The exclamation what an unhappy man I am! may be rendered as “I am exceedingly unhappy,” “I am not at all happy,” or “I am indeed miserable.”

Here Paul uses a phrase which is ambiguous (literally “this body of death”), which the Good News Translation takes to mean this body that is taking me to death. The New English Bible and Jerusalem Bible translate this phrase as “this body doomed to death” (see An American Translation* “this doomed body”), and the New English Bible gives an alternative rendering, “the body doomed to this death.” This body that is taking me to death may be translated as “this body which is causing me to die” or “this body which will result in my dying.” In some languages the expression “body of death” is rendered as “this old heart which is killing me.”

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 .