Romans 1:18--2:29

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  1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, ⁴  because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people ⁵  are without excuse. 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 ⁶  were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed ⁷  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ⁸  or birds or four-footed animals ⁹  or reptiles.

1:24 Therefore God gave them over ¹⁰  in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor ¹¹  their bodies among themselves. ¹²  1:25 They ¹³  exchanged the truth of God for a lie ¹⁴  and worshiped and served the creation ¹⁵  rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, ¹⁶  1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women ¹⁷  and were inflamed in their passions ¹⁸  for one another. Men ¹⁹  committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, ²⁰  God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. ²¹  1:29 They are filled ²²  with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with ²³  envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, ²⁴  heartless, ruthless. 1:32 Although they fully know ²⁵  God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, ²⁶  they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. ²⁷ 

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ²⁸ Therefore ²⁹  you are without excuse, ³⁰  whoever you are, ³¹  when you judge someone else. ³²  For on whatever grounds ³³  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 ³⁴  against those who practice such things. 2:3 And do you think, ³⁵  whoever you are, when you judge ³⁶  those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, ³⁷  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 ³⁸  that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 2:5 But because of your stubbornness ³⁹  and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! ⁴⁰  2:6 He ⁴¹  will reward ⁴²  each one according to his works: ⁴³  2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but ⁴⁴  wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition ⁴⁵  and do not obey the truth but follow ⁴⁶  unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be ⁴⁷  affliction and distress on everyone ⁴⁸  who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, ⁴⁹  2:10 but ⁵⁰  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ⁵¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ⁵²  2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, ⁵³  who do not have the law, do by nature ⁵⁴  the things required by the law, ⁵⁵  these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They ⁵⁶  show that the work of the law is written ⁵⁷  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ⁵⁸  them, ⁵⁹  2:16 on the day when God will judge ⁶⁰  the secrets of human hearts, ⁶¹  according to my gospel ⁶²  through Christ Jesus.

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ⁶³  and boast of your relationship to God ⁶⁴  2:18 and know his will ⁶⁵  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ⁶⁶  2:19 and if you are convinced ⁶⁷  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 ⁶⁸  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 ⁶⁹  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.” ⁷⁰ 

2:25 For circumcision ⁷¹  has its value if you practice the law, but ⁷²  if you break the law, ⁷³  your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 2:26 Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys ⁷⁴  the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 2:27 And will not the physically uncircumcised man ⁷⁵  who keeps the law judge you who, despite ⁷⁶  the written code ⁷⁷  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 ⁷⁸  by the Spirit ⁷⁹  and not by the written code. ⁸⁰  This person’s ⁸¹  praise is not from people but from God.

[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.”

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “is manifest to/in them.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:22]  ⁷ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ⁹ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[1:24]  ¹⁰ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 81:12.

[1:24]  ¹¹ tn The genitive articular infinitive τοῦ ἀτιμάζεσθαι (tou atimazesqai, “to dishonor”) has been taken as (1) an infinitive of purpose; (2) an infinitive of result; or (3) an epexegetical (i.e., explanatory) infinitive, expanding the previous clause.

[1:24]  ¹² tn Grk “among them.”

[1:25]  ¹³ 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.

[1:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the lie.”

[1:25]  ¹⁵ tn Or “creature, created things.”

[1:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is contrary to nature.” The term χρῆσις (crhsi") has the force of “sexual relations” here (L&N 23.65).

[1:27]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “likewise so also the males abandoning the natural function of the female.”

[1:27]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “burned with intense desire” (L&N 25.16).

[1:27]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “another, men committing…and receiving,” continuing the description of their deeds. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:28]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and just as they did not approve to have God in knowledge.”

[1:28]  ²¹ tn Grk “the things that are improper.”

[1:29]  ²² tn Grk “being filled” or “having been filled,” referring to those described in v. 28. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:29]  ²³ tn Grk “malice, full of,” continuing the description. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:31]  ²⁴ tn Or “promise-breakers.”

[1:32]  ²⁵ tn Grk “who, knowing…, not only do them but also approve…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:32]  ²⁶ tn Grk “are worthy of death.”

[1:32]  ²⁷ sn “Vice lists” like vv. 28-32 can be found elsewhere in the NT in Matt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Tim 1:9-10; and 1 Pet 4:3. An example from the intertestamental period can be found in Wis 14:25-26.

[2:1]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ³¹ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ³² tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ³³ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[2:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “based on truth.”

[2:3]  ³⁵ tn Grk “do you think this,” referring to the clause in v. 3b.

[2:3]  ³⁶ tn Grk “O man, the one who judges.”

[2:3]  ³⁷ tn Grk “and do them.” The other words are supplied to bring out the contrast implied in this clause.

[2:4]  ³⁸ tn Grk “being unaware.”

[2:5]  ³⁹ tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.

[2:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

[2:6]  ⁴¹ 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.

[2:6]  ⁴² tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.

[2:6]  ⁴³ sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.

[2:8]  ⁴⁴ tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”

[2:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁷ tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”

[2:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “every soul of man.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁹ sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.

[2:10]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.

[2:12]  ⁵¹ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[2:13]  ⁵² tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

[2:14]  ⁵³ sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew.

[2:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish.

[2:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁶ 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.

[2:15]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

[2:15]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “excuse.”

[2:15]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

[2:16]  ⁶⁰ 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.

[2:16]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “of people.”

[2:16]  ⁶² sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.

[2:17]  ⁶³ sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

[2:17]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.

[2:18]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “the will.”

[2:18]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

[2:19]  ⁶⁷ 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]  ⁶⁸ 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]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “detest.”

[2:24]  ⁷⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[2:25]  ⁷¹ 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]  ⁷² tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:25]  ⁷³ tn Grk “if you should be a transgressor of the law.”

[2:26]  ⁷⁴ 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]  ⁷⁵ 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]  ⁷⁶ 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]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ⁷⁸ sn On circumcision is of the heart see Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16; Jer 4:4; Ezek 44:9.

[2:29]  ⁷⁹ 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]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “letter.”

[2:29]  ⁸¹ 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.