As in so many contexts, my brothers may perhaps be best rendered as “my fellow believers,” “you who also believe,” or “you who are also followers of Christ.”

As the Good News Translation indicates, I myself is emphatic in the Greek sentence, as is also the pronoun you (New English Bible “you yourselves”).

All knowledge is the same phrase that occurs in 1 Corinthians 13.2. It may be that the terms goodness and knowledge should be taken in specific relation to the problem that Paul has been discussing. Goodness is then the love which Paul has emphasized in the previous discussion as the only rule of Christian conduct, and knowledge is the understanding of the Christian faith that lies behind this rule of conduct. In a number of languages one cannot speak of being full of such qualities as goodness or knowledge. One may “be very good” or “know completely what should be done,” but to be “filled with” these qualities is simply not possible. Therefore one may translate the first clause of verse 14 as “I myself am certain that you yourselves are very good.” It may be that a verb such as “to know” or “to have knowledge” must have a goal. In this context the knowledge would be concerning what one should do, and therefore one may say: “you know completely what you should do.”

To teach (An American Translation* “to instruct”) is rendered “to give advice to” in a number of translations (New English Bible, New American Bible, Moffatt; see Jerusalem Bible). Paul is not referring to teaching in a formal situation, but in a general sense. He uses this word in a similar way in 1 Corinthians 4.14 (to instruct); Colossians 1.28 (warn); 3.16 (instruct); 1 Thessalonians 5.12 (instruct), 14 (encourage); and 2 Thessalonians 3.15 (warn).

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 .