The expression whoever … does it in honor of the Lord may require some verb of intention—for example, “whoever … does this because he wants to honor the Lord,” “whoever … does this in order to show honor to the Lord,” or, idiomatically in some languages, “whoever … does this because he desires to lift up the Lord’s greatness to all.”

Although it is difficult to determine the precise background against which Paul is speaking, as far as translation is concerned this verse is not difficult. The Good News Translation supplies anything as the object of the verb eat; the New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible supply “meat.” And the Good News Translation also makes explicit the basis for his thanks to God, namely, for the food.

The two occurrences of the expression he gives thanks to God are introduced in Greek by two different conjunctions. In the first instance, the conjunction gar, which is often translated as “for,” and the second case the conjunction kai, normally translated “and.” However, gar frequently does not introduce cause but simply suggests another element which needs to be considered. It may, therefore, be more appropriate in most languages to introduce both expressions of giving thanks by the conjunction “and.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .