SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 11:6

11:6a

if it is by grace: Here the word if introduces a situation that is true. If this first part is true, that supports the second part (“it is no longer by works”) to also be true.

In some languages, using an if -clause would have a different meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:

should it be by grace, ⌊and it is,
-or-
the basis ⌊of God choosing⌋ is grace, so

See how you translated this kind of if in 3:5 or 9:22.

it is by grace: The Greek is literally “by-grace.” The Berean Standard Bible and many English versions add the words it is for a natural English translation.

11:6b

it is no longer by works: The words no longer indicate that someone might have considered that God’s choosing was based on what that person did, but God has made it clear that it is not. These words do not imply that at one time God did choose people based on what they did. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

it is therefore not on the basis of works

by works: Here this phrase indicates that a person’s deeds are what is looked at when deciding something. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

based on works/deeds

works: Here this word refers generally to deeds. It does not refer to things done in a job or for business.

11:6c

Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace:
The word Otherwise introduces what might be true if God did choose people based on what they did. In this case, grace would accomplish nothing. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
God’s gift of grace would not really be a gift (New Century Version)
-or-

if the good they had done were the cause, it would not be possible for us to say it was grace
-or-

If they had been chosen through what they themselves have done, his grace would be meaningless

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.

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