Be in debt to no one is a very emphatic expression in the Greek text, and its most immediate meaning may be understood to be “Do not be under financial obligations to anyone.” It may also be understood in a somewhat broader sense: “Do not be under obligation to anyone.” The fact that the second clause refers to a debt of love may suggest that the first clause should also be understood in this broader sense. On the other hand, one may reason that the first clause is to be understood strictly in the sense of financial obligation, while the second clause introduces the broader implications of indebtedness. It may be difficult to combine the concept of financial obligation and the concept of general obligation to love one another. Therefore the second clause may be translated in some instances as “there is only one thing which you must do, and that is to love one another.”

One serious exegetical problem in this verse relates to the interpretation of the word translated Law. The Good News Translation (so also An American Translation* and Phillips) takes this as an explicit reference to the Jewish Law, while others understand this as a reference to law in general (see note in Jerusalem Bible). In view of the fact that Paul quotes specific commands from the Old Testament in the following verses, it seems better to take it as a reference to the Mosaic Law.

Obeyed (many translations have “fulfilled”) is a difficult word to render; the New English Bible translates as “has satisfied every claim of the Law,” An American Translation* “has fully satisfied the Law,” and the Jerusalem Bible “you have carried out your obligations.” If the reference is taken to the Mosaic Law, then the idea of obedience seems nearer to the meaning of this term (see Phillips “has obeyed the whole Law”).

Fellow-man is literally “the other,” a term which is rendered “neighbor” by many translators. The meaning of the word is not “neighbor” in the sense of one who lives nearby, but must be taken in the broadest possible sense, as including all people.

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 .