The translation in Yatzachi Zapotec had to make the inclusion of the writer in these verse explicit by changing the second person plural pronoun (“you”) to an inclusive first person plural pronoun (“we,” including the group that is addressed in the letter). Otherwise the warnings would have not applied to the author of the letter as well. (Source: Inez Butler in Notes on Translation 16, 1965, p. 4-5)
complete verse (Romans 6:21)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 6:21:
- Uma: “What blessing did you receive from that former life of yours? You are just ashamed of those former deeds of yours. Deeds like that bring death that separates you from God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “What was the use of your doing that sinning, and when you remember (it) now you are ashamed? There is none. For the result of those deeds is hell.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And there was no value that you go out of doing, long ago, those ugly things that now you are very much ashamed of. Because if a person continues doing things like that, death without end is what he will come to.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “But what perhaps did you gain from what you were doing previously that you are now ashamed of? Absolutely nothing, because the outcome of those-things that were done was that you would die and be separated from God to be punished.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Just what did we gain by the evil we did? Because it was completely shameful what we did, all the death went with it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
formal 2nd person plural pronoun (Japanese)
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Like a number of other East Asian languages, Japanese uses a complex system of honorifics, i.e. a system where a number of different levels of politeness are expressed in language via words, word forms or grammatical constructs. These can range from addressing someone or referring to someone with contempt (very informal) to expressing the highest level of reference (as used in addressing or referring to God) or any number of levels in-between.
One way Japanese shows different degree of politeness is through the choice of a formal plural suffix to the second person pronoun (“you” and its various forms) as shown here in the widely-used Japanese Shinkaiyaku (新改訳) Bible of 2017. In these verses, anata-gata (あなたがた) is used, combining the second person pronoun anata and the plural suffix -gata to create a formal plural pronoun (“you” [plural] in English).
(Source: S. E. Doi, see also S. E. Doi in Journal of Translation, 18/2022, p. 37ff. )
Translation commentary on Romans 6:20 – 6:21
In these two verses Paul once again reminds the Roman believers of the situation in which they lived before they came to Christ. The meaning of the word righteousness in this verse needs some attention. In verse 18 righteousness is evidently made parallel with the truths found in the teaching you received of verse 17. But what is the meaning of righteousness in verse 19 and 20? Righteousness in these last two instances is best taken in a way related to its use in verse 18. That is, the more general meaning of righteousness in these two verses is “doing what God requires,” and in verse 18 the specific requirements that God makes are identified with the truths found in the teaching you received (from God). And because Paul speaks in this context of impurity and wickedness as the results of slavery to sin, so it is likely that the major emphasis in righteousness in this passage is on the moral and ethical demands that God makes on his people.
It is not easy to translate satisfactorily the clause you were free from righteousness. The most satisfactory equivalent in some languages is simply “you were not under obligation to do what God required.”
What did you gain? is literally “what fruit did you receive?”, a common figure for Jewish speakers, and it is translated in a variety of ways: New American Bible “what benefit did you then enjoy?”; New English Bible “what was the gain?”; Jerusalem Bible “what did you get from this?”
The question in verse 21 may be changed into a statement, “You certainly did not receive any good from the things that you are ashamed of now” or “Those things which cause you to be ashamed now certainly did not benefit you at all.” The final clause, the result of those things is death, may be translated as “these things (or experiences) cause your death” or “doing such things causes people to die.”
In verse 21 there is a problem of punctuation. The question mark may come at the point where it is in the Good News Translation (so also Revised Standard Version, An American Translation*); or the question mark may be placed earlier in the sentence (New American Bible “what benefit did you then enjoy? Things you are now ashamed of, all of them tending toward death”; see also New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, and Moffatt).
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 6:21
6:21a–b
What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?: There are two ways to interpret where the question mark goes:
(1) It should occur after the word ashamed. For example:
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? (New International Version)
(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, King James Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition, NET Bible, GNT3)
(2) It should occur after the phrase at that time. For example:
and what did you gain from living like that? Experiences of which you are now ashamed (New Jerusalem Bible)
(New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, Revised English Bible, GNT4,5)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because interpretation (2) forces the plural Greek relative pronoun to connect to the singular fruit, but that is not good Greek grammar.
This is a rhetorical question. It emphasizes that those deeds that the believers were now ashamed of did not benefit them. Translate this clause with that meaning. Here are some ways:
• As a rhetorical question. For example:
what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? (New American Standard Bible)
• As a statement. For example:
you were getting no ⌊good⌋ fruit from the things ⌊you did⌋ then that you are now ashamed of
6:21a
The Greek of 6:21a begins with a word that is usually translated as “but.” Here, it probably does not indicate contrast. Rather, it was likely used to show that Paul continued to speak about the same kinds of things as he had before this verse. Some languages will not see contrast here to 6:20. For example:
What… (Berean Standard Bible, New International Version)
-or-
And what… (Revised English Bible)
What fruit: Here the word fruit is a metaphor that refers to the results of people’s deeds. Paul questioned what good result could have possibly come from the things they were now ashamed of. Some languages do not use the word fruit to refer to the results of deeds. For example:
what did you gain
-or-
good thing/way
did you reap: Like harvesting fruit, this phrase asks what benefit the believers received from those evil deeds. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
were you gaining
-or-
were you receiving
The Greek tense indicates that they were doing those things over a period of time. But in some languages it is more natural to refer generally to that time, only implying that this occurred over a period of time. For example:
did you gain
-or-
did you receive
at that time: Here this phrase refers to the time before the believers in Rome believed in Jesus, when they were enslaved to sin (6:20).
6:21b
the things of which you are now ashamed: The word things here refers to deeds of impurity, lawlessness and other kinds of sin. The believers in Rome were now ashamed of those deeds.
now: Here this word refers to the time that Paul wrote to the believers in Rome.
ashamed: The word ashamed refers to feeling humiliation, moral discomfort, or loss of self-respect when that person has done something wrong.
6:21c
The Greek of 6:21c begins with a word that is usually translated as “for.” Here this word introduces why the believers were ashamed. Some languages can omit this word and still connect 6:21c to 6:21b with the right meaning.
The outcome of those things is death: Here the word outcome refers to the end or result of those deeds that the believers were now ashamed of. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
Those things result in death! (New International Version)
-or-
the result of those things is death! (English Standard Version)
-or-
they lead to death
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