Romans 2:9. Tribulation and anguish. The parallelism is continued in reverse order. ‘Tribulation' refers to the external weight of affliction; ‘anguish' to the internal sense of its weight, hence it forms the climax (comp. references).

Every soul of man. An emphatic and solemn way of saying ‘every man' (comp. chap. Romans 13:1), but possibly implying that it is the ‘soul' which feels the pain. That the body may not share in the punishment is not stated, here or elsewhere.

Is working out evil. We attempt, by this rendering, to bring out the difference between the verbs here and in Romans 2:10; also to express the continuous action implied. The article is found in the original (‘the evil,' ‘the good'). The verb, which means to work out, to accomplish, is stronger than the simple verb which occurs in Romans 2:10.

Of the Jew first. First in privilege, the Jew becomes first in responsibility; comp. Romans 1:16. It now becomes evident that this chapter refers especially to the Jews.

Of the Greek. This represents ‘Gentile,' as in chap. Romans 1:16; but it should be correctly translated here and in Romans 2:10, as it is the previous instance.

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Old Testament