Romans 2:15-23

2:15 They ¹  show that the work of the law is written ²  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ³  them, ⁴  2:16 on the day when God will judge ⁵  the secrets of human hearts, ⁶  according to my gospel ⁷  through Christ Jesus.

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ⁸  and boast of your relationship to God ⁹  2:18 and know his will ¹⁰  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ¹¹  2:19 and if you are convinced ¹²  that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 2:20 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 – 2:21 therefore ¹³  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 2:22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor ¹⁴  idols, do you rob temples? 2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law!

¹ tn 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.

² tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

³ tn Or “excuse.”

⁴ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

⁵ tn 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.

⁶ tn Grk “of people.”

⁷ sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.

⁹ sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

¹⁰ tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.

¹³ tn Grk “the will.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

¹⁷ tn 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.

²¹ tn 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).

²⁵ tn Or “detest.”