Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Parallel Translations
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Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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Be not overcome of evyll: But overcome evyll with goodnes.
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Bee not ouercome of euill, but ouercome euill with goodnesse.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Romans 12:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Peter 3:9 not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
- Luke 6:27-30 “But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also. Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again.
- Proverbs 16:32 One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty; one who rules his spirit, than he who takes a city.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 21. Be not overcome by evil, etc. This sentence…
21. Be not overcome by evil, etc. This sentence is laid down as a confirmation; for in this case our contest is altogether with perverseness, if we try to retaliate it, we confess that we are overcome by it; if, on the contrary, we return good for evil, by that very deed we show the invincible firmness of our mind. This is truly a most glorious kind of victory, the fruit of which is not only apprehended by the mind, but really perceived, while the Lord is giving success to their patience, than which they can wish nothing better. On the other hand, he who attempts to overcome evil with evil, may perhaps surpass his enemy in doing injury, but it is to his own ruin; for by acting thus he carries on war for the devil.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil…
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Ver. 21. Be not overcome] In rixa is inferior est, qui victor est, saith Basil. In revenge of injuries, he is the loser that gets the better. Hence the apostle disgraceth it, by a word that signifieth disgrace or loss of victory, ηττημα, 1Co 6:7. When any one provokes us, we use to say, We will be even with him. There is a way whereby we may be, not even with him, but above him; that is, forgive him, feed him with the best morsels, feed him indulgently (so the apostle’s word ψωμιζε in the former verse signifies), feast him, as Elisha did his persecutors; providing a table for them, who had provided a grave for him. "Set bread and water before them," saith he, and mark what followed; "The bands of Syria came no more after that time," by way of ambush or inroad, "into the bounds of Israel," 2Ki 6:22-23. In doing some good to our enemies (saith a grave divine hereupon) we do most to ourselves: God cannot but love in us that imitation of his mercy, who bids his sun to shine on the wicked and unthankful also; and his love is never fruitless. It is not like the winter sun that gives little heat, but like the sun in his strength, that warms and works effectually upon the rest of the creatures.
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But overcome evil] This is the most noble victory. Thus David overcame Saul, and Henry VII, emperor of Germany, overcame the priest that poisoned him at the sacrament; for he pardoned him, and bade him be packing. (Fanc. Chron.) So did not Jacup the Persian king, who perceiving himself poisoned by his adulterous wife, enforced her to drink of the same cup; and because he would be sure she should not escape, with his own hand he struck off her head. (Turkish Hist.) But this (to say truth) was not revenge, but justice. Henry IV of France was wont to say, that he made all the days of those golden, who had most offended him; that so, the lead of their wickedness might be darkened by the gold of his goodness.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain This verse is a Divine aphorism: therein the apostle…
This verse is a Divine aphorism: therein the apostle anticipates an objection. Some might be ready to say, If we should follow this advice we should be counted cowards and dastards, &c. To this he answers, that it is the ready way to be triumphers and conquerors. By evil, here, he means, the wrongs and injuries of men; and to be overcome of evil, is to be moved and provoked thereby to impatience or malice. When it is thus with a man, he is overcome, or conquered: in revenge of injuries, he is a loser that gets the better. Therefore he exhorts us, rather to
overcome evil with good; that is a noble victory indeed: this is the way, not to be even with him that wrongs us, but to be above him. Thus David overcame Saul, and Elisha the bands of Syria. This is the way to overcome ourselves, and our adversaries too: ourselves, in denying our lusts that egg us on to revenge; our adversaries, in winning them to relent and acknowledge their miscarriages.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Learn hence, That every Christian should not only take…
Learn hence, That every Christian should not only take heed that he be not overcome of evil; but also labour and endeavour what in him lieth to overcome evil with good.
Question What are we to understand here by evil?
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Answer Any unkind or injurious dealings from others, any mischief or ill turn which our neighbour has done us.
Question What is it to be overcome of evil?
Answer 1. When we dwell in our thoughts too much, too often, and too long, upon the injuries and unkindnesses we have met with. This is, as if a man that was to take down a bitter pill should be continually chomping of it, and rolling it under his tongue.
2. We are overcome of evil, when we are brought over to commit the same evil, by studying to make spiteful returns by way of revenge for the injuries we have received.
Question Wherein consists the duty and excellency of overcoming evil with good?
