The Apostle has now to prove that the righteousness of God is as necessary to the Jew as to the pagan; it is the Jew who is really addressed in this chapter from the beginning, though he is not named till Romans 2:9. In Romans 2:1-10 Paul explains the principle on which God judges all men, without d... [ Continue Reading ]
διό : The Jew is ready enough to judge the Gentile. But he forgets that the same principle on which the Gentile is condemned, _viz._, that he does evil in spite of better knowledge (Romans 1:32), condemns himself also. His very assent to the impeachment in chap. Romans 1:18-32 is his own condemnatio... [ Continue Reading ]
κατὰ ἀλήθειαν is predicate: God's judgment squares with the facts this is the whole rule of it. τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα πράσσοντας : those whose conduct is such as has been described. For the text, see critical note.... [ Continue Reading ]
σὺ has strong emphasis. The Jew certainly thought, in many cases, that the privilege of his birth would of itself ensure his entrance into the kingdom (Matthew 3:8-9): this was his practical conviction, whatever might be his proper creed. Yet the σὺ indicates that of all men the Jew, so distinguishe... [ Continue Reading ]
ἤ states the alternative. Either he thinks he will escape, or he despises, etc. χρηστότης is the kindliness which disposes one to do good; ἀνοχὴ (in N.T. only here and in Romans 3:26) is the forbearance which suspends punishment; μακροθυμία is patience, which waits long before it actively interposes... [ Continue Reading ]
The δὲ contrasts what happens with what God designs. θησαυρίζεις σεαυτῷ ὀργήν : contrast our Lord's many sayings about “treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6:19 ff; Matthew 19:21). ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς = in the day of wrath. The conception was quite definite: there was only one day in view, what is elsewhere cal... [ Continue Reading ]
The law enunciated in the Psalm, that God will render to every one according to his works, is valid within the sphere of redemption as well as independent of it. Paul the Christian recognises its validity as unreservedly as Saul the Pharisee would have done. The application of it may lead to very di... [ Continue Reading ]
καθʼ ὑπομονὴν ἔργου ἀγαθοῦ : _cf._ the collective ἔργον “life-work”: S. and H. in Romans 2:15 : “by way of stedfastness in well-doing”. δόξαν = the glory of the future life, as revealed in the Risen Saviour. τιμήν = honour with God. ἀφθαρσίαν “proves that the goal of effort is nothing earthly” (Lips... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῖς δὲ ἐξ ἐριθείας : for the use of ἐκ, _cf._ Romans 3:26, τὸν ἐκ πίστεως Ἰησοῦ; Galatians 3:7, οἱ ἐκ πίστεως; Ch. Romans 4:14, οἱ ἐκ νόμου. Lightfoot suggests that it is better to supply πράσσουσιν, and to construe ἐξ ἐριθείας with the participle, as in Philippians 1:17 it is construed with καταγγ... [ Continue Reading ]
ὀργὴ is wrath within; θυμός wrath as it overflows. θλίψις and στενοχωρία, according to Trench, _Synonyms_, § 55, express very nearly the same thing, under different images: the former taking the image of pressure, the latter that of confinement in a narrow space. But to draw a distinction between th... [ Continue Reading ]
f. εἰρήνη is probably = שָׁלוֹם, a comprehensive term, rather = salvation, than peace in any narrower sense. The Jew still comes first, but it is only order that is involved: the same principle underlies the judgment for Jew and Gentile. It would amount to προσωπολημψία in God, if He made a differen... [ Continue Reading ]
ἀνόμως means “without law,” not necessarily “without _the_ law”. In point of fact, no doubt, there was only one law given by God, the Mosaic, and Paul is arguing against those who imagined that the mere possession of it put them in a position of privilege as compared with those to whom it was not gi... [ Continue Reading ]
This is the principle of judgment, for not the hearers of law (the Mosaic or any other) are just with God, but the law doers shall be justified. ἀκροαταὶ tends to mean “pupils,” constant hearers, who are educated in the law: see Romans 2:10. But no degree of familiarity with the law avails if it is... [ Continue Reading ]
