Romans 2:17

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ¹  and boast of your relationship to God ² 

Romans 2:23-29

2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 2:24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ³ 

2:25 For circumcision ⁴  has its value if you practice the law, but ⁵  if you break the law, ⁶  your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys ⁷  the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 2:27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man ⁸  who keeps the law judge you who, despite ⁹  the written code ¹⁰  and circumcision, transgress the law? 2:28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 2:29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart ¹¹  by the Spirit ¹²  and not by the written code. ¹³  This person’s ¹⁴  praise is not from people but from God.

Romans 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

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.

Colossians 4:7-8

Personal Greetings and Instructions

4:7 Tychicus, a dear brother, faithful minister, and fellow slave ²¹  in the Lord, will tell you all the news about me. ²²  4:8 I sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are doing ²³  and that he may encourage your hearts.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ²⁴  brothers and sisters ²⁵  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ²⁶  from God our Father! ²⁷ 

Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ²⁸  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ²⁹  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Galatians 6:13

6:13 For those who are circumcised do not obey the law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised so that they can boast about your flesh. ³⁰ 

[2:17]  ¹ sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

[2:17]  ² tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.

[2:24]  ³ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[2:25]  ⁴ sn 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).

[2:25]  ⁵ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:25]  ⁶ tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”

[2:26]  ⁷ tn The Greek word φυλάσσω (fulassw, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.

[2:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “the uncircumcision by nature.” The word “man” is supplied here to make clear that male circumcision (or uncircumcision) is in view.

[2:27]  ⁹ tn Grk “through,” but here the preposition seems to mean “(along) with,” “though provided with,” as BDAG 224 s.v. διά A.3.c indicates.

[2:27]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ¹¹ sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.

[2:29]  ¹² tn 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).

[2:29]  ¹³ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ¹⁴ tn 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.

[2:1]  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).

[2:1]  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.

[2:1]  ¹⁷ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[4:7]  ²¹ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:7]  ²² tn Grk “all things according to me.”

[4:8]  ²³ tn Grk “the things concerning us.”

[1:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁷ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[1:6]  ²⁸ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ²⁹ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[6:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “boast about you in external matters,” “in the outward rite” (cf. v. 12).