God’s Righteous Judgment
1 Therefore, every one of you ,a who judges is without excuse. b For when you judge another, c you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you really think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, d restraint, e and patience, f not recognizing that God’s kindness g is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath h for yourself in the day of wrath, i when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. 6 He will repay each one according to his works: ,j 7 eternal life k to those who by persistence in doing good l seek glory, honor, m and immortality; n 8 but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking o and disobey the truth p while obeying unrighteousness. 9 There will be affliction and distress q for every human being who does evil, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek; r 10 but glory, honor, and peace for everyone who does what is good, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no favoritism with God. s
12 All who sin without the law t will also perish without the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For the hearers of the law u are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified. 14 So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, v do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. w Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them 16 on the day when God judges x what people have kept secret, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus. y
Jewish Violation of the Law
17 Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law, z and boast in God, 18 and know his will, and approve the things that are superior, a being instructed from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of the immature, having the embodiment of knowledge and truth b in the law— 21 you then, who teach another, c don’t you teach yourself? You who preach, “You must not steal”—do you steal? 22 You who say, “You must not commit adultery”—do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob their temples? d 23 You who boast in the law, e do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. ,f
Circumcision of the Heart
25 Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. g 26 So if an uncircumcised h man keeps the law’s requirements, i will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you j who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, k and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, l and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. ,m That person’s praise is not from people but from God. n
2:1–2. Jewish readers likely agreed with Paul’s indictment of humankind in the previous paragraph. However, Jews believed that they had a privileged position before God. In 2:1 Paul shifts his style to employ diatribe, interacting with a dialogue partner. This interlocutor is not imaginary, since Paul had conversations with pious Jews who would have emphasized their exemption from God’s judgment on account of their status as members of God’s covenant people. Paul does not clarify immediately the Jewish identity of his discussion partner. In 2:2 Paul asserts that what he says of God’s judgment is in accordance with the facts: God judges those “who do such things” (1:19–32).
2:3–6. In 2:3–4 Paul challenges his dialogue partner that his judgment of others results in his own self-condemnation. The rhetorical questions are designed to demonstrate the false assumptions of Paul’s Jewish critic. In 2:5 Paul takes up verse 1 and explains why Paul’s interlocutor is not exempt from judgment. Despite the warning of Dt 10:16, he has failed to recognize his hard and impenitent heart, a condition that will result in God’s condemnation. In 2:6 Paul quotes the scriptural principle that God’s judgment will be according to people’s deeds (Ps 62:12; Pr 24:12). The implication is that God has no favorites. God treats all human beings the same—condemning sinners on judgment day as a result of their sinful acts, and saving sinners on judgment day on the basis of their faith in Jesus.
2:7–11. Paul clarifies the “doing” that leads either to eternal life or to eternal condemnation (2:10). People who persevere in good works seek glory and honor and immortality; these are the marks of those for whom God’s glory and honor are priorities—they will receive eternal life (2:7, 10). These people are committed to God’s Messiah, in whom the promises of the prophets regarding obedience to God’s law, empowered by the Spirit, have been fulfilled (see 2:28–29). In contrast to people who do good works and who receive from God eternal life, there are people who are selfish, who disobey the truth, and who are won over by unrighteousness; their destiny is God’s wrath and judgment in the future and anguish and distress in the present (2:8–9a). All of this is true both for Jews and for Greeks, because God the judge is impartial (2:11). The phrase “first to the Jew” (2:9b) clarifies the target of Paul’s argument: the assumption of Paul’s dialogue partner is that he has privileges with regard to the day of judgment; this claim collapses in view of God’s impartiality.
2:12–16. Paul introduces the law into the discussion for two reasons. The law records God’s covenantal standards, and pious Jews appealed to the law as God’s good gift that distinguished them from the pagans. Paul argues that what determines the outcome of God’s judgment is not the possession of the law as such but one’s obedience to it. Pagans who do not have the law will be condemned for their sin “without the law” (2:12). Jews who live with the law yet transgress it will be judged by the law. For the Jews who have heard the law read and explained in the synagogues, this means that they are deemed to be righteous in God’s judgment only if they remain faithful to the covenant obligations (2:13).
2:17–20. Paul takes up the objections of his Jewish dialogue partner, who argues that Israel’s covenant status places Jews in a different position from that of the Gentiles. Paul insists that the Jewish covenant privileges, which he does not deny (3:1–2; 9:4–5), do not exempt them from God’s judgment. In verses 17–24 Paul evaluates the claim that the Mosaic law constitutes a fundamental advantage of Jews over Gentiles.
2:21–24. Paul confronts his interlocutor’s boast with reality. Paul first asks a series of four rhetorical questions. The (implied) positive answers to these questions explain “the same things” (2:1) that Jews practice but condemn in the Gentiles. Paul asserts that his dialogue partner fails to teach himself what he teaches others. Just as the Gentiles will be condemned because of their idolatry and immorality (1:18–32), so he is subject to the same condemnation because of his transgressions of stealing, adultery, and robbery of pagan temples (2:21–22). These charges are based on the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:4–5, 14, 15; Dt 5:8–9, 18, 19). The charge of temple robbery could refer to actual plunder of pagan temples or to the use of objects taken from pagan shrines (in violation of Dt 7:25–26) or to the committing of sacrilege in general. Paul’s accusation is not out of the ordinary when we compare it with charges of the prophets (Is 3:14–15; Jr 7:8–11; Ezk 22:6–12) and of Jesus (Mt 23:1–39; Lk 11:39–52) and with Jewish literature of the time.
2:25–29. Paul takes up the significance of circumcision, the mark of the covenant that was of central importance for Israel’s self-understanding (Gn 17:9–14). Paul does not deny the value of circumcision for the Jewish people but insists that it has value in the context of the final judgment only “if you observe the law” (2:25a). The criterion in God’s court on judgment day is not the possession of the mark of circumcision but obedience to the law. Jews who break the law in effect become non-Jews (2:25b).