Once again Paul switches back to the form of the participle. Have the same concern for all alike (New English Bible “care as much about each other as about yourselves”; New American Bible “have the same attitude toward all”; Jerusalem Bible “treat everyone with equal kindness”) is taken by a number of scholars to mean “live in harmony with one another” (An American Translation*; so also Moffatt, Revised Standard Version).

If one follows the interpretation of the Good News Translation, one may employ such renderings as “open your heart to all in the same way,” “think about each person in the same way as you think about every other person,” or “care for all in the same way.” If one follows the interpretation suggested by An American Translation* and others, a type of double negative may be required, “do not live in strife with one another” or “do not have conflicts with one another.” In some languages, however, the positive aspect is effectively communicated by certain idiomatic uses—for example, “be dovetailed together” (a figure of speech based upon the manner of joining wood) or “live together like trees in the forest” (who give no evidence of hostility to one another but of harmonious growing together).

The words rendered accept humble duties may also mean “make friends with the lowly” (Good News Translation alternative rendering). The problem is that the noun may either be neuter, humble duties, or masculine, “lowly people.” Accept humble duties may be rendered as “be willing to do the small jobs,” “be willing to serve others just as though you were a servant,” or “be willing to help in little ways.” In order to translate “make friends with the lowly,” one may need to say “make friends with those who are poor,” “make friends with those who are not anybody,” “make friends with those whom others look down on,” or “be friendly with those whom people do not honor.”

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 .