The Greek in Romans 7:18 that is translated “nothing good dwells within me” or similar in English is translated as “my wanting-to-sin-life is not the least bit good” in North Alaskan Inupiatun and as “there is no good thing inside my head-heart” in Yatzachi Zapotec. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
flesh (human nature)
The Greek that is often translated as “flesh” in English (when referring to the lower human nature) can, according to Nida (1947, p. 153) “very rarely be literally translated into another language. ‘My meat’ or ‘my muscle’ does not make sense in most languages.” He then gives a catalog of almost 30 questions to determine a correct translation for that term.
Accordingly, the translations are very varied:
- Highland Totonac: “like other men”
- Chicahuaxtla Triqui: “the path of sinful people”
- Mezquital Otomi: “of earthly kind” or “old life”
- Huehuetla Tepehua: “old life”
- Tzeltal: “body”
- Sayula Popoluca: “body that does evil”
- Tabasco Chontal: “old mind” (Source for this and above: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
- Chichewa: “character that is inclined to evil things” (source: Ernst Wendland in The Bible Translator 2002, p. 319ff. )
- Huautla Mazatec: “the self” (Nida 1947, p. 248)
- Swabian 2007 translation by Rudolf Paul: irdisch menschliche Gesinnung or “earthly-human mind”
- Warao: “old obojona.” Obojona is a term that “includes the concepts of consciousness, will, attitude, attention and a few other miscellaneous notions” (source: Henry Osborn in The Bible Translator 1969, p. 74ff. ). See other occurrences of Obojona in the Warao New Testament.
The Toraja-Sa’dan translation uses a variety of terms for the translation of the same Greek term (click or tap here to see the rest of this insight)
- A form of kale tolinona or “corporeal” is for instance used in Romans 9:5 or Colossians 1:22 (and also in Genesis 6:3 and Exodus 30:32)
- A form of mentolinona or “the human” is for instance used in Matthew 16:17 or John 1:14
- Phrases that include pa’kalean or “bodiliness” (also: “human shape”) are for instance used in Romans 6:6 or 1 Peter 2:11 (as well as in Isa 52:14, Isa 53:2, and Lamentations 4:7
(Source: H. van der Veen in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 207ff. )
See also spirit / flesh, old self, and flesh (John 1:14).
complete verse (Romans 7:18)
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 7:18:
- Uma: “For I certainly know, there is nothing good in my heart, I am a sinful human. I do want to do good behavior, but I am not able to do it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
- Yakan: “I know that I am only a human being and there is really no good in my liver. Even if I really want to do good yet I cannot do (it).” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
- Western Bukidnon Manobo: “I know that there is not anything good which comes from the evil desires of my body because even if I want to do good I cannot do it.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
- Kankanaey: “Because I know that there is absolutely nothing good in my human mind, because even though I want to do good, I am not able-to-do-it.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
- Tenango Otomi: “Because I know that not any good was done by me. Concerning the good which I wanted to do, I couldn’t do it.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
Translation commentary on Romans 7:18
I know that good does not live in me must be specified in some languages as “I know that the capacity to do good does not live in me,” “… the ability to do good…,” or, as in some languages, “I know that my heart is not able to cause me to do good.”
Human nature (literally “flesh”) is the same term that Paul uses in verse 5; see also the discussion of mortal man in verse 14. A literal translation of this phrase (so Moffatt and Revised Standard Version) means little or nothing; and to translate “in my physical self” (An American Translation*) seems to miss the impact of what Paul is saying. Although Paul does believe that sin may launch its attack against man through his body, he certainly did not think of one’s physical being as evil in itself. Rather he seems to be speaking of that aspect of one’s self which refuses submission to the Spirit of God (New English Bible “in my unspiritual nature”; Jerusalem Bible “in my unspiritual self”). Evidently Paul is contrasting his human nature with the desire to do good that is in him. As pointed out earlier, this is in keeping with the Jewish belief in two impulses that try to control man’s life, an evil impulse and a good impulse. The desperateness of Paul’s situation is demonstrated by the fact that, even though he desires to do good, he is not able to do it.
For some languages in my human nature is equivalent to “in my heart,” but in most instances a more appropriate expression is “in me as just a human being,” “in me as just a man,” or “in the man that I am.”
The clause for even though the desire to do good is in me may be rendered as “even though I want to do good.” This sentence of concession-result may be expressed in some languages as “For I want to do good, but I am not able to do so.”
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 .
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