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The Condemnation of the Moralist

[a] Therefore[b] you are without excuse,[c] whoever you are,[d] when you judge someone else.[e] For on whatever grounds[f] you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth[g] against those who practice such things. And do you think,[h] whoever you are, when you judge[i] those who practice such things and yet do them yourself,[j] that you will escape God’s judgment? Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know[k] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness[l] and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed![m]

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 2:1 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. Romans 2:1 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.
  3. Romans 2:1 tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).
  4. Romans 2:1 tn Grk “O man.”
  5. Romans 2:1 tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”
  6. Romans 2:1 tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”
  7. Romans 2:2 tn Or “based on truth.”
  8. Romans 2:3 tn Grk “do you think this,” referring to the clause in v. 3b.
  9. Romans 2:3 tn Grk “O man, the one who judges.”
  10. Romans 2:3 tn Grk “and do them.” The other words are supplied to bring out the contrast implied in this clause.
  11. Romans 2:4 tn Grk “being unaware.”
  12. Romans 2:5 tn Grk “hardness.” Concerning this imagery, see Jer 4:4; Ezek 3:7; 1 En. 16:3.
  13. Romans 2:5 tn Grk “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

Therefore dio you are eimi without excuse anapologētos, whoever you are ō, when you ho judge krinō someone else, for gar in en that hos which you judge krinō · ho another heteros, you condemn katakrinō yourself seautou, for gar you ho who judge krinō are practicing prassō the ho same things autos. And de we know oida that hoti the ho judgment krima of ho God theos is eimi according kata to truth alētheia with epi respect to those ho who practice prassō · ho such toioutos things . Do you suppose logizomai, · de this houtos, whoever you are ō, when you ho judge krinō those ho who practice prassō · ho such toioutos things yet kai do poieō them autos yourself, that hoti you sy will escape ekpheugō the ho judgment krima of ho God theos? Or ē do you hold in contempt kataphroneō the ho riches ploutos of ho his autos kindness chrēstotēs and kai · ho forbearance anochē and kai · ho patience makrothumia, not agnoeō knowing that hoti · ho God’ s theos kindness chrēstos · ho is meant to lead agō you sy to eis repentance metanoia? But de because kata of · ho your sy stubbornness sklērotēs and kai your unrepentant heart kardia, you are storing thēsaurizō up wrath orgē for yourself seautou on en the day hēmera of wrath orgē, when kai God’ s theos righteous judgment dikaiokrisia will be revealed apokalypsis, · ho

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