The structure of this verse is similar to that of verse 2; in both verses Paul contrasts the attitude of the man who is weak in faith with the attitude of the man who is strong in faith. In verse 3 Paul referred first to the man who is strong in faith; in verse 5 he refers first to the man who is weak in faith.

Since more than one individual is involved in thinking that one day is more important than another, it is often necessary, instead of one man thinks … to translate “Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while other people think that all days have the same value.”

It is impossible to state definitely what days Paul has in mind. He may be referring to the tendency of the Jewish Christians to continue to observe the Sabbath day, but it is also possible that he is referring to special days which other groups felt must be observed for religious purposes. For similar passages see Galatians 4.10 and Colossians 2.16.

Although the sense of the last sentence of verses 5, each one should have his own mind firmly made up, is quite evident, it is not always easy to translate such an expression into another language. In some instances this may be done as “each one should be convinced that what he thinks is right,” “each one should be sure as to why he thinks as he does,” or “each one should be able to say to himself, This is surely what it should be.”

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 .