Paragraph 8:35–39
8:35a
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that no one or no situation will be able to separate believers from the love that Christ has for them. Translate this clause with that meaning. Here are some ways:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
What will separate us from the love of Christ? (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
-or-
Who…can separate us from the love of Christ? (Good News Translation)
• As a statement. For example:
No one/thing will/can separate us from the love of Christ.
Who: In Greek, the word translated Who can refer to either people or things. Paul listed seven things below, some of which are caused by people. In some languages “what” would be the general question word to use here, as in the New American Bible, Revised Edition above.
shall: In Greek this is the normal future. This word means “will” here.
separate us from the love of Christ: Here the word separate is used figuratively. It indicates that something prevents Christ from loving us or makes that love ineffective. Some languages cannot use the word separate when referring to love. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
separate us from Christ ⌊and⌋ his love
-or-
make Christ stop loving us
-or-
block Christ’s love to us
us: In the Greek, this word is emphasized by being before the verb. Some languages can do that kind of emphasis.
the love of Christ: This refers to Christ loving us. Here it does not refer to us loving him.
8:35b–c
Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?: In the Greek, there is no verb in this question, but Shall is implied from 8:35a. For a natural English question this implied word must be explicit here.
This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword will not separate us from the love of Christ. Translate this clause with that meaning. Here are some ways:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? (New American Bible, Revised Edition)
-or-
Can trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword ⌊separate us from his love⌋ ?
• As a statement. For example:
Trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword will/can ⌊not separate us⌋ ⌊from the love of Christ⌋.
8:35b
trouble: The Greek word here refers to any kind of trouble or suffering. In some languages the plural would be more natural. Here are other ways to translate this word:
tribulation (English Standard Version)
-or-
hardships (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
difficulty
distress: This refers to bad situations or circumstances which cause stress to the people in them. Here are other ways to translate this word:
stressful/difficult times/things
-or-
terrible situations/circumstances
See how you translated this word in 2:9.
persecution: Here this word refers to people causing trouble or suffering for a believer because he or she follows Jesus. Here are other ways to translate this word:
people harming us ⌊because we believe⌋ ⌊in Jesus⌋
-or-
pains because of our(inc) faith
-or-
they cause us who believe to suffer
8:35c
famine: This word refers to an extreme shortage of food. During a famine, people die from a lack of food. Here are other ways to translate this word:
starvation
-or-
hunger (New Century Version)
nakedness: The Greek word can refer to wearing no clothes at all, but here probably refers to not having enough clothes to wear, or having only ragged clothes to wear. For example:
lack of…clothing (New Jerusalem Bible)
danger: This word refers to circumstances that may cause harm or death. Here are other ways to translate this word:
peril (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
if we are harmed or killed
-or-
life threatening situations
sword: Here this is a figure of speech. It refers to violent death, for example, by murder, war or execution. In some languages this figure of speech will not be clear. If that is true in your language, translate the meaning clearly. For example:
violent death (God’s Word)
-or-
⌊killing by⌋ sword
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