Romans 1:18

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people ¹  who suppress the truth by their ²  unrighteousness, ³ 

Romans 1:21

1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ⁴  were darkened.

Romans 2:1-5

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ⁵ Therefore ⁶  you are without excuse, ⁷  whoever you are, ⁸  when you judge someone else. ⁹  For on whatever grounds ¹⁰  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth ¹¹  against those who practice such things. 2:3 And do you think, ¹²  whoever you are, when you judge ¹³  those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, ¹⁴  that you will escape God’s judgment? 2:4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know ¹⁵  that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 2:5 But because of your stubbornness ¹⁶  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ¹⁷ 

Romans 2:21-23

2:21 therefore ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  idols, do you rob temples? 2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law!

[1:18]  ¹ tn The genitive ἀνθρώπων could be taken as an attributed genitive, in which case the phase should be translated “against all ungodly and unrighteous people” (cf. “the truth of God” in v. 25 which is also probably an attributed genitive). C. E. B. Cranfield takes the section 1:18-32 to refer to all people (not just Gentiles), while 2:1-3:20 points out that the Jew is no exception (Romans [ICC], 1:104-6; 1:137-38).

[1:18]  ² tn “Their” is implied in the Greek, but is supplied because of English style.

[1:18]  ³ tn Or “by means of unrighteousness.” Grk “in (by) unrighteousness.”

[1:21]  ⁴ tn Grk “heart.”

[2:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[2:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “based on truth.”

[2:3]  ¹² tn Grk “do you think this,” referring to the clause in v. 3b.

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “O man, the one who judges.”

[2:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and do them.” The other words are supplied to bring out the contrast implied in this clause.

[2:4]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “being unaware.”

[2:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[2:21]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Or “detest.”