complete verse (Romans 7:16)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 7:16:

  • Uma: “But if I do behavior that I don’t like, it means I admit/confess that the Lord’s Law is good.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “If I hate my deeds which are bad/evil, it means I believe that the law is good.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “And if I break the Law, but I don’t want to break it, this not wanting to break it is a sign that in my thinking the Law is good.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “So-then, my-not-wanting to do the evil that I am doing, that is what shows that I agree that the law is good.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “But when it is seen that I don’t look well upon what I did, then I know that what is said in the law is very good.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

law

The Greek, Hebrew, and Ge’ez that is translated in English as “Law” or “law” is translated in Mairasi as oro nasinggiei or “prohibited things” (source: Enggavoter 2004), in Noongar with a capitalized form of the term for “words” (Warrinya) (source: Warda-Kwabba Luke-Ang), in Yucateco as “ordered-word” (for “commandment,” it is “spoken-word”) (source: Nida 1947, p. 198), and in Central Tarahumara it is “writing-command” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)

McKnight’s English translation (publ. 2023) has it as Covenant Code. He explains (p. 301): “The law of Moses was a covenantal arrangement by God with the people of Israel. This code of conduct expected of them was not the same as law in the Roman world or what law means to us today. It is a revelation of God’s will for God’s covenant people but requires ongoing interpretation and adjustments.”

In a 1922 translation into Chagatai, a precursor language of both Uzbek and Uighur, it is translated with the Arabic loan word shari’at (شريعت), originally meaning “(Islamic) law (Shari’a).” (Source: F. Erbay and F.N. Küçükballı in Acta Theologica 2025 45/2, p. 133ff. )

See also teaching / law (of God) (Japanese honorifics).

Translation commentary on Romans 7:15 – 7:16

In these verses Paul is illustrating that his conscience proved to him that the Law is good. Once again the question is whether Paul is referring to the Jewish Law in particular or to law in general; translators are divided in their conclusions. In verse 15 Paul uses two different words for do, but there is no essential distinction in meaning. Also the word rendered right (“good” in most translations; “admirable” in New English Bible) is not the same word as that translated good or that translated right in verse 12. However, it is unwise to insist on any distinction in meaning.

I do not understand may need to be expressed in a somewhat emphatic form: “I do not really understand.”

The clause I agree that the Law is right may be expressed as direct discourse in some languages: “I say, Yes, the Law is right” or “I answer, Yes, the Law is right.”

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 7:16

7:16a

And: The Greek word here is often translated “but” or even “now” (as in the English Standard Version). It introduces something more that Paul said about himself and the law.

if I do what I do not want to do: Here the word if introduces a situation that is true. If this first part is true, that supports the second part (“I admit that the law is good”) to also be true.

In some languages, using an if -clause would have a different meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:

I do what I do not want to do. ⌊True?⌋ ⌊So⌋…
-or-

⌊Would you agree that⌋ I do what I do not want to do? ⌊So⌋…
-or-

⌊You would agree that⌋ I do what I do not want to do. ⌊So⌋…

7:16b

I admit that the law is good: There are two ways to interpret the Greek words here:

(1) There is agreement with the Laws of Moses. For example:

I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good (New American Standard Bible)

(English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised English Bible)

(2) There is agreement about the Laws of Moses. For example:

I agree that the law is good (New International Version)

(Berean Standard Bible, Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New Jerusalem Bible, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, New Century Version, New American Bible, Revised Edition)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because the Greek grammar does not support interpretation (2).

good: This word indicates that the laws are good and therefore it is good that people follow them.

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Commentaire sur la traduction de la lettre aux Romains 7.16

Or rend la conjonction de transition, δέ de, qui peut aussi être omise (Bible en français courant, Segond Révisée, Nouvelle Bible Segond, Parole de Vie).

si ce que je ne veux pas, je le fais rend le grec assez littéralement. La conjonction si introduit une condition réelle. Il est donc légitime de la rendre par « puisque ».

je suis d’accord avec la loi et reconnais qu’elle est bonne est en grec beaucoup plus court, litt. « je suis d’accord (avec) la loi que bonne ». Paul reconnaît qu’il fait ce qu’il ne doit pas faire, et en même temps, il ne condamne pas la loi : « je reconnais par là que la loi est bonne » (Bible en français courant). La loi peut de nouveau être comprise ici soit au sens général, soit au sens de la loi juive. Le plus probable, dans ce contexte, est que Paul l’envisage dans ce second sens. Voir « Loi » avec majuscule dans La Bible du Semeur, Bible de Jérusalem, Osty-Trinquet et en Rom 7.7.

qu’elle est bonne : en grec, l’adjectif καλός kalos n’est pas le même que celui traduit par bon en Rom 7.12 (ἀγαθός agathos), mais aucune version française n’établit une distinction entre les deux.

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