ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος and τοῖς ταπεινοῖς (12:9–16)

Says Ἡ ἀγάπη ἀνυπόκριτος. ἀποστυγοῦντες τὸ πονηρόν, κολλώμενοι τῷ ἀγαθῷ: love without hypocrisy; detest what is evil; cling to what is good. Abbott-Smith: ἀνυπόκριτος “unfeigned”; ἀποστυγέω “to abhor”.

Says The participles in 12:9–13 and 12:16 serve the same exhortation as the imperatives in 12:14 and 12:16. Their terseness does not make them a new subject.

Says Devotion, mutual honor, hospitality, blessing those who persecute, and shared joy and sorrow are exhortations (12:10, 13–15). φιλόστοργος is “tenderly loving, affectionate”. φιλοξενία is “love of strangers, hospitality”. προηγέομαι is “to go before as leader,” with a further honor-sense of preferring one another. WH has no ὑμᾶς after διώκοντας; Treg, NA28, and RP add it (see var.Rom.12.14.hymas). RP adds καί in 12:15, a minor connective. At 12:11 the printed text reads τῷ κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες; a Western minority has καιρῷ (see var.Rom.12.11.kyrio-kairo). No dated persecution is inferred from 12:14 alone.

Uncertain τῷ πνεύματι ζέοντες (12:11) may be the human spirit or the Holy Spirit. ζέω is “to boil, be hot”; the participle is fervent. Nothing in the dative decides it. No lean is taken here.

Uncertain τοῖς ταπεινοῖς συναπαγόμενοι (12:16) may be lowly persons or humble things. The dative can be masculine or neuter. Abbott-Smith speaks of “things or persons”. No lean is taken here.