Answer It renders us like to God, who does good to us daily, though we do evil against him continually, hereby we imitate God in one of the choicest perfections of his divine nature; hereby we overcome ourselves; hereby we overcome our enemies; and make them become our friends.
Question How should we overcome evil with good?
Answer By doing good for evil, by returning courtesies for injuries, speaking well of others, although they speak hardly, yea, very ill of us.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Be not overcome of evil,.... Neither of the evil…
Be not overcome of evil,.... Neither of the evil one, Satan, who is very busy to stir up the corruption of nature to an hatred of enemies, and to seek revenge; but give no place nor heed unto him, resist him, and he will flee from you, Jam 4:7; "put on the whole armour of God", Eph 6:11, whereby you may defend yourselves, that he cannot touch you: nor of the evil of sin that dwells in you; "for whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage", Pe2 2:19; nor of the evil of the man that has done you an injury, as you will be, if you return evil for evil, or take any steps and measures to avenge yourselves; for then not you, but he that has done you the wrong, will be the conqueror:
but overcome evil with good; overcome the evil man, and the evil he has done you, by doing good to him, by feeding him when hungry, by giving him drink when thirsty, by clothing him when naked, and by doing other offices of kindness and humanity to him; which is most likely to win upon him, and of an enemy to make him your friend: and if not, however it will show that you are conquerors, yea, "more than conquerors", Rom 8:37, through the grace and strength of him that has loved you, over Satan, over the corruptions of your own hearts, and over the malice and wickedness of your enemies.
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Next: Romans Chapter 13
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And if you see no present fruit, yet persevere.…
And if you see no present fruit, yet persevere. Be not overcome with evil - As all are who avenge themselves. But overcome evil with good. Conquer your enemies by kindness and patience.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. Be not overcome of evil] Do not,…
Verse 21. Be not overcome of evil] Do not, by giving place to evil, become precisely the same character which thou condemnest in another. Overcome evil with good - however frequently he may grieve and injure thee, always repay him with kindness; thy good-will, in the end, may overcome his evil.
1. THOMAS AQUINAS has properly said: Vincitur a malo qui vult peccare in alium, quia ille peccavit in ipsum. "He is overcome of evil who sins against another, because he sins against him." A moral enemy is more easily overcome by kindness than by hostility. Against the latter he arms himself; and all the evil passions of his heart concentrate themselves in opposition to him who is striving to retaliate, by violence, the injurious acts which he has received from him. But where the injured man is labouring to do him good for his evil - to repay his curses with blessings and prayers, his evil passions have no longer any motive, any incentive; his mind relaxes; the turbulence of his passions is calmed; reason and conscience are permitted to speak; he is disarmed, or, in other words, he finds that he has no use for his weapons; he beholds in the injured man a magnanimous friend whose mind is superior to all the insults and injuries which he has received, and who is determined never to permit the heavenly principle that influences his soul to bow itself before the miserable, mean, and wretched spirit of revenge. This amiable man views in his enemy a spirit which he beholds with horror, and he cannot consent to receive into his own bosom a disposition which he sees to be so destructive to another; and he knows that as soon as he begins to avenge himself, he places himself on a par with the unprincipled man whose conduct he has so much reason to blame, and whose spirit he has so much cause to abominate. He who avenges himself receives into his own heart all the evil and disgraceful passions by which his enemy is rendered both wretched and contemptible. There is the voice of eternal reason in "Avenge not yourselves: - overcome evil with good;" as well as the high authority and command of the living God.
