complete verse (Romans 7:10)

Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 7:10:

  • Uma: “and I was fit to be punished with death and separated from God. Actually the purpose of the Lord’s Law was so I would get good life. But in fact when I knew the Lord’s Law, I ended up sinning with the result that I was fit to be punished with death and separated from God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “and I understood that my destiny was to die and to go to hell. The law was given by God in order that if we (incl.) follow (it), he gives us (incl.) life without end in heaven. But as for me, because I cannot follow/obey the law my destiny is to die and to be punished by God.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “The reason the Law given by God came into being is so that men might come to own life forever if they did not break it; however, it turned out that the Law had become the basis for my being punished because I broke it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “and that’s how-I-knew that I was as if dead in God’s estimation. Therefore the law, it was given in order that people would know the path that leads to life, but because of my not obeying that law, I was condemned to die and be separated from God.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Because concerning the law which was to give me new life if I did what all it commanded, it is the very law that condemned me to be punished because I didn’t do what it commanded.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Romans 7:10

And I died may need to be expressed as a simile—for example, “and, as it were, I died,” since this is not a reference to physical but to spiritual death.

According to the Genesis account, obedience to the command of God meant that life would continue, whereas disobedience meant death would come. But Paul discovers that Adam’s experience and his own are similar: the commandment which was meant to bring life, in my case brought death.

The commandment which was meant to bring life may be rendered as “the commandment which was supposed to cause me to live” or “the commandment which God intended to cause me to live.”

The final expression, in my case brought death, must again be understood in a metaphorical sense and may be expressed in some languages merely as “caused me to die” (though obviously Paul was not physically dead), or as a simile “caused me, as it were, to die.” In some languages, however, it may be more appropriate to speak of a “sentence of death”—for example, “caused me to be under the sentence of death” or “caused me to be condemned to die.”

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 .