OET interlinear ROM 6:16

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

οὐκ οἴδατε, ὅτι ᾧ παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους εἰς ὑπακοήν, δοῦλοί ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε—ἤτοι ἁμαρτίας εἰς θάνατον, ἢ ὑπακοῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην?

not ˱you_all˲_/have/_known that ˱to˲_whom ˱you_all˲_/are/_presenting yourselves ˱as˲_slaves for obedience slaves ˱you_all˲_are ˱to˲_whom (Some words not found in SR-GNT: οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ᾧ παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους εἰς ὑπακοήν δοῦλοί ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε ἤτοι ἁμαρτίας εἰς θάνατον ἢ ὑπακοῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην)

Paul is not asking for information, but is using the question form here to emphasize the truth of what he is saying. If you would not use a rhetorical question for this purpose in your language, you could translate his words as a statement or an exclamation and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: “You surely know that to what you keep presenting yourselves as slaves for obedience, you become slaves to what you obey—whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness!”

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

ᾧ & ᾧ

˱to˲_whom & ˱to˲_whom

The pronoun translated what here indicates a general reference to a thing or person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “to whomever or whatever … to whomever or whatever”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

παριστάνετε ἑαυτοὺς δούλους & δοῦλοί ἐστε ᾧ ὑπακούετε

˱you_all˲_/are/_presenting yourselves ˱as˲_slaves & slaves ˱you_all˲_are ˱to˲_whom ˱you_all˲_/are/_submitting

Paul speaks of people as if they could offer themselves as slaves to someone or something. He is referring to being controlled by someone or something. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternative translation: “you keep being controlled by … you become controlled by what you obey”

Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-goal

εἰς ὑπακοήν

for obedience

Here, for indicates that this is a purpose clause. Paul is stating the purpose for which these people are presenting themselves as slaves. Use a natural way in your language for indicating a purpose clause. Alternate translation: “in order to obey” or “for the purpose of obeying”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

εἰς ὑπακοήν & ὑπακοῆς

for obedience & ˱of˲_obedience

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of obedience, you could express the same idea in a different way. Alternate translation: “to obey … to obey”

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

ἤτοι ἁμαρτίας εἰς θάνατον, ἢ ὑπακοῆς εἰς δικαιοσύνην

whether ˱of˲_sin to death or ˱of˲_obedience to righteousness

Here, sin and obedience are spoken of as if they were masters that slaves would obey. Paul means that people can be controlled either by their desire to sin or a desire to obey God. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this plainly. Alternate translation: “whether you are controlled by sinning, leading to death, or you are controlled by obeying God, leading to righteousness”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

ἁμαρτίας & ὑπακοῆς

˱of˲_sin & ˱of˲_obedience

Paul is using the possessive form to describe slaves that belong to sin or obedience. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “slaves that belong to sin … slaves that belong to obedience” or “sin’s slaves … obedience’s slaves”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἁμαρτίας & δικαιοσύνην

˱of˲_sin & righteousness

See how you translated sin in 6:1 and righteousness in 6:13.

Note 9 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

εἰς θάνατον & εἰς δικαιοσύνην

for to death & to righteousness

Here, leading to indicates result. Use a natural way in your language to indicate result. Alternate translation: “resulting in death … resulting to righteousness” or “causing death … causing righteousness”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

εἰς θάνατον

for to death

Here, death refers to spiritual death, which is eternal punishment in hell that occurs after physical death. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “leading to spiritual death” or “causing one to die spiritually”