When Exceptions Follow the Rule
Romans 6:7
October, 2018
This month's spotlight verse (Romans 6:7) is a great example of why context is crucial to properly interpreting the Bible. It's also an example of how the translation process really works. A key word in Romans 6:7 is dedikaiōtai, from the root word dikaioō. Most English translations render this as "set free," but when the same term is used in other Scriptures, it is virtually always translated as "justified." The ESV even adds a footnote mentioning an ultra-literal translation would be "[has been justified] from sin."
Those who seek proper understanding are justified—no pun intended—in wondering why a word with an all-but-universal translation is given different treatment here. Taken at face value, there could be major differences between being "set free" versus being "justified." Those concerns are, not incidentally, one reason we need to depend on a discipleship-driven approach to God and his Word, rather than shallow reading of translations. Still, virtually all modern translations render this as "set free." There are good reasons for this, both in terms of language and theology.
Language is always translated by context. Other than extremely simple, objective concepts, most words in one language have subtly different meanings, and uses, from their common equivalents in other languages. This can be visualized as two circles, mostly overlapping, but with slivers where they do not connect. There are times and places where those words, in context, and as used in their respective languages, do not mean exactly the same thing, though they normally overlap.
For Romans 6:7, "set free" follows the point of the passage better than "justified." That's why most translations make this choice. The entire context is about whether we're going to continue to submit to the power of sin in our lives. Paul's point is that we're not "bound" to sin, and we need to consider ourselves servants of Christ and not slaves to sin. From that standpoint, it's fair to say that "free from sin" is a better translation, in this circumstance, since it is a closer representation in English to what Paul is saying in Greek.
The phrase "justified from sin," to an English speaker, doesn't match the implications of dedikaiōtai apo tes hamartias to a Greek speaker. Also, from a highly technical view, the word dedikaiōtai is in a passive, past-tense, indicative, third-person singular form. That's a complex way of saying the verb refers to something which happened "to" something else in the past.
Looking at the context of verse 6 in an extremely literal way, it's hard to argue—in the English language—that we were justified [made right] "to" sin. According to the context, and the Greek language itself, the meaning being put forward is in keeping with the rest of the passage: we were "freed from" sin and "justified to" God, both resulting in an absence of penalty and an autonomy from sin's control.
In other words, the issue here is a not a question of changing the meaning of words, but of using the right terminology to translate them. Whether it's a fear of punishment or the addictions of the flesh, new life in Christ is our salvation. That salvation both "sets us free" from sin and "makes right" our sins to God. Even in English, words have variation of meaning based on context. In this case, the translated meaning in English is not "changing" the meaning of the word; it's upholding it.
Romans 6:7 shows the importance of both discipleship and understanding the concept of translation. We can't legitimately claim a Greek word has one, narrow, context-free meaning and insist that it be used that way in absolutely all circumstances. The Word of God speaks as much through context as it does through individual terms.~
-- Editor
