Romans 2 (NET)

The Condemnation of the Moralist1

1 Therefore2 you are without excuse,3 whoever you are,4 when you judge someone else.5 For on whatever grounds6 you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth7 against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think,8 whoever you are, when you judge9 those who practice such things and yet do them yourself,10 that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know11 that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness12 and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!13 6 He14 will reward15 each one according to his works:16 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 8 but17 wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition18 and do not obey the truth but follow19 unrighteousness. 9 There will be20 affliction and distress on everyone21 who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek,22 10 but23 glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God. 12 For all who have sinned apart from the law24 will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.25 14 For whenever the Gentiles,26 who do not have the law, do by nature27 the things required by the law,28 these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 15 They29 show that the work of the law is written30 in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend31 them,32 16 on the day when God will judge33 the secrets of human hearts,34 according to my gospel35 through Christ Jesus.

The Condemnation of the Jew

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law36 and boast of your relationship to God37 18 and know his will38 and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,39 19 and if you are convinced40 that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth – 21 therefore41 you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor42 idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”43

25 For circumcision44 has its value if you practice the law, but45 if you break the law,46 your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys47 the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man48 who keeps the law judge you who, despite49 the written code50 and circumcision, transgress the law? 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart51 by the Spirit52 and not by the written code.53 This person’s54 praise is not from people but from God.

1sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37). 2tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul. 3tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT). 4tn Grk “O man.” 5tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.” 6tn Grk “in/by (that) which.” 7tn Or “based on truth.” 8tn Grk “do you think this,” referring to the clause in v. 3b. 9tn Grk “O man, the one who judges.” 10tn Grk “and do them.” The other words are supplied to bring out the contrast implied in this clause. 11tn Grk “being unaware.” 12tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3. 13tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” 14tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. 15tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works. 16sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27. 17tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English. 18tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.” 19tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.” 20tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…” 21tn Grk “every soul of man.” 22sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles. 23tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom. 24sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans. 25tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.” 26sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew. 27tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish. 28tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.” 29tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. 30tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction. 31tn Or “excuse.” 32tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.” 33tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment. 34tn Grk “of people.” 35sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8. 36sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. 37tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24. 38tn Grk “the will.” 39tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.” 40tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated. 41tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction). 42tn Or “detest.” 43sn A quotation from Isa 52:5. 44sn Circumcision refers to male circumcision as prescribed in the OT, which was given as a covenant to Abraham in Gen 17:10-14. Its importance for Judaism can hardly be overstated: According to J. D. G. Dunn (Romans [WBC], 1:120) it was the “single clearest distinguishing feature of the covenant people.” J. Marcus has suggested that the terms used for circumcision (περιτομή, peritomh) and uncircumcision (ἀκροβυστία, akrobustia) were probably derogatory slogans used by Jews and Gentiles to describe their opponents (“The Circumcision and the Uncircumcision in Rome,” NTS 35 [1989]: 77-80). 45tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English. 46tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.” 47tn The Greek word φυλάσσω (fulassw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience. 48tn Grk “the uncircumcision by nature.” The word “man” is supplied here to make clear that male circumcision (or uncircumcision) is in view. 49tn Grk “through,” but here the preposition seems to mean “(along) with,” “though provided with,” as BDAG 224 s.v. διά A.3.c indicates. 50tn Grk “letter.” 51sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9. 52tn Some have taken the phrase ἐν πνεύματι (en pneumati, “by/in [the] S/spirit”) not as a reference to the Holy Spirit, but referring to circumcision as “spiritual and not literal” (RSV). 53tn Grk “letter.” 54tn Grk “whose.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the phrase “this person’s” and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started in the translation.