Romans 6:19

BBB posted a series of translations and then withdrew the post. I was intrigued and so repeat the question here: How do you translate Romans 6:19 with "special attention to the last few words of the verse"?

Here's their post as it appeared on my Google Reader -

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Read the following translations of Romans 6:19. Pay special attention to the last few words of the verse. Then comment on which wordings of the end of the verse you consider to be more accurate and which you consider to be less accurate. Feel free to explain your choices or to comment on any aspect of this exercise.

1. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

2. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

3. I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

4. I am using a human analogy because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you offered the parts of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification.

5. I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

6. I am putting it in human terms because you are still weak human beings: as once you surrendered yourselves as servants to immorality and to a lawlessness which results in more lawlessness, now you have to surrender yourselves to uprightness which is to result in sanctification.

7. (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

8. (I use everyday language because of the weakness of your natural selves.) At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes.

9. I am using these everyday examples, because in some ways you are still weak. You used to let the different parts of your body be slaves of your evil thoughts. But now you must make every part of your body serve God, so that you will belong completely to him.

10. I’m speaking in a human way because of the weakness of your corrupt nature. Clearly, you once offered all the parts of your body as slaves to sexual perversion and disobedience. This led you to live disobedient lives. Now, in the same way, offer all the parts of your body as slaves that do what God approves of. This leads you to live holy lives.

11. Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.

12. I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?

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The first thing I notice when I review this section of Romans is that it is peppered with 'you'. I take these to be you plural severally and individually - i.e. not primarily as collective.

The next thing I notice is the shift from the first part of the chapter which is 'we' and 'him' to the middle of the chapter (Romans 6:10) which is 'him' alone to this 'you' section. I highlighted these grammatical features here. Verse 15-16 is in the middle of this long 'you' section. Verse 19 above is in the middle of the second half of the 'you' section.

When I look at the original it seems to me to have a teeter-totter type of feel - to whom do you yield? And how? Do I want my memory of teeter-totters - a bloody nose. Translations that miss the yield by using synonyms spoil the effect. That rules out 9, 11, and 12 above. But present, offer, etc are nice in fact better than RSV's 'yield' - since RSV fails to use the same verb in chapter 12. Yield is hardly suitable for a priestly offering which is what Paul already has in mind.

Next cavil is with the translator's fear that his readers will misunderstand Paul's use of flesh. It seems to me that translations which attempt to protect us from the flesh-spirit metaphor in Paul risk mummifying us. Flesh is not synonymous with sex. This is a conclusion that so many readers seem to jump to. In this verse in particular, Paul already uses humanly speaking, so the usual euphemisms about corrupt nature or human weakness that may be used elsewhere are strained. So that eliminates 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10.

That leaves only 1, 4, 7 as acceptable so far. Of these I think I like 7 best. It retains impurity which is I think part of Paul's base as a Jew. The Torah continues in spite of all those lawless tendencies in Corinth. Everything is lawful - but not everything builds up. What builds up is what is presented at the altar in the offering of Christ Jesus once for all - so we present in him our members - every one of them - the lesser and the greater through his self-offering, and we in so offering ourselves by the Spirit will know something new of the life of the Spirit in our mortal bodies now. This is the substance of hope that comes through the faith of obedience. It is quite striking what 5 minutes a day of vocalization will do for an old voice that had been tossed out by the world.