Romans 2:27

ἡ ἐκ φύσεως�. This introduces the distinction between the external symbol and the spiritual condition.

τὸν νόμον τελοῦσα, ‘if it keep …’ or ‘by keeping …’: perhaps better = ‘which keeps …,’ τελοῦσα, adjectival, owing its position to the fact that there is a second adj., ἐκ φύσεως.

διὰ γράμματος καὶ περιτομῆς = under a condition of written law and circumcision: an advantageous condition as far as it goes. γρ. is the external form of revelation, as περ. is the external form of the covenant. The emphasis is on the character of these forms; therefore anarthrous; and ‘letter’ is a better translation than ‘scripture.’ For this abstraction of the external form of scripture cf. Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:3. For διὰ w. gen., expressing a condition or state, cf. Romans 4:11; Romans 8:25; Romans 14:20; cf. Blass, p. 132 f.