man has faith to take all things as food: another who is feeble in faith takes only green food.
Hebrew Names Version
One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats herbs.
International Standard Version
One person believes that he can eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.Romans 14:14; 1 Corinthians 10:25; 1 Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:15;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
For there are some who believe that one may eat every thing, and he who is weak; eateth (only) the herb.
Murdock Translation
For one man believeth, that he may eat every thing: and he that is feeble, eateth herbs.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
One beleueth yt he may eate euery thyng: Another which is weake, eateth hearbes.
English Revised Version
One man hath faith to eat all things: but he that is weak eateth herbs.
World English Bible
One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats herbs.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For one believeth, that he may eat all things; another who is weak, eateth herbs.
Weymouth's New Testament
One man's faith allows him to eat anything, while a man of weaker faith eats nothing but vegetables.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For another man leueth, that he mai ete alle thingis; but he that is sijk, ete wortis.
Update Bible Version
One man has faith to eat all things: but he that is weak eats herbs.
Webster's Bible Translation
For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
New English Translation
One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables.
New King James Version
For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables.
New Living Translation
For instance, one person believes it's all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.
New Life Bible
One man believes he may eat everything. Another man with weak faith eats only vegetables.
New Revised Standard
Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
One, indeed, hath faith to eat all things, whereas, he that is weak, eateth herbs:
Douay-Rheims Bible
For one believeth that he may eat all things: but he that is weak, let him eat herbs.
Revised Standard Version
One believes he may eat anything, while the weak man eats only vegetables.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
One beleveth that he maye eate all thinge. Another which is weake eateth earbes.
Young's Literal Translation
one doth believe that he may eat all things -- and he who is weak doth eat herbs;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
One beleueth that he maye eate all thinge: but he that is weake, eateth herbes.
Mace New Testament (1729)
for one makes no difficulty of eating all sorts of food: another is so scrupulous, he lives upon herbs.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Let me explain, one might think it's okay to eat anything and another is a vegan.

Contextual Overview

1 Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don't see things the way you do. And don't jump all over them every time they do or say something you don't agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently. 2For instance, a person who has been around for a while might well be convinced that he can eat anything on the table, while another, with a different background, might assume he should only be a vegetarian and eat accordingly. But since both are guests at Christ's table, wouldn't it be terribly rude if they fell to criticizing what the other ate or didn't eat? God, after all, invited them both to the table. Do you have any business crossing people off the guest list or interfering with God's welcome? If there are corrections to be made or manners to be learned, God can handle that without your help. 5 Or, say, one person thinks that some days should be set aside as holy and another thinks that each day is pretty much like any other. There are good reasons either way. So, each person is free to follow the convictions of conscience. 6What's important in all this is that if you keep a holy day, keep it for God's sake; if you eat meat, eat it to the glory of God and thank God for prime rib; if you're a vegetarian, eat vegetables to the glory of God and thank God for broccoli. None of us are permitted to insist on our own way in these matters. It's God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other. 10So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I'd say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we're all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren't going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture: "As I live and breathe," God says, "every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God." So tend to your knitting. You've got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God. 13Forget about deciding what's right for each other. Here's what you need to be concerned about: that you don't get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I'm convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it. 15If you confuse others by making a big issue over what they eat or don't eat, you're no longer a companion with them in love, are you? These, remember, are persons for whom Christ died. Would you risk sending them to hell over an item in their diet? Don't you dare let a piece of God-blessed food become an occasion of soul-poisoning! 17God's kingdom isn't a matter of what you put in your stomach, for goodness' sake. It's what God does with your life as he sets it right, puts it together, and completes it with joy. Your task is to single-mindedly serve Christ. Do that and you'll kill two birds with one stone: pleasing the God above you and proving your worth to the people around you. 19So let's agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don't drag them down by finding fault. You're certainly not going to permit an argument over what is served or not served at supper to wreck God's work among you, are you? I said it before and I'll say it again: All food is good, but it can turn bad if you use it badly, if you use it to trip others up and send them sprawling. When you sit down to a meal, your primary concern should not be to feed your own face but to share the life of Jesus. So be sensitive and courteous to the others who are eating. Don't eat or say or do things that might interfere with the free exchange of love. 22Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don't impose it on others. You're fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you're not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you're out of line. If the way you live isn't consistent with what you believe, then it's wrong.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that: Romans 14:14, 1 Corinthians 10:25, Galatians 2:12, 1 Timothy 4:4, Titus 1:15, Hebrews 9:10, Hebrews 13:9

another: Romans 14:22, Romans 14:23

eateth: Genesis 1:29, Genesis 9:3, Proverbs 15:17, Daniel 1:12, Daniel 1:16

Reciprocal: Genesis 3:18 - herb Leviticus 11:2 - General Leviticus 11:47 - General 1 Corinthians 8:9 - weak Colossians 2:16 - in meat

