Translation commentary on Romans 6:16

The question with which Paul introduces this verse (see Revised Standard Version “do you not know?”) is emphatic and expects a positive answer; for this reason the Good News Translation has rendered the question by a statement: Surely you know that (see also New English Bible “You know well enough that” and New American Bible “You must realize that”).

The total content of this verse is a bit difficult because Paul tries to include so much in it. The meaning, however, is clear and comes out essentially the same in all translations. The first half of the verse is a reflection on a custom prevalent in Paul’s day, according to which a man would sell himself into slavery in order to survive; the second half of the verse (separated in the Good News Translation from the first part by a dash) takes up the idea of slavery and applies it both to the concepts of sin and obedience. Obedience in this verse must be understood in terms of obedience to God.

One should note that Paul uses the word death in at least three senses in his writings: (1) the biological fact of death as the judgment of God upon all human life (Romans 5.12-14); (2) the “spiritual death” of all men in their pre-Christian state (see Ephesians 2.1; Colossians 2.13); (3) eternal death as the final judgment of God on the life of sin (6.16).

Surrender yourselves as slaves may be translated as “give yourselves to people to become slaves of them,” “make yourselves slaves of others,” or “cause yourself to be a slave to someone.” Since, however, such a surrendering of one’s self as a slave is, in this context, more a condition than a temporal event, it may be more effectively expressed in some languages by an “if” clause—for example, “if you surrender yourself to a person to be his slave, and as such obey him, you are, in fact, a slave of the master whom you obey.” The second part of verse 16 may then be rendered as “you either obey sin and this causes your death, or you obey God and this causes you to be put right with him” or “… you obey God and as a result he puts you right with himself.”

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 .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Romans 6:16

6:16a–e

Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?: This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that the believers in Rome should already know this, or reminds them that all of them would likely agree with this.

In some languages the form of question here would not have either of those meanings. If that is true in your language, you may want to translate it as a statement. For example:

Surely/Certainly you know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness!

Or it may be more natural or clear to put the question about knowing at the end. For example:

When you offers yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness! Do you not know that? ⌊Certainly you do!⌋
-or-
When you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness! ⌊Surely/Certainly you know that!⌋

6:16b–c

when you offer yourselves: The word offer here refers to giving something to someone for him to control. See how you translated this word in 6:13, where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “present.”

slaves: This word refers to people who are owned by someone. Their choices in life were completely controlled by their master. They followed their master’s will/desires rather than their own.

In some cultures, slaves may not be known. In other cultures, the word for slave may imply different customs than what is described above. If that is true in your language, here are some ways to translate this:

person who belonged to someone else
-or-
owned person
-or-
person who serves someone
-or-
worker/servant

See how you translated this Greek word in 1:1 (“servant”) or the verbal phrase “be slaves” at 6:6.

6:16d

whether: This word introduces two possible outcomes. Here one outcome is being a slave of sin. The other outcome is being a slave of obedience. Here is another possible word:

either (English Standard Version)

you are slaves to sin: The words you are slaves are not in the Greek text, but they are implied here from 6:16c.

Here the word slaves is a figure of speech. It refers to believers allowing sin to rule their lives, like a master rules the lives of his slaves. Some languages must indicate that this is a figure of speech. For example:

you are ⌊like⌋ slaves to sin
-or-
you allow ⌊the power of⌋ sin to rule you

leading to death: The Greek words are literally “into death.” It indicates that the end result of sin is death. Here are other ways to translate these words:

resulting in death (NET Bible)
-or-
and therefore die

death: Here the word death is in contrast with “life.” It refers to a person’s ultimate destruction.

6:16e

to obedience: The words “you are slaves” is implied here. For example:

⌊you are⌋ ⌊slaves⌋ to obedience

Here the word “slaves” is a figure of speech. Some languages must indicate that this is a figure of speech. For example:

⌊you are⌋ ⌊like⌋ ⌊slaves⌋ to obedience
-or-

⌊you allow⌋ ⌊the ways of⌋ obedience ⌊to rule you⌋

obedience: It is implied here that these people obey God. Some languages need to say what is obeyed. For example:

obedience ⌊to God⌋

In some languages a verb must be used. For example:

obeying God
-or-
you obey God

leading to righteousness: The Greek words are literally “into righteousness.” Obeying results in righteousness. Here are other ways to translate these words:

resulting in righteousness (NET Bible)
-or-
and therefore become ⌊more and more⌋ righteous

righteousness: Some commentators think this word means “living an upright life” here, and some commentators think it means “being made fully righteous at the final judgment.” Many others think it means both things. Translate in a way that allows for one or both interpretations. For example:

the deeds that are right/straight to do
-or-
the life doing upright deeds

Many English versions translate simply righteousness, which does not interpret the meaning.

