καιρός, waking, and clothing (13:11–14)
Says The καιρός (kairos, "time") calls for waking: salvation is nearer than when we believed (13:11). Night has advanced; day has drawn near (13:12). Put off dark deeds, put on light's armor, and walk decently, without revelry, drunkenness, sexual excess, strife, or jealousy (13:13). Put on the Lord Jesus Christ; make no πρόνοια (pronoia, "provision") for fleshly desires (13:14).
Implies Salvation's nearness contrasts initial belief with future consummation. Waking and clothing call for ethical conduct, not a new ground of justification or a license for coercion.
Uncertain "Nearer" and "day has drawn near" support expectation of a near return. Past belief alongside future salvation supports an inaugurated, already/not-yet account; this can overlap with return expectation. Death supplies a subsidiary individual horizon, but is unnamed. Proposed historical horizons require identification beyond these verses, which name no event or date. The relation of urgency to elapsed time remains disputed. No lean is taken here.
SBLGNT, WH, and NA28 have "already you"; Treg has "already us"; RP and TR have "us already" (var.Rom.13.11.hymas-hemas). SBLGNT prints ἀποβαλώμεθα (apobalōmetha, "let us throw off"); WH, Treg, NA28, RP, and TR have ἀποθώμεθα (apothōmetha, "let us lay aside"; var.Rom.13.12.apobalometha). RP and TR join "put on" with "and"; SBLGNT, WH, Treg, and NA28 use "but".
Claims
- SaysThe hour has come to wake, salvation is nearer than at first belief, night has advanced and day has drawn near, dark deeds are to be laid aside, light’s armor and Christ are to be put on, and no provision is to be made for fleshly desires (13:11–14).
- ImpliesInitial belief contrasts with future consummation in the salvation language. Waking and clothing call for ethical conduct, not a new ground of justification or a license for coercion.
- UncertainNearer and the approaching day support near-return expectation; past belief and future salvation support an inaugurated account, potentially overlapping. Death is a subsidiary individual horizon but is unnamed; historical horizons require further identification. No event or date is named, and the relation to elapsed time remains disputed. No lean is taken here.
Citations
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Abbott-Smith public domain s.v. ἐγγίζω (G1448) —
to come near
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Abbott-Smith public domain s.v. κῶμος (G2970) —
a revel, carousal
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Abbott-Smith public domain s.v. ἀσέλγεια (G766) —
licentiousness, wantonness, excess
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Abbott-Smith public domain s.v. ἔρις (G2054) —
strife, wrangling, contention
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Abbott-Smith public domain s.v. πρόνοια (G4307) —
make provision for, show care for
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Dodson CC0 1.0 s.v. καιρός (G2540) —
fitting season, season, opportunity, occasion, time
- SBLGNT CC BY 4.0 Rom 13:11–14
2026-11-06
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