I know that good does not live in me must be specified in some languages as “I know that the capacity to do good does not live in me,” “… the ability to do good…,” or, as in some languages, “I know that my heart is not able to cause me to do good.”

Human nature (literally “flesh”) is the same term that Paul uses in verse 5; see also the discussion of mortal man in verse 14. A literal translation of this phrase (so Moffatt and Revised Standard Version) means little or nothing; and to translate “in my physical self” (An American Translation*) seems to miss the impact of what Paul is saying. Although Paul does believe that sin may launch its attack against man through his body, he certainly did not think of one’s physical being as evil in itself. Rather he seems to be speaking of that aspect of one’s self which refuses submission to the Spirit of God (New English Bible “in my unspiritual nature”; Jerusalem Bible “in my unspiritual self”). Evidently Paul is contrasting his human nature with the desire to do good that is in him. As pointed out earlier, this is in keeping with the Jewish belief in two impulses that try to control man’s life, an evil impulse and a good impulse. The desperateness of Paul’s situation is demonstrated by the fact that, even though he desires to do good, he is not able to do it.

For some languages in my human nature is equivalent to “in my heart,” but in most instances a more appropriate expression is “in me as just a human being,” “in me as just a man,” or “in the man that I am.”

The clause for even though the desire to do good is in me may be rendered as “even though I want to do good.” This sentence of concession-result may be expressed in some languages as “For I want to do good, but I am not able to do so.”

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 .