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2. The reader will, no doubt, have observed with pleasure the skill and address, as well as the Divine wisdom, with which the apostle has handled the important subjects which he has brought forth to view in the preceding chapters. Nothing can be more regular or judicious than his plan of proceeding. He first shows the miserable, wretched, fallen, degraded state of man; next, the merciful provision which God has made for his salvation, and lastly, the use which man should make of the mercies of his God. He shows us, in a most pointed manner, the connection that subsists between the doctrines of the Gospel and practical piety. From the beginning of the first to the end of the eleventh chapter he states and defends the grand truths of Christianity, and from the beginning of the twelfth to the end of the epistle he shows the practical use of these doctrines. This is a point which is rarely considered by professors; multitudes run to the Epistle to the Romans for texts to prop up their peculiar system of doctrine, but how few go to this sacred book for rules relative to holy life! They abound in quotations from the doctrinal parts, but seldom make that use of them which the apostle makes in this chapter. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, &c." Now we learn from the use which the apostle makes of his doctrines, that whatsoever teaching comes from God leads to a holy and useful life. And if we hold any doctrine that does not excite us to labour after the strictest conformity to the will of God in all our tempers, spirit, and actions, we may rest assured that either that doctrine is not of God, or we make an improper use of it. He that knows God best, loves and resembles him most.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Rom 12:21. Be not overcome of evil — As…
Rom 12:21. Be not overcome of evil — As all are who avenge themselves; but — Even if you see no present fruit, yet persevere; and overcome evil with good — Conquer your enemies with kindness and patience, which is the most glorious victory, and a victory which may certainly be obtained, if you have the courage to adhere to that which, being good, is always in its own nature, on the whole, invincible, to whatever present disadvantage it may seem obnoxious. Blackwall, after having praised the language in which this precept is delivered, adds, “This is a noble strain of Christian courage, prudence, and goodness, that nothing in Epictetus, Plutarch, or Antonine, can vie with. The moralists and heroes of paganism could not write and act to the height of this.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Be not overcome of evil - Be not “vanquished”…
Be not overcome of evil - Be not “vanquished” or “subdued” by injury received from others. Do not suffer your temper to be excited; your Christian principles to be abandoned; your mild, amiable, kind, and benevolent temper to be ruffled by any opposition or injury which you may experience. Maintain your Christian principles amidst all opposition, and thus show the power of the gospel. They are overcome by evil who suffer their temper to be excited, who become enraged and revengeful and who engage in contention with those who injure them; Pro 16:22.
But overcome evil with good - That is, subdue or vanquish evil by doing good to others. Show them the loveliness of a better spirit; the power of kindness and benevolence; the value of an amiable, Christian deportment. So doing, you may disarm them of their rage, and be the means of bringing them to better minds.
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This is the noble and grand sentiment of the Christian religion. Nothing like this is to be found in the pagan classics; and nothing like it ever existed among pagan nations. Christianity alone has brought forth this lovely and mighty principle; and one design of it is to advance the welfare of man by promoting peace, harmony, and love. The idea of “overcoming evil with good” never occurred to people until the gospel was preached. It never has been acted on except under the influences of the gospel. On this principle God shows kindness; on this principle the Saviour came, and bled, and died; and on this principle all Christians should act in treating their enemies, and in bringing a world to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. If Christians will show benevolence, if they will send forth proofs of love to the ends of the earth, the evils of the world will be overcome. Nor can the nations be converted until Christians act on this great and most important principle of their religion, “on the largest scale possible,” to “overcome evil with good.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain This is the apostle’s conclusion of the foregoing instructions.…
This is the apostle’s conclusion of the foregoing instructions. Be not overcome by the malice of thy enemy, so as to wish to revenge thyself, without leaving all to the just judgment of God; but overcome his malice by thy kindness. This is complied with, when upon occasion of injuries received we always return a kindness, and in proportion as the malice of our enemies increases, our spirit of benevolence should also increase. (Estius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Be not overcome of evil--for then you are the…
Be not overcome of evil--for then you are the conquered party.
but overcome evil with good--and then the victory is yours; you have subdued your enemy in the noblest sense.
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Note, (1) The redeeming mercy of God in Christ is, in the souls of believers, the living spring of all holy obedience (Rom 12:1). (2) As redemption under the Gospel is not by irrational victims, as under the law, but "by the precious blood of Christ" (Pe1 1:18-19), and, consequently, is not ritual but real, so the sacrifices which believers are now called to offer are all "living sacrifices"; and these--summed up in self-consecration to the service of God--are "holy and acceptable to God," making up together "our rational service" (Rom 12:1). (3) In this light, what are we to think of the so-called "unbloody sacrifice of the mass, continually offered to God as a propitiation for the sins both of the living and the dead," which the adherents of Rome's corrupt faith have been taught for ages to believe is the highest and holiest act of Christian worship--in direct opposition to the sublimely simple teaching which the Christians of Rome first received (Rom 12:1) --(4) Christians should not feel themselves at liberty to be conformed to the world, if only they avoid what is manifestly sinful; but rather, yielding themselves to the transforming power of the truth as it is in Jesus, they should strive to exhibit before the world an entire renovation of heart and life (Rom 12:2). (5) What God would have men to be, in all its beauty and grandeur, is for the first time really apprehended, when "written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tables of stone, but on the fleshy tables of the heart," Co2 3:3 (Rom 12:2). (6) Self-sufficiency and lust of power are peculiarly unlovely in the vessels of mercy, whose respective graces and gifts are all a divine trust for the benefit of the common body and of mankind at large (Rom 12:3-4). (7) As forgetfulness of this has been the source of innumerable and unspeakable evils in the Church of Christ, so the faithful exercise by every Christian of his own peculiar office and gifts, and the loving recognition of those of his brethren, as all of equal importance in their own place, would put a new face upon the visible Church, to the vast benefit and comfort of Christians themselves and to the admiration of the world around them (Rom 12:6-8). (8) What would the world be, if it were filled with Christians having but one object in life, high above every other--to "serve the Lord"--and throwing into this service "alacrity" in the discharge of all duties, and abiding "warmth of spirit" (Rom 12:11)! (9) Oh, how far is even the living Church from exhibiting the whole character and spirit, so beautifully portrayed in the latter verses of this chapter (Rom 12:12-21)! What need of a fresh baptism of the Spirit in order to this! And how "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners," will the Church become, when at length instinct with this Spirit! The Lord hasten it in its time!
