Even though Paul uses a simple future in this verse (“will separate”), his meaning is best conveyed in translation by who, then, can separate us?
Although some manuscripts read “the love of God,” most translators follow the manuscripts which read the love of Christ, and this is recommended by the UBS Greek text. It is clear that the genitive expression the love of Christ means “Christ’s love for us.”
The initial question, Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ?, may be made a statement, namely, “No one can separate us from Christ’s love for us,” “No one can remove us from Christ’s love for us,” or “No one can keep Christ’s love from reaching us.” In some instances rather figurative expressions are employed for the idea of being separated from Christ’s love—for example, “Who can take us out of the hand of Christ who loves us?” or “Who can tear us away from Christ’s heart toward us?” There is, however, a difficulty involved in introducing this question by “who,” since what follows are events, not persons. Therefore it may be necessary to translate: “What can separate us from Christ’s love?”
The first word in the list that Paul uses is a very general term and is best translated by the English word trouble (so An American Translation*); “affliction” of many translations implies something totally different to the English reader. The second of these terms is almost synonymous in meaning with the first, and perhaps is best rendered by such words as hardship (so also New English Bible) or “difficulties.” In 2.9 these two terms are rendered in the Good News Translation as suffering and pain. A number of translations take Paul’s word “famine” in a more general sense of hunger (New English Bible, An American Translation*, New American Bible; Jerusalem Bible “lacking food”; Phillips “lack of … food”). Also the word “nakedness” is often given a more general sense (Good News Translation poverty; Phillips “lack of clothes”; Jerusalem Bible “lacking … clothes”; An American Translation* “destitution”). The last word that Paul uses is literally “sword,” but in the present context it has the meaning of death, specifically a violent death. Persecution and danger, the third and sixth words in the list, are not difficult, though it should be pointed out that persecution does not necessarily imply official action and is perhaps best taken in a more general frame of reference. Danger is, of course, also a general term describing any sort of threat to one’s life.
The principal difficulty in rendering the second portion of verse 35 is that terms for trouble, hardship, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, death are often verbs or phrases which involve verb expressions. These are obviously not things but events. The possibility expressed by a question with the auxiliary can implies a condition, and therefore one may translate the second sentence of verse 35 thus: “If we are in trouble, if we suffer hardships, if people persecute us, if we have nothing to eat, if we have nothing to wear, if people threaten us, or even if we are killed, does this mean that Christ’s love does not hold us?” The same sentence may, of course, be changed into a statement—for example, “Nothing can separate us from Christ’s love; not even if we are in trouble, or if we suffer, or if people persecute us,” etc.
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 .