Roma 1:18-23

The Condemnation of the Unrighteous

1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people ¹  who suppress the truth by their ²  unrighteousness, ³  1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, ⁴  because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people ⁵  are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts ⁶  were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed ⁷  to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings ⁸  or birds or four-footed animals ⁹  or reptiles.

Roma 2:11-16

2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹⁰  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. ¹¹  2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, ¹²  who do not have the law, do by nature ¹³  the things required by the law, ¹⁴  these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They ¹⁵  show that the work of the law is written ¹⁶  in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend ¹⁷  them, ¹⁸  2:16 on the day when God will judge ¹⁹  the secrets of human hearts, ²⁰  according to my gospel ²¹  through Christ Jesus.

[1:18]  ¹ tn The genitive ἀνθρώπων could be taken as an attributed genitive, in which case the phase should be translated “against all ungodly and unrighteous people” (cf. “the truth of God” in v. 25 which is also probably an attributed genitive). C. E. B. Cranfield takes the section 1:18-32 to refer to all people (not just Gentiles), while 2:1-3:20 points out that the Jew is no exception (Romans [ICC], 1:104-6; 1:137-38).

[1:18]  ² tn “Their” is implied in the Greek, but is supplied because of English style.

[1:18]  ³ tn Or “by means of unrighteousness.” Grk “in (by) unrighteousness.”

[1:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “is manifest to/in them.”

[1:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “they”; the referent (people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:21]  ⁶ tn Grk “heart.”

[1:22]  ⁷ tn The participle φάσκοντες (faskonte") is used concessively here.

[1:23]  ⁸ tn Grk “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God in likeness of an image of corruptible man.” Here there is a wordplay on the Greek terms ἄφθαρτος (afqarto", “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”) and φθαρτός (fqarto", “mortal, corruptible, subject to decay”).

[1:23]  ⁹ sn Possibly an allusion to Ps 106:19-20.

[2:12]  ¹⁰ sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn The Greek sentence expresses this contrast more succinctly than is possible in English. Grk “For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.”

[2:14]  ¹² sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew.

[2:14]  ¹³ tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish.

[2:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.”

[2:15]  ¹⁵ 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.

[2:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.

[2:15]  ¹⁷ tn Or “excuse.”

[2:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”

[2:16]  ¹⁹ tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment.

[2:16]  ²⁰ tn Grk “of people.”

[2:16]  ²¹ sn On my gospel cf. Rom 16:25; 2 Tim 2:8.