| 1. Linguistic Exegesis The verse begins with the third person imperative hypotassestho {ὑποτασσέσθω | hy-po-tas-SES-thō} ‘let be subject’, presenting a command aimed at each individual indicated by the nominative phrase pasa psyche {Πᾶσα ψυχὴ | pâ-sa psu-khḗ} ‘every person’, which though grammatically feminine singular functions generically. The dative exousiais hyperechousais {ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις | ex-ou-sí-ais hy-pe-re-khóu-sais} forms the object of submission, with the participle hyperechousais specifying these as ‘governing’ or ‘higher’ authorities by rank. The conjunction gar {γὰρ | gar} introduces a causal clause indicating rationale: ou gar estin exousia ei me hypo theou {οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ὑπὸ θεοῦ | ou gar é-stin ex-ou-sí-a ei mē hy-po the-ou}, where ou gar gives ‘for there is not’, and the exceptive ei me construction yields ‘unless from God’, marking God as the source of legitimation. Finally, the appositional clause hai de ousai hypo theou tetagmenai eisin {αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεταγμέναι εἰσίν | hai de oû-sai hy-po the-ou te-tag-mé-nai ei-sín} defines those ‘authorities that exist’ as those ‘appointed by God’, with the perfect passive participle tetagmenai emphasizing a completed divine act whose result continues in the present. |