Next: Romans Chapter 13
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. Overcome evil with good—And so you will not…
21. Overcome evil with good—And so you will not only become a true Christian avenger, but a true Christian conqueror. It is wonderful how often love is wiser than wisdom or cunning; disarming its foes and winning its way by animating every body with the spirit to give it its way. We doubt not that Paul, with all the severity which his love sometimes wore, especially in the present epistle, often triumphed by the blessed sorcery of love.
Paul has now in this chapter organized the unity of his Roman Church, with faith in Christ for its basis, and love for its central and vital principle. How shall it deal with the powers of the world? The next chapter will show.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. Be not overcome, &c.] The verbs are in…
21. Be not overcome, &c.] The verbs are in the singular; individualizing the appeal. The verse runs, lit., Be not thou overcome by the evil, but overcome the evil in the good.—“The evil,” “the good;”—that of the evil-doer and the sufferer respectively. Q. d., “Do not let his evil principles and acts conquer the better mind that is in thee by grace, but use ‘the good’ given to thee—the good of Divine peace and love shed abroad in thy heart—to subdue the evil in him.”—“In the good:” = under its influence.
Out of countless examples in Christian history we quote a recent one, from the Native Church in China. In 1878 a small and new Christian community was severely persecuted, and some of the converts, grownup men, were cruelly ill-used by a petty official, without the least resistance on their part. Some time after, this official was summoned before a superior officer, and sentenced to severe punishment. But one of his former victims, who meanwhile had not been his accusers, interposed and procured his pardon; and their enemy was turned forthwith into a grateful and cordial friend. (A. E. Moule’s Story of the Chehkiang Mission, ed. 2, p. 120.)
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) Be not overcome of evil, but . .…
(21) Be not overcome of evil, but . . .—A fine sentiment. The infliction of vengeance is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. To repress the desire for revenge is to gain a victory over self, which is not only nobler in itself, but will also be much more effectual. It will disarm the enemy, and turn him into a friend.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 21. Be not overcome by evil. Don't let the…
21. Be not overcome by evil. Don't let the fact that you are treated wickedly induce you to do wrong, but overcome evil by returning good for evil. This sums up the whole matter respecting the treatment of adversaries. Happy would it be if the Christian world could come up to these requirements! The logic of kind deeds is more powerful than the logic of argument.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 21. “Be not overcome of evil, but conquer evil…
21. “Be not overcome of evil, but conquer evil with good.” Your enemy has nothing but an old wooden sword that would break if he were to hit you with it; while you have a Jerusalem blade of shining steel, sharp as lightning and potent as dynamite. So you have nothing to do but use your own weapon, God’s blessed word, truth, grace, love and philanthropy, and you knock your enemy into smithereens, and transform him into a friend ready to die for you. I have seen this wonderfully verified a thousand times.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with…
Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good . [Evil is the weak weapon of the sinner; goodness, the puissant, all-conquering blade of the saint. What shame, then, if the saint lose in the unequal conflict! "Thus David overcame Saul" (Trapp). "In revenge," says Basil, "he is the loser who is the victor." When evil leads us to do evil, then are we overcome of evil. When we meet evil with good, we have at least overcome the evil in ourselves, if not in our enemy.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.