1 Samuel 21:5

21:5 David said to the priest, “Certainly women have been kept away from us, just as on previous occasions when I have set out. The soldiers’ ¹  equipment is holy, even on an ordinary journey. How much more so will they be holy today, along with their equipment!”

Acts 9:15

9:15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument ²  to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. ³ 

Romans 9:21-23

9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ⁴  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ⁵  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ⁶  of wrath ⁷  prepared for destruction? ⁸  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ⁹  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory –

Romans 9:2

9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ¹⁰ 

Romans 2:20-21

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 ¹¹  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ¹² Therefore ¹³  you are without excuse, ¹⁴  whoever you are, ¹⁵  when you judge someone else. ¹⁶  For on whatever grounds ¹⁷  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Romans 3:7

3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances ¹⁸  his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner?

[21:5]  ¹ tn Heb “servants’.”

[9:15]  ² tn Or “tool.”

[9:15]  ³ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.” In Acts, Paul is a minister to all nations, including Israel (Rom 1:16-17).

[9:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ⁶ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ⁷ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ⁸ 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.

[9:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[2:21]  ¹¹ 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).

[2:1]  ¹² 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).

[2:1]  ¹³ 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.

[2:1]  ¹⁴ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[3:7]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “abounded unto.”