powers that be

See also: powers-that-be

English

Alternative forms

powers-that-be

Etymology

After Romans 13:1 in the Tyndale Bible^[1] and the King James Version.^[2]

The phrase is a translation of the Ancient Greek αἱ οὖσαι ἐξουσίαι (hai oûsai exousíai, “the existing authorities”). “Be” is the archaic third-person plural present indicative form, equivalent to the modern “are”, not a subjunctive.

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Noun

the powers that be pl (plural only)

(idiomatic) The holders of power or the authorities in a given situation, especially if seen as being faceless or unreasonably bureaucratic.
- 1857, Anthony Trollope, “Hiram’s Hospital According to Act of Parliament”, in Barchester Towers. […], volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, →OCLC, page 20:
  [I]t appeared as though the hospital at Barchester would fall into abeyance, unless the powers that be should take some steps towards putting it once more into working order.
- 1929, Alexander Berkman, chapter 10, in Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism, New York: Vanguard Press, →OCLC:
  Whoever you elect, he will legislate in favor of ‘law and order,’ to protect things as they are. The main concern of the powers that be is that the people should continue to believe in and uphold the existing system.
- 1975, “Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2)”, in The Heat Is On, performed by The Isley Brothers:
  Time is truly wastin', there's no guarantee / Smile is in the makin', we've got to fight the powers that be
- 2021, “Skyline”, in Parallel World, performed by Cadence Weapon:
  The powers that be, they trick us / Loopholes to evict us

Derived terms

TPTB, PTB

Translations

holders of power

Chinese:
Mandarin: 當權者 / 当权者 (dāngquán zhě)
Cornish: an awtoritas pl
Dutch: gevestigde orde, hoge heren pl, hogerhand (nl)
Finnish: esivalta (fi)
French: autorités constituées f
German: die zuständigen Stellen, die da oben
Greek: αρμόδιοι (el) m pl (armódioi)
Italian: poteri forti m pl
Polish: grupa trzymająca władzę f
Russian: власть имущие (ru) (vlastʹ imuščije), сильные мира сего (ru) (silʹnyje mira sevo), власти предержащие (ru) (vlasti prederžaščije)
Swedish: makthavare (sv) c, överhet (sv) c

References

^ [William Tyndale, transl.] (1526) The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany]: [Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Romans xiij:[1], folio ccxiij, verso: “Let every ſoule ſubmitt hym ſylfe vnto the auctoritie off the hyer powers. There is no power but of God. The powers that be / are ordeyned off God.”
^ The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Romans 13:1, column 2: “Let euery ſoule bee ſubiect vnto the higher powers: For there is no power but of God. The powers that be,are ordeined of God.”