Giving Preference in Honor

GIVING PREFERENCE IN HONOR
Romans 12:10

TRANSLATIONS

"Give preference to one another in honor" --- NASB

"In honor preferring one another" --- KJV

"Give pride of place to one another in esteem" --- NEB

"Honor one another above yourselves" --- NIV

"Anticipate each other in showing respect" --- NAB

"In showing honor to one another take the lead" --- NWT

"Give your brothers and sisters more honor than you want for yourselves" --- NCV

"....a willingness to let the other man have the credit" --- Phillips

"In personal honors put one another to the fore" --- Williams

"Practice playing second fiddle" --- Message

"Be eager to show respect for one another" --- TEV

"In honor, let each one esteem the other more highly" --- McCord

WORD STUDY
The Greek word time means "to show honor, respect, reverence" (Arndt, p. 817). It refers to "the honor of one who outranks others; pre-eminence" (Thayer, p. 624). That which is highly prized or honored. "That respect shown another which is measured by one's evaluation of another" (Wuest, p. 214).
The Greek word proegeomai appears only one time in the pages of the NT writings, twice in the OT documents, and twelve times in the Apocrypha. It means "to go before as a leader, to go before and show the way" (Thayer, p. 539). "The participle means to take the lead, to outrun, to go before, to anticipate" (Calvin, p. 465). Many of the ancient versions of the Bible understood this phrase to mean "try to outdo one another in showing respect" (Arndt, p. 706).
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
Romans 13:7 Philippians 2:3
COMMENTARY
"More than half the trouble that arises in Churches concerns rights and privileges and places and prestige. Someone has not been given his or her place; someone has been neglected or unthanked; someone has been given a more prominent place on a platform than someone else --- and there is trouble. It is not easy to give each other priority in honor. There is enough of the natural man in most of us to like to get our rights" (Barclay, p. 178).
".....carries the connotation of setting an example and taking the lead in honoring others. Instead of coveting and trying to grasp honors for one's self, the Christian should rather desire to exalt his fellow Christians, even taking the lead in the conveyance of such honors to them" (Coffman, p. 434).
"If this single direction were to be obeyed .... it would humble the ambition of those who, like Diotrephes, love to have the pre-eminence (III John 9), and make every man willing to occupy the place for which God has designed him" (Barnes, p. 281).
"Instead of waiting for others to honor us, we should lead them in the manifestation of esteem and respect" (Lipscomb, p. 226).
"In the matter of showing esteem or respect, be examples to one another" (Lard, p. 390).
An attitude of readiness "to recognize and honor God's gifts in a brother" (Wuest, p. 214).
"This is a hard lesson, and very few persons learn it thoroughly," for "we have no objection to the elevation of others, providing we are at the head" (Clarke, p. 140).

Home Page Romans 12:9-21 Files