Roma 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Roma 2:17-24

The Condemnation of the Jew

2:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law ²  and boast of your relationship to God ³  2:18 and know his will ⁴  and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, ⁵  2:19 and if you are convinced ⁶  that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 2:20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth – 2:21 therefore ⁷  you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 2:22 You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor ⁸  idols, do you rob temples? 2:23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law! 2:24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” ⁹ 

Roma 3:1-2

3:1 Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? 3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ¹⁰  First of all, ¹¹  the Jews ¹²  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ¹³ 

[2:12]  ¹ 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.

[2:17]  ² sn The law refers to the Mosaic law, described mainly in the OT books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

[2