Romans 2:1-11

New English Translation

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.”
14. Romans 2:6 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
15. Romans 2:6 tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.
16. Romans 2:6 sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.
17. Romans 2:8 tn This contrast is clearer and stronger in Greek than can be easily expressed in English.
18. Romans 2:8 tn Grk “those who [are] from selfish ambition.”
19. Romans 2:8 tn Grk “are persuaded by, obey.”
20. Romans 2:9 tn No verb is expressed in this verse, but the verb “to be” is implied by the Greek construction. Literally “suffering and distress on everyone…”
21. Romans 2:9 tn Grk “every soul of man.”
22. Romans 2:9 sn Paul uses the term Greek here and in v. 10 to refer to non-Jews, i.e., Gentiles.
23. Romans 2:10 tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.