resist paying them (13:2, 4). General statements about authorities, or (literally) “powers” (13:1–4), and about submission/subjection to them (13:1, 5), should be understood primarily as providing a Jewish, and Jewish-Christian, theological foundation for the concrete instruction. As divine servants, the powers are regarded in the Jewish tradition as accountable and answerable to God for their behavior, a point Paul undoubtedly assumes even if he does not mention it explicitly (see Prov 8:15–16).