There is, indeed, when we look closely, no such thing as a man absolutely without the knowledge of God's will, and therefore such a judgment as the Apostle has described is legitimate. Gentiles, “such as have not law” in any special shape, when they do by nature “the things of the law” _i.e._, the t... [ Continue Reading ]
οἵτινες ἑνδείκνυνται : the relative is qualitative: “inasmuch as they shew”. τὸ ἔργον τοῦ νόμου is the work which the law prescribes, collectively. “Written on their hearts,” when contrasted with the law written on the tables of stone, is equal to “unwritten”; the Apostle refers to what the Greeks c... [ Continue Reading ]
The day meant here is the same as that in Romans 2:5. Westcott and Hort only put a comma after ἀπολογουμένων, but a longer pause is necessary, unless we are to suppose that only the day of judgment wakes the conscience and the thoughts of man into the moral activity described in Romans 2:15. This su... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἰουδαῖος ἐπονομάζῃ : bearest the name of “Jew”. The ἐπὶ in the compound verb does not denote addition, but direction: Ἰουδαῖος is not conceived as a surname, but a name which has been imposed. Of course it is implied in the context that the name is an honourable one. It is not found in the LXX, and... [ Continue Reading ]
τὸ θέλημα is God's will. Lipsius compares the absolute use of ὁδός, θύρα and ὄνομα. _Cf._ Acts 9:2; Acts 19:9; Acts 19:23; Acts 14:27; Acts 5:41. Also 1 Corinthians 16:12, where God's will is meant, not the will of Apollos. The words δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου are to be taken... [ Continue Reading ]
f. πέποιθάς τε κ. τ. λ. The τε indicates that this confidence is the immediate and natural result of what precedes: it is not right, in view of all the N.T. examples, to say that πέποιθας suggests an unjustifiable confidence, though in some cases, as in the present, it is so. _Cf._ 2 Corinthians 10:... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the grammatical apodosis begins, the οὖν resuming all that has been said in Romans 2:17-20. κηρύσσων and λέγων are virtually verbs of command: hence the infinitives. The rhetorical question implies that the Jew does _not_ teach himself, and that he _does_ break the law he would enforce on other... [ Continue Reading ]
βδελυσσόμενος properly expresses physical repulsion: thou that shrinkest in horror from idols. _Cf._ Daniel 9:27; Mark 13:14. ἱεροσυλεῖς : dost thou rob temples, and so, for the sake of gain, come in contact with abominations without misgiving? This is the meaning, and not, Dost thou rob the temple,... [ Continue Reading ]
Here again the construction is changed, and probably the use of the relative instead of the participle suggests that the sentence is to be read, not as interrogative, but as declaratory. “Thou who makest it thy boast that thou possessest a law, by the transgressing of that law dishonourest God: that... [ Continue Reading ]
And this is only what Scripture bids us expect. The Scripture quoted is Isaiah 52:5, LXX. The LXX interpret the Hebrew by inserting διʼ ὑμᾶς and ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν. Both insertions are in the line of the original meaning. It was owing to the misery and helplessness of the people of God, in exile among... [ Continue Reading ]
περιτομή : the absence of the article suggests that the argument may be extended to everything of the same character as circumcision. ὠφελεῖ : Circumcision was the seal of the covenant, and as such an assurance given to the circumcised man that he belonged to the race which was the heir of God's pro... [ Continue Reading ]
f. Here the inference is drawn from the principle laid down in Romans 2:25. This being so, Paul argues, if the uncircumcision maintain the just requirements of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be accounted circumcision, _sc._, because it has really done what circumcision pledged the Jew to do?... [ Continue Reading ]
f. The argument of the foregoing verses assumes what is stated here, and what no one will dispute, that what constitutes the Jew in the true sense of the term, and gives the name of Jew its proper content and dignity, is not anything outward and visible, but something inward and spiritual. And the s... [ Continue Reading ]