2:1 15 Therefore 16 you are without excuse, 17 whoever you are, 18 when you judge someone else. 19 For on whatever grounds 20 you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.
“There is no one righteous, not even one,
12:7 Then 27 war broke out in heaven: Michael 28 and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But 29 the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, 30 so there was no longer any place left 31 in heaven for him and his angels. 32 12:9 So 33 that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.
1 tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.
2 tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).
3 tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”
4 tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).
5 tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).
6 tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”
7 tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”
8 tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”
9 tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.
10 tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.
11 tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.
12 tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.
13 tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”
14 tn Grk “being unaware.”
15 sn 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).
16 tn 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.
17 tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).
18 tn Grk “O man.”
19 tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”
20 tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”
21 tn Grk “and.” Verse 6 is a continuation of the same sentence begun in v. 5. Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
22 tn Grk “who did not keep their own domain.”
23 sn There is an interesting play on words used in this verse. Because the angels did not keep their proper place, Jesus has kept them chained up in another place. The same verb keep is used in v. 1 to describe believers’ status before God and Christ.
24 sn In 2 Pet 2:4 a less common word for chains is used.
25 tn The word ζόφος (zofos, “utter, deepest darkness”) is used only five times in the NT: two in 2 Peter, two in Jude, and one in Hebrews. Jude 6 parallels 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 13 parallels 2 Pet 2:17.
26 tn The words “locked up” are not in Greek, but is expressed in English as a resumptive point after the double prepositional phrase (“in eternal chains in utter darkness”).
27 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
28 sn The archangel Michael had a special role in protecting the nation of Israel in the OT (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; see also Jude 9).
29 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast.
30 tn The words “to prevail” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
31 tn Grk “found.”
32 tn Grk “for them”; the referent (the dragon and his angels, v. 7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
33 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.