This verse forms a unit along with the two previous verses; it gives the reason why the believers cannot live for themselves but must live for the Lord. He who is Lord both of the living and of the dead must be acknowledged as the Lord of the different groups within the church at Rome. It may not be easy to render a phrases such as the Lord of the living and of the dead. In fact, in some languages this must be rather radically recast—for example, “the one whom both the living and the dead acknowledge as Lord” or “the one whom those who are alive and those who have died say is Lord.”

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 .