Romans 2:17-24

Amplified Bible

The Jew Is Condemned by the Law

¹⁷But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely on the Law [for your salvation] and boast in [your special relationship to] God, ¹⁸and [if you claim to] know His will and ^[a]approve the things that are ^[b]essential or have a sense of what is excellent, based on your instruction from the Law, ¹⁹and [if you] are confident that you are a [qualified] guide to the blind [those untaught in theology], a light to those who are in darkness, ²⁰and [that you are] ^[c]a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the [spiritually] ^[d]childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth— ²¹well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal [in ways that are discrete, but just as sinful]? ²²You who say that one must not commit adultery, ^[e]do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob [pagan] temples [of valuable idols and offerings]?^(A) ²³You who boast in the Law, do you [repeatedly] dishonor God by ^[f]breaking the Law? ²⁴For, “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written [in Scripture].^(B)

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Footnotes

Romans 2:18 Or discerningly distinguish between the things which differ.
Romans 2:18 Or excellent.
Romans 2:20 Or an instructor.
Romans 2:20 Lit infants.
Romans 2:22 In Judaism at that time, one of the leading schools of thought (that of Hillel) taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason, such as cooking a bad meal. Paul may have in mind men who use a flimsy excuse to divorce their wives, with the real intent of marrying another woman. In God’s eyes, this is an act of adultery.
Romans 2:23 The Pharisees were distorting and breaking God’s law by giving their own interpretations priority over the plain meaning of the Scriptures.