Cross-References

Genesis 13:10
Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom. The people of Sodom were evil—flagrant sinners against God . After Lot separated from him, God said to Abram, "Open your eyes, look around. Look north, south, east, and west. Everything you see, the whole land spread out before you, I will give to you and your children forever. I'll make your descendants like dust—counting your descendants will be as impossible as counting the dust of the Earth. So—on your feet, get moving! Walk through the country, its length and breadth; I'm giving it all to you." Abram moved his tent. He went and settled by the Oaks of Mamre in Hebron. There he built an altar to God .
Genesis 14:10
The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.
Isaiah 15:5
Oh, how I grieve for Moab! Refugees stream to Zoar and then on to Eglath-shelishiyah. Up the slopes of Luhith they weep; on the road to Horonaim they cry their loss. The springs of Nimrim are dried up— grass brown, buds stunted, nothing grows. They leave, carrying all their possessions on their backs, everything they own, Making their way as best they can across Willow Creek to safety. Poignant cries reverberate all through Moab, Gut-wrenching sobs as far as Eglaim, heart-racking sobs all the way to Beer-elim. The banks of the Dibon crest with blood, but God has worse in store for Dibon: A lion—a lion to finish off the fugitives, to clean up whoever's left in the land.
Jeremiah 48:34
"Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, and the people in Jahaz will hear the cries. They will hear them all the way from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. Even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For one believeth that he may eat all things,.... He is fully persuaded in his mind, that there is nothing in itself common, or unclean; that the difference between clean and unclean meats, commanded to be observed by the law of Moses, is taken away; and that he may now lawfully eat any sort of food; every creature of God being good, and none to be refused, because of the ceremonial law which is abrogated, provided it, be received with thanksgiving, and used to the glory of God:

another who is weak eateth herbs; meaning not one that is sickly and unhealthful, and of a weak constitution, and therefore eats herbs for health's sake; but one that is weak in the faith, and who thinks that the laws concerning the observance of meats and drinks are still in force; and therefore, rather than break any of them, and that he may be sure he does not, will eat nothing but herbs, which are not any of them forbidden by the law: and this he did, either as choosing rather to live altogether on herbs, than to eat anything which the law forbids; or being of opinion with the Essenes among the Jews, and the Pythagoreans among the Gentiles, who thought they were to abstain from eating of all sorts of animals.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For one believeth - This was the case with the Gentiles in general, who had none of the scruples of the Jew about the propriety of eating certain kinds of meat. Many of the converts who had been Jews might also have had the same view as the apostle Paul evidently had while the great mass of Jewish converts might have cherished these scruples.

May eat all things - That is, he will not be restrained by any scruples about the lawfulness of certain meats, etc.

Another who is weak - There is reference here, doubt less, to the Jewish convert. The apostle admits that he was “weak,” that is, not fully established in the views of Christian liberty. The question with the Jew doubtless was, whether it was lawful to eat the meat which was offered in sacrifice to idols. In those sacrifices a part only of the animal was offered, and the remainder was eaten by the worshippers, or offered for sale in the market like other meat. It became an inquiry whether it was lawful to eat this meat; and the question in the mind of a Jew would arise from the express command of his Law; Exodus 34:15. This question the apostle discussed and settled in 1 Corinthians 10:20-32, which see. In that place the general principle is laid down, that it was lawful to partake of that meat as a man would of any other, “unless it was expressly pointed out to him as having been sacrificed to idols, and unless his partaking of it would be considered as countenancing the idolators in their worship;” Rom 14:28. But with this principle many Jewish converts might not have been acquainted; or what is quite as probable, they might not have been disposed to admit its propriety.

Eateth herbs - Herbs or “vegetables” only; does not partake of meat at all, for “fear” of eating that, inadvertently, which had been offered to idols. The Romans abounded in sacrifices to idols; and it would not be easy to be certain that meat which was offered in the market, or on the table of a friend, had not been offered in this manner. To avoid the possibility of partaking of it, even “ignorantly,” they chose to eat no meat at all. The scruples of the Jews on the subject might have arisen in part from the fact that sins of “ignorance” among them subjected them to certain penalties; Leviticus 4:2-3, etc.; Leviticus 5:15; Numbers 15:24, Numbers 15:27-29. Josephus says (Life, Section 3) that in his time there were certain priests of his acquaintance who “supported themselves with figs and nuts.” These priests had been sent to Rome to be tried on some charge before Caesar: and it is probable that they abstained from meat because it might have been offered to idols. It is expressly declared of Daniel when in Babylon, that he lived on pulse and water, that he might not “defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank;” Daniel 1:8-16.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 14:2. One believeth that he may eat all things — He believes that whatsoever is wholesome and nourishing, whether herbs or flesh-whether enjoined or forbidden by the Mosaic law - may be safely and conscientiously used by every Christian.

Another, who is weak, eateth herbs. — Certain Jews, lately converted to the Christian faith, and having as yet little knowledge of its doctrines, believe the Mosaic law relative to clean and unclean meats to be still in force; and therefore, when they are in a Gentile country, for fear of being defiled, avoid flesh entirely and live on vegetables. And a Jew when in a heathen country acts thus, because he cannot tell whether the flesh which is sold in the market may be of a clean or unclean beast; whether it may not have been offered to an idol; or whether the blood may have been taken properly from it.


 
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