---
title: Romans 12:17
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/romans-12-17/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/romans-12-17.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Romans 12:17
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Romans 12:17

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Return evil for evil to no one. Take into consideration what is fine from the viewpoint of all men"

## JW Usage

Watchtower commentary takes Romans 12:17 as describing Christian non-retaliation and good public reputation. The verse fits within the broader doctrine of cosmic neutrality — Witnesses do not return evil for evil and do not engage in the conflicts of "Satan's system." The verse is sometimes cited alongside the JW peace record to argue for the organisation's superior witness compared to other religious groups.

## Protestant Usage

"Return evil for evil to no one" is the Christian standard shared by every tradition that takes the Sermon on the Mount seriously. But the JW reading of "non-retaliation" expands into civic withdrawal: no jury service, no petitions, no flag salutes, no military service even in defensive contexts. The historic peace churches — Mennonites, Quakers, Brethren — share the non-retaliation ethic of v17 without the civic withdrawal that the JW doctrine adds. Mennonite Central Committee runs refugee resettlement in war zones; Quakers led the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Romans 12:17's non-retaliation is compatible with active engagement on behalf of the vulnerable. The Watchtower has narrowed Paul's command into cosmic neutrality the verse itself does not require.

## NWT Issue

The NWT renders kala as "what is fine" — consensus reads "what is honourable" (ESV/NASB) or "what is right in the eyes of all" (NIV/KJV). "Fine" in modern English is aesthetic rather than moral; kalos in Pauline usage carries the weight of public moral honour. The NWT's preference flattens the moral-honour category into stylistic appearance — a recurring pattern with kalos throughout the NWT.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Historic Peace Churches — Voluntary Pacifism Without Shunning](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/historic-peace-churches-voluntary.md) — Blessed are the peacemakers — the ones who choose, not the ones who are compelled (Matt 5:9) [Practice]