The question with which Paul introduces this verse (see Revised Standard Version “do you not know?”) is emphatic and expects a positive answer; for this reason the Good News Translation has rendered the question by a statement: Surely you know that (see also New English Bible “You know well enough that” and New American Bible “You must realize that”).

The total content of this verse is a bit difficult because Paul tries to include so much in it. The meaning, however, is clear and comes out essentially the same in all translations. The first half of the verse is a reflection on a custom prevalent in Paul’s day, according to which a man would sell himself into slavery in order to survive; the second half of the verse (separated in the Good News Translation from the first part by a dash) takes up the idea of slavery and applies it both to the concepts of sin and obedience. Obedience in this verse must be understood in terms of obedience to God.

One should note that Paul uses the word death in at least three senses in his writings: (1) the biological fact of death as the judgment of God upon all human life (Romans 5.12-14); (2) the “spiritual death” of all men in their pre-Christian state (see Ephesians 2.1; Colossians 2.13); (3) eternal death as the final judgment of God on the life of sin (6.16).

Surrender yourselves as slaves may be translated as “give yourselves to people to become slaves of them,” “make yourselves slaves of others,” or “cause yourself to be a slave to someone.” Since, however, such a surrendering of one’s self as a slave is, in this context, more a condition than a temporal event, it may be more effectively expressed in some languages by an “if” clause—for example, “if you surrender yourself to a person to be his slave, and as such obey him, you are, in fact, a slave of the master whom you obey.” The second part of verse 16 may then be rendered as “you either obey sin and this causes your death, or you obey God and this causes you to be put right with him” or “… you obey God and as a result he puts you right with himself.”

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 .