The Phrase Today
"The powers that be" is the standard English phrase for established authority, governmental or institutional. It is used descriptively and neutrally - referring to those in control of a situation without judgment - and also ironically, suggesting bureaucratic obstruction or the opacity of decision-making. The phrase appears in journalism, organizational behavior writing, political commentary, and everyday speech whenever the reference is to unnamed or distant authorities whose decisions shape events.
Biblical Origin
The phrase derives from Romans 13:1 (KJV): "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." Paul wrote this instruction to the Roman Christian community, urging submission to civil authorities. The context was a small, potentially vulnerable community navigating life under Roman imperial rule. Paul's argument was that governmental authority, even when pagan, derived ultimately from God's ordering of human society and should therefore be respected rather than resisted. The phrase "the powers that be" (Greek hai ousai exousiai, literally "the existing authorities") is a participial construction meaning "those who currently hold power."
How the KJV Cemented It
The KJV's choice to render the Greek participial phrase as "the powers that be" - an elegant, compressed English construction - gave the phrase its idiomatic force. Alternative translations ("governing authorities," "existing authorities") are more literal but far less memorable. The KJV phrase captured both the passivity of the construction ("be" suggesting fixed existence rather than active exercise) and its slightly ominous vagueness - "the powers" is deliberately non-specific, allowing it to refer to any authority structure. William Tyndale had used similar phrasing, but the KJV's version became the standard.
Semantic Drift
Paul's original instruction was specifically about civil government and specifically recommended submission to it as part of Christian civic witness. The phrase has lost both elements of specificity. It now applies to any authority structure - a corporation's management, a hospital administration, a school board - and carries no implicit recommendation of submission. If anything, modern usage often implies the opposite: "the powers that be won't approve this" suggests obstacle and frustration rather than divine sanction. The phrase moved from theological endorsement of civil authority to neutral or ironic description of institutional control.
Historical Usage
The phrase became a touchstone in Reformation-era debates about the relationship between church and state. Luther's doctrine of two kingdoms drew on Romans 13; Tyndale's submission to civil authority was complicated by his execution under that same authority. In the English Civil War, Romans 13 was invoked by Royalists to defend the divine right of kings and by Parliamentarians to argue that Parliament was itself "the powers that be." The phrase entered political philosophy as a test case for theories of legitimate authority. In the twentieth century, Bertrand Russell titled his 1938 book Power with the Pauline problematic in the background.
Cross-Linguistic Equivalents
Greek hai exousiai (the authorities) is the root, expanded to hai ousai exousiai in the manuscript tradition. Latin potestates quae sunt (the powers that exist) is the Vulgate rendering. German die Obrigkeit (the authorities/establishment) is the standard equivalent in political and theological discourse. French les pouvoirs en place, Spanish los poderes establecidos, Italian i poteri costituiti - all express the same institutional authority concept. The English phrase, however, is unusually portable and neutral in tone, which accounts for its global adoption.
In Literature and Culture
The phrase has been used as a title for numerous works exploring institutional authority. It names a 1977 episode of Lou Grant, a 1992 novel by David Halberstam about media and power, and a 2012 UK television drama. In science fiction, "the powers that be" regularly describes the mysterious elite controllers of dystopian societies - 1984, Brave New World, and The Handmaid's Tale all invoke the concept without always using the phrase. Bertolt Brecht's plays and Shakespeare's history plays both dramatize the tension between individuals and "the powers that be" that Paul's phrase crystallized.
Related Phrases
Render unto Caesar (Matthew 22:21) is the companion instruction to Paul's, drawing the line between political and divine authority at a different point. The house divided (Matthew 12:25, Lincoln's 1858 speech) explores what happens when the powers that be fracture internally. Put not your trust in princes (Psalm 146:3) offers the counterpoint to Paul's submission teaching - a reminder that human authority is fallible.
Common Misconceptions
The most common misconception is that Paul's Romans 13 instruction was unconditional and applied to all governments in all circumstances. Theologians have debated this extensively: Paul wrote before the Neronian persecutions, and subsequent Christian tradition almost universally recognized limits to the obligation of civil submission. A second misconception is that the phrase carries Paul's endorsement of authority when modern speakers use it; in most contemporary contexts it is descriptive or ironic, not prescriptive. Third, some believe the phrase is Shakespearean in origin; it predates Shakespeare and derives directly from the KJV rendering of Tyndale's translation of Paul.