In Greek verse 17 introduces a series of “if” clauses, which are suddenly broken off in verse 20 without the conclusion being given. However, these “if” clauses are equivalent in force to an affirmative statement, and the Good News Translation restructures them in this way for the sake of the English reader. The New English Bible employs the same translational technique, and both the Good News Translation (what about you?) and the New English Bible (“but as for you—”) bring out the intended emphasis in the Greek clause structure. The series Jew … Law … God is very significant: these terms describe at the same time both the national and religious heritage of the Jews, all of which was made possible by the divine choice.

The introductory rhetorical question What about you? cannot be reproduced as such in a number of languages, since it may imply that Paul had a number of uncertainties concerning the Jews. A more appropriate equivalent is sometimes “and now as for you who are Jews” or “with respect to the Jews.”

You call yourself a Jew may be rendered as “you recognize yourself as a Jew” or “you say, I am a Jew.” The clause you depend on the Law may be idiomatically rendered in some languages as “you hang to the Law” or “you lean on the Law.” A more general way of expressing such a relation is “you trust the Law.” or “you have confidence in the Law.” In many instances, however, one must speak not directly of the Law but of possessing the Law—for example, “you have confidence because you have the Law” or “you are self-assured because the Law was given to you.”

The expression boast about God can be misinterpreted, since it was not specifically boasting about God himself which characterized the Jews, but rather boasting about their particular relationship to God (see Revised Standard Version “boast of your relation to God”). In some languages this may be equivalent to “boasting that God belongs to you,” “boasting that you are God’s special people,” or “boasting that God favors you.”

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 .