Romans 14:16

Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Let	βλασφημείσθω blasphēmeisthō	G987	to vilify · verb — present passive imperative, 3rd person singular
not	μὴ mē	G3361	(adverb) not · particle — negative
then	οὖν oun	G3767	(adverbially) certainly · conjunction
your	ὑμῶν hymōn	G5216	of (from or concerning) you
good	ἀγαθόν. agathon	G18	"good" (in any sense · adjective — nominative singular neuter
of	βλασφημέω blasphēméō	G987	to vilify

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 10:29-30 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
Romans 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
2 Corinthians 8:20-21 Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 14:1–end

We have in this chapter, I. An account of the unhappy contention which had broken out in the Christian church. Our Master had foretold that offences would come; and, it seems, so they did, for want of that wisdom and love which would have prevented discord, and kept up union among them. 1. There was a difference among them about the distinction of meats and days; these are the two things specified. There might be other similar occasions of difference, while these made the most noise, and were most taken notice of. The case was this: The members of the Christian church at Rome were some of them originally Gentiles, and others of them Jews. We find Jews at Rome believing, Act 28:24. Now those…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 14:16

Let not then your good--that is, this liberty of yours as to Jewish meats and days, well founded though it be. be evil spoken of--for the evil it does to others.

Adam Clarke on Romans 14:16

Let not then your good be evil spoken of - Do not make such a use of your Christian liberty as to subject the Gospel itself to reproach. Whatsoever you do, do it in such a manner, spirit, and time, as to make it productive of the greatest possible good. There are many who have such an unhappy method of doing their good acts, as not only to do little or no good by them, but a great deal of evil. It requires much prudence and watchfulness to find out the proper time of performing even a good action.

John Gill on Romans 14:16

Let not then your good be evil spoken of. The Vulgate Latin reads it, "our good", and so the Syriac version; the sense is the same, and to be understood either of the Gospel in general, which is good in its author, matter, effects, and consequences; is good tidings of good things, and which might be blasphemed by the men of the world, on account of the divisions and contentions among the professors of it, about such little trivial things, as eating this or the other sort of food; and therefore care should be taken, that it be not evil spoken of through such conduct: or else the doctrine of Christian liberty in particular, which is a good thing; Christ has procured it, and bestows it upon his…

The Church Fathers

Even if you are teaching correctly, your argument may become the cause of blasphemy.
— Oecumenius, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Paul is saying that he praises their faith but does not want it to become the cause of cursing and damnation.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Since God's teaching is good and salutary, it should not be blasphemed, because of something trivial. Yet it is blasphemed when doubts are cast on the goodness of God's creation.
— Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Charitableness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Conscience · 20:12; — 20:12;
Evil · APPEARANCE OF, TO BE AVOI — APPEARANCE OF, TO BE AVOI
Expediency · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Fellowship · OF THE RIGHTEOUS — OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Prudence · 5:25,26;7:6; — 5:25,26;7:6;
Self-Denial · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Romans 14:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 14:1–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 14:16

Adam Clarke on Romans 14:16

John Gill on Romans 14:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Romans 14:16

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 14:1–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 14:16

Adam Clarke on Romans 14:16

John Gill on Romans 14:16

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Romans 14:14-18

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Romans 14:15