What the "therefore" isn’t there for

WARNING: This post is pretty technical so unless you are someone who likes in-depth Bible study I would recommend that you run for your life and instead read a post like: Who put the spaghetti on my waffle?

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If you’ve listened to very many sermons over the years, you have probably heard a preacher say, “When you see the word therefore in the Bible, you should always ask, ‘What is the therefore there for?” A common verse associated with this principle is Romans 12:1.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.(Romans 12:1, NIV)

 What is the therefore there for?

Here is what the Encarta dictionary says:

“Therefore and thus are both fairly formal words that introduce a statement that is the consequence of the previous statement.”

Applying that to Romans 12:1, we would expect this verse to be the consequence of the last verse of Romans 11.

For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

(Romans 11:36, NIV

But here we run into trouble because there seems to be no connection between the end of chapter 11 and the beginning of chapter 12.

Hold that thought for a moment and let’s look at another example.

Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

(Romans 13:10)

In this case, it’s easy to see that the second sentence is related to the first. Now to return to Romans 12:1. What is the therefore there for?

The answer is that the therefore shouldn’t be there at all! The word translated therefore is οὖν. The lexicon definition of οὖν is “a conjunction meaning therefore.” That is sometimes true but only when οὖν is joining two statements. When you go beyond the sentence level, things get interesting. You’ve got 499 opportunities to mistranslate this word in the New Testament.

Let’s look at some examples from 1 Timothy in the NIV. I have underlined the translation of οὖν.

2:1: I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone

2:8: I want        men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

3:2: Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

5:14: So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.

I find these examples fascinating. οὖν is translated differently each time. In the case of 2:8, it is left untranslated. And in none of the verses is it translated as therefore!

So, as an alternative to “What is the therefore there for?”, let me offer:

What is the οὖν doin’?

1. Consequence: οὖν is used to join two statements in which the second is the consequence of the first.

This includes 3:2 and 5:14 in the examples above.

2. Resumptive: οὖν is used when you want to resume a logical argument that was interrupted in some way.

This includes 2:1 and 2:8 above. This also includes Romans 12:1.

Since this is the trickier possibility let me illustrate it. In the case of Romans 12:1, Paul has just closed Romans 11 with an extended doxology which was inspired by a discussion of the enigma of God’s rejection of Israel and engrafting of the Gentiles. God’s acceptance of the Gentiles is what Paul is referring to by “God’s mercy.” I believe that the οὖν points back to the “kindness and sternness of God” in Romans 11:22, a verse which by the way also contains οὖν.

An interesting difference between the consequence and resumptive usages of οὖν was just pointed out to me this week. When οὖν is used to join two phrases it occurs clause-initially. When οὖν marks the resumption of a logical argument it occurs in a non-initial position. English does the same thing so you might translate it like this: “I urge you, then…” The four examples from 1 Timothy illustrate this.

A literary translation of οὖν

Almost every English translation that I’ve consulted makes a hash of translating οὖν. The more formal translations tend to blindly translate it as therefore. The more dynamic translations either leave it out altogether or translate it with whatever “sounds natural” in the immediate context. This is just one example of how the methods of formal equivalence and dynamic equivalence are equally prone to mistranslate higher level features of the original language. 

In the six verses containing οὖν listed in this article can you identify them as consequence or resumptive? And how should οὖν be translated?

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Suggested answers:

• Romans 12:1 (Resumptive) “I urge you, then…”
• Romans 13:10 (Consequence) “Love does no harm to its neighbor, so love is the fulfillment of the law.”
• 1 Timothy 2:1 (Resumptive) “I urge, then…”
• 1 Timothy 2:8 (Resumptive) “I would like, then…”
• 1 Timothy 3:2 (Consequence) “Therefore, the overseer…”
• 1 Timothy 5:14 (Consequence) “Therefore, I counsel younger widows to marry…”

[Update: I've added a few more stats below.]

My analysis differs from the NIV on Romans 12:1; 1 Timothy 2:8 and 3:2. In every case, TNIV follows the NIV. NLT and GNB fare even worse. REB gets 4 out of 6. NRSV gets 5 out of 6.

Note: The resumptive use of οὖν should never be translated therefore. English speakers have distinct reasons for using therefore or so for consequence, but this post is far too long as it is so I’m going to leave that topic for another day.