Just as it was possible to translate verse 33 as two questions, it is also possible to translate verse 34 as two questions, rather than as a question followed by an affirmation—for example, “Will Christ Jesus condemn them? Will Christ Jesus, who died, or rather, who was raised to life and is at the right hand of God, and who pleads with God for us, be the one to condemn them?” However, once again this introduces an unnecessary complication into Paul’s thought; and it is not likely that he would be using irony in a passage such as this.

If one retains the initial rhetorical question, Can anyone, then, condemn them? it may be necessary to introduce the answer, “No, no one.” If this is not done, it might be wrongly assumed that Christ Jesus, who is mentioned at the beginning of the next part of the verse, is the one who is going to condemn God’s chosen people. As in the previous verse, condemn may be rendered as “declare them guilty.” As a statement, the initial question may be rendered as “no one, indeed, can condemn them” or “therefore no one can condemn them.” The introduction of “therefore” is legitimate, since this is the result of the fact that God himself has declared them not guilty.

Most translators take the verb was raised to life with a passive force, with God as the assumed agent (for example, “God raised him to life”); but a few take this verb to have a middle force, which indicates that Christ himself was the agent of the action, and so translate “rose from the dead” (Moffatt, Jerusalem Bible, King James Version). When Paul says that Christ is at the right side of God, he means that Christ has the place of honor and authority.

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 .