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Commentaire sur la traduction de la lettre aux Romains 6.16

Paul reprend l’expression Ne savez-vous pas… ( Rom 6.3) pour souligner ses idées. Il revient à un langage figuré en parlant d’esclave du péché et l’opposé, l’obéissance à Dieu.

ne savez-vous pas est une question rhétorique qui met en évidence un fait et suppose une réponse affirmative. La Bible en français courant la reformule comme une affirmation, « Vous le savez bien ».

qu’en vous mettant au service de quelqu’un comme esclaves pour lui obéir, vous êtes esclaves de celui à qui vous obéissez : litt. « en vous présentant comme esclave en vue d’obéir, vous êtes esclaves de celui à qui vous obéissez ». vous est au pluriel, impliquant qu’il parle à plusieurs personnes.

mettant au service de quelqu’un comme esclave : le verbe « se mettre à la disposition de » a un sens très large et apparaît dans plusieurs contextes. En Matt 26.53 il a le sens d’« offrir » ou « pourvoir ». Ici, c’est l’image d’une personne qui s’offre à une autre comme esclave. En fait, dans les temps bibliques, il y avait une coutume, où une personne démunie pouvait « se vendre » à quelqu’un comme esclave, en vue de survivre (voir Lév 25.39,47). On pourrait dire « en vous livrant à des gens pour devenir leurs esclaves et leur obéir » ou « en vous faisant esclaves d’autres personnes pour leur obéir ». Dans certaines langues, on pourra commencer cette proposition par un « si » conditionnel, comme en Bible en français courant : « si vous vous mettez au service de quelqu’un pour lui obéir, vous devenez les esclaves du maître auquel vous obéissez ».

esclave : Voir Rom 1.1. Presque toutes les langues auront un mot pour esclave, mais dans certaines cultures, le mot a une connotation très négative. Il s’agit d’une image, et les traducteurs devront décider comment rendre cette image qui est très forte.

soit du péché qui conduit à la mort, soit de l’obéissance qui conduit à la justice : Paul définit deux sortes de personnes qu’il qualifie d’esclave : la personne qui est esclave du péché et celle qui est esclave de l’obéissance. Dans le premier cas, l’esclavage mène à la mort, dans la deuxième à la justice.

du péché qui conduit à la mort est litt. « péché en vue de la mort ». Plusieurs versions françaises insèrent le verbe conduire (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). Dans certaines langues, on dira plutôt « mène à la mort ». Paul emploie le mot mort de trois manières différentes dans ses écrits :
1. la mort physique résultant du jugement de Dieu sur tous les êtres humains (Rom 5.12-14) ;
2. la mort « spirituelle » de tous les humains dans leur situation préchrétienne (Éph 2.1 ; Col 2.13) et
3. la mort éternelle due au jugement final de Dieu sur une vie de péché.

Ici il s’agit du troisième sens.

l’obéissance qui conduit à la justice : l’expression sous-entend « l’obéissance à Dieu » (Bible en français courant). On s’attend à ce que la mort s’oppose à la vie, mais on trouve plutôt le mot justice, qui doit être compris dans ce contexte comme une allusion à « une vie juste ». La Bible en français courant propose : « l’obéissance à Dieu… conduit à une vie juste ». Une autre possibilité serait « soit vous obéissez au péché et cela cause votre mort, soit vous obéissez à Dieu et cela vous fait mener une vie juste » ou « …cela vous met dans une juste relation avec lui ». Ainsi la mort est en contraste avec la communion avec Dieu. La Parole de Vie propose « Dieu vous rend justes parce que vous lui obéissez ». Considérer que la justification des humains par Dieu est une conséquence de leur obéissance entrerait en contradiction avec la conception paulinienne du salut gratuit accordé par Dieu. Ainsi Godet interprète le terme au « sens de justice morale… qui convient le mieux ici, puisqu’il s’agit d’indiquer les conséquences saintes qui résulteront de l’obéissance de la foi » (II, p. 53).

Source: Margot, Jean-Claude & Zogbo, Lynell. La lettre aux Romains – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2021.