The Powers That Be

[Joel S. Berson]

W. Brewer's analysis of the mood in Greek and Latin seems strong
evidence -- no ambiguity of English "be".

I too take it as declarative -- "the powers that exist".  Looking
into the entire chapter, it seems to caution those that are subject
to obey those that have power -- God, "rulers" (13:3), and "God's
ministers" (13.6).  [KJV]

13.1 in full is "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of
God."  I note the "there _is_".

And 13.7 seems to apply subjection to temporal matters: "Render
therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom
to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."

(I suspect that "rulers" was taken by some to include "kings by
divine right".  And one can imagine what "tribute" and "custom" and
"dues" were conjoined to mean.)

Joel

At 4/17/2013 09:50 AM, W Brewer wrote:
>Maybe checking out some earlier sources for Romans 13:1 could shed light on
>the mood in 'powers that be'. The NT Gk looks like it has a nominative
>plural feminine present active indicative participle (ai ousai 'the [sc.
>powers] being/existing'). (Could be wrong, the only NT Gk I ever had to
>deal with was the Kyrie Eleison.) Vulgate has third person plural present
>indicative active (quae sunt '[sc. powers] which are'). If KJV were
>influenced by these indicative moods, then the BE in POWERS THAT BE should
>be indicative as well.
>
>http://greeknewtestament.com/B45C013.htm
>
>Greek New Testament--  pasa psyche: exousiais uperechousais upotassestho: /
>ou gar estin exousia ei me: upo theou / AI de OUSAI upo theou tetagmenai
>eisin
>
>Latin Vulgate--  omnis anima potestatibus sublimioribus subdita sit / non
>est enim potestas nisi a Deo / QUAE autem SUNT a Deo ordinatae sunt
>King James--  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there
>is no power but of God: the powers THAT BE are ordained of God.
>
>
>On Wed, Apr 17, 2013 at 8:00 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dave Wilton <dave at WILTON.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: The Powers That Be
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The OED's first citation is from Tyndale's 1526 translation of Romans 13:1.
> > The KJV also uses it, and the appearance in these two bibles is enough to
> > explain the phrase's popularity and durability. Tyndale's full clause in
> > the
> > verse is "The powers that be are ordeyned off God." There is an older 1384
> > Wycliffite Bible that reads: "thingis that ben," rather than "powers." The
> > NSRV gives a more modern translation as "those authorities that exist have
> > been instituted by God."
> >
> > There's a lot of variability in the ME "to be" and in the subjunctive, so
> > it's a little hard to pin down the grammatical construction, but I'd say
> > it's subjunctive. The uncertainty is in the identity of the earthly
> > authorities: whatever authorities that be, they are ordained by God. (The
> > Wycliffite "ben" could be either indicative or subjunctive.)
> >
> > Older collocations may be found, but I'm pretty certain that its use as a
> > set phrase comes from the biblical translations.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
> > Of
> > Benjamin Torbert
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 11:09 PM
> > To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Subject: The Powers That Be
> >
> > Someone is asking me about this phrase, and I teach HOtEL, but I ain't no
> > bona fide historical linguist.
> >
> > Have we antedated the phrase to ME (which was one of the hypotheses on
> > facbook)?
> >
> > My feeling was that it's not really subjunctive, but rather durative.  It's
> > not that we're not sure whether these powers be.
> >
> > Also, archaic forms are more likely to be preserved in archaic, set
> > phrases.
> >
> > Please advise,
> > BT
> >
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