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Passage Research

Romans 13 — Sermon Preparation

Below is a research summary for Romans 13, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.

14
verses
270 / 120
Greek words / lemmas
21
classic sermon excerpts
8
preachers & commentators

Romans 13 in the Greek

Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.

Greek Transliteration Strong's Count KJV renderings
κακός kakós G2556 4 bad, evil, harm, ill
φόρος phóros G5411 3 tribute
ἐξουσία exousía G1849 4 authority, jurisdiction, liberty, power
φόβος phóbos G5401 3 be afraid, exceedingly, fear, terror
ἀγαθός agathós G18 3 benefit, good, well
ἀγαπάω agapáō G25 3 love
ἀνθίστημι anthístēmi G436 2 resist, withstand

How preachers through history handled this text

21 public-domain excerpts on Romans 13, from the church fathers to the Puritans.

Calvin 5 Matthew Henry 4 Alexander MacLaren 3 Spurgeon 3 Chrysostom 2 Gregory the Great 2 Ambrose 1 +1 more

“Four things are here taught, as a Christian's directory for his day's work. When to awake; Now; and to awake out of the sleep of carnal security, sloth, and negligence; out of the sleep of spiritual death, and out of the sleep of spiritual deadness. Considering the time; a busy time; a perilous time. Also the salvation nigh at hand. Let us mind our way, and mend our pace, we are nearer our journey's end. Also to make ourselves ready. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; therefore it is time to dress ourselves. …”

— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on Romans 13:11–30 (Public Domain)

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Greek exegesis, historical background, current scholarship, sermon outlines, illustrations — a complete PDF report on Romans 13, delivered in 45 minutes.