Romans 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:15-16

2:15 They ²  show that the work of the law is written ³  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ⁴  them, ⁵  2:16 on the day when God will judge ⁶  the secrets of human hearts, ⁷  according to my gospel ⁸  through Christ Jesus.

[2:12]  ¹ 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.

[2:15]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

[2:15]  ⁴ tn Or “excuse.”

[2:15]  ⁵ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

[2:16]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Grk “of people.”

[2:16]  ⁵ sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.