Romans 2:17--3:8

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  2:18 and know his will ³  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ⁴  2:19 and if you are convinced ⁵  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 ⁶  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 ⁷  idols, do you rob temples? 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.” ⁸ 

2:25 For circumcision ⁹  has its value if you practice the law, but ¹⁰  if you break the law, ¹¹  your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys ¹²  the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 2:27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man ¹³  who keeps the law judge you who, despite ¹⁴  the written code ¹⁵  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 ¹⁶  by the Spirit ¹⁷  and not by the written code. ¹⁸  This person’s ¹⁹  praise is not from people but from God.

3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ²⁰  First of all, ²¹  the Jews ²²  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ²³  3:3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? 3:4 Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being ²⁴  shown up as a liar, ²⁵  just as it is written: “so that you will be justified ²⁶  in your words and will prevail when you are judged.” ²⁷ 

3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates ²⁸  the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? ²⁹  (I am speaking in human terms.) ³⁰  3:6 Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world? 3:7 For if by my lie the truth of God enhances ³¹  his glory, why am I still actually being judged as a sinner? 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil so that good may come of it”? – as some who slander us allege that we say. ³²  (Their ³³  condemnation is deserved!)

[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.

[2:18]  ³ tn Grk “the will.”

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

[2:19]  ⁵ 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.

[2:21]  ⁶ 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).

[2:22]  ⁷ tn Or “detest.”

[2:24]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[2:25]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:25]  ¹¹ tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”

[2:26]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “letter.”

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

[2:29]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ¹⁹ 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.

[3:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “much in every way.”

[3:2]  ²¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:2]  ²² tn Grk “they were.”

[3:2]  ²³ tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.

[3:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “every man”; but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to stress humanity rather than masculinity.

[3:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” The words “proven” and “shown up” are supplied in the translation to clarify the meaning.

[3:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “might be justified,” a subjunctive verb, but in this type of clause it carries the same sense as the future indicative verb in the latter part. “Will” is more idiomatic in contemporary English.

[3:4]  ²⁷ tn Or “prevail when you judge.” A quotation from Ps 51:4.

[3:5]  ²⁸ tn Or “shows clearly.”

[3:5]  ²⁹ tn Grk “That God is not unjust to inflict wrath, is he?”

[3:5]  ³⁰ sn The same expression occurs in Gal 3:15, and similar phrases in Rom 6:19 and 1 Cor 9:8.

[3:7]  ³¹ tn Grk “abounded unto.”

[3:8]  ³² tn Grk “(as we are slandered and some affirm that we say…).”

[3:8]  ³³ tn Grk “whose.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, this relative clause was rendered as a new sentence in the translation.