The word translated instructor (equivalent in the present context to “teacher”) may also have the meaning of “one who punishes,” a meaning which it does have in Hebrews 12.9, its only other occurrence in the New Testament. Some translators render this noun by a verb (An American Translation* “train the foolish”). The term foolish refers more to moral than to intellectual weakness, and for this reason renderings such as “ignorant” (Jerusalem Bible) and “stupid” (New English Bible) may be misleading to the reader. The concept of moral weakness may be expressed in some languages as “those whose hearts are weak” or “those whose hearts are twisted.”

The word rendered young (so also An American Translation*) may have the connotation of “immature” (New English Bible). The young may be rendered in some languages as “those who as yet have not learned” or “those who still need instruction.”

Full content translates a word in Greek that is rendered “embodiment” in most translations. The only other place where this Greek word occurs in the New Testament is 2 Timothy 3.15, where it has the meaning of “the outward form.” In the New English Bible this is rendered “the very shape (of knowledge and truth).”

Since in many languages the rendering of knowledge and of truth must be rather radically altered, the expression of full content may be indicated by an adverbial attributive—for example, “You are certain that because you have the law you know everything completely and what you say is absolutely true.”

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 .