Once again Paul takes up the form of a philosophical argument in which he imagines the objections that his opponents can raise against him (see 2.1).

To make room for me translates the same expression rendered been joined to in verse 17. The word actually means “to graft,” that is, to cut a branch from one tree and to join it to another so that it becomes a part of that tree. In order to retain the figure of speech of the original text, one may translate as “in order to be joined to the tree as a part of it.”

The immediately preceding section is in the second person singular in the Greek text. However, in order to make it broadly applicable to all the Gentiles to whom Paul is addressing this letter to the Romans, it is often necessary to employ the second person plural. Similarly, in introducing verse 19 one would tend to use the second person plural. However, this will not fit with the use of the first person singular me in the direct discourse. Therefore, one must either change you to “one of you” or change me to “us.”

Because of the hypothetical nature of the direct discourse (that is to say, it is not something which has already taken place or is sure to take place), in some languages one must employ a conditional or potential form of the verb rather than merely a future—for example, “some of you may argue,” “one of you might say,” or “you could respond by saying.”

To make room for may be rendered in some languages as “so that I (or we) might have a place,” “so that we might take their places,” or “so that we might be where they were formerly.”

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 .