Bible Translations

 Translations

May 22, 2025

Last night, we had a discussion about Bible translations. One comment was about the difference in the translation of Romans 8:1 in some modern translations. Note the following from NASB, NKJV and NET.

Romans 8:1-5 NASB

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likenessof sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-5  KJV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that itwas weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-5 - The NET Bible

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set youfree from the law of sin and death. ^a 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit havetheir outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.

The translation notes in the footnotes to the NET Bible explain the differences.

1 a tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have noadditional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D1 Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (me kata sarka peripatousin , "who do not walk according to the flesh"), while even later ones (2 א2 D2 33vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma , "but [who do walk] according to the Spirit"). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul's gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

Thus the complaint that the newer translations omit important ideas from the scripture doesn’t hold up here as it was the KJV and NkJV that incorporated the later additions to the Greek text. The ideas in the phrase is included in verse 4 in all of the newer translations; “who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Anyway, there is a good explanation of the differences in translations, and the essential thought is not lost, it was just copied to verse 1 in the KJV.

Bottom line is that it is always a good idea to study a verse in multiple translations as different translators capture a slightly different sense of the meaning in English. Any translation is subject to interpretation since Greek and English words and ideas do not always match one-to-one. By studying different translations and the footnotes you can get a better idea of what the original writer meant. That, and relying on the Holy Spirit to give you Insight into the meaning of scripture for you. After all, any translation is just words on a page until the Holy Spirit breaths life into it and makes it real in your own heart. The Greeks would say that the written, logos word becomes a rhema word, a living word. May the Holy Spirit bless you and inspire you as you study the Word and give you insight into how to live today.