Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary
Eating Vegetables and Fasting
"1 Now the one who is weak in the faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. 2 One person has confidence he may eat all, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for YHWH is able to make him stand. 5 One person chooses one day aside from another day, but another chooses all days. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind—6 the one who observes the day, observes it in honor of YHWH, and the one who eats, eats in honor of YHWH, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who does not eat, does not eat in honor of YHWH, and gives thanks to God." (DLT: torahtimes.org, Romans 14:1-6, corrected ESV).
Comment: vs. 1. τη πιστει = the faith. Paul is not talking about personal faithfulness or commitment here. He is talking about maturity in the knowledge of the faith. Some know the finer points of the Torah and Prophets, and others don't. New believers are more likely to take less liberties. φαγειν παντα = to eat all. It does not say "everything" or "all things" or "anything" (ESV). It just says "all". In the context, it means both meat and vegetables. New believers were often not experienced in judging whether meat was kosher or in koshering it themselves. If they had been in the habit of eating a lot of unkosher stuff, they might just avoid meat altogether. vs. 5 κρινει ημεραν παρ ημεραν = chooses day beside day. "1. to make a selection, select prefer " (BDAG, κρινω, 3rd ed. defintion 1, pg. 567). κρινει πασαν ημεραν = choses all days. It does not say all days "alike" (ESV). This is a translator reading into the text of anti-Torah theology that supposes all days of the week are equally holy. The context of vs. 6 makes it clear that the issue of days is in regards to fasting on certain days. The text has nothing to do whatsoever with the Sabbaths or biblical feast days. Yeshua upheld the Torah in every regard (Matthew 5:17-19; 23:1-3) and ordered the Apostles to teach it to the nations (Matthew 28:18-20). (DLC: torahtimes.org, Romans 14:1-6)
Daniel's Literal Translation and Commentary: (http://www.torahtimes.org/translation/rom1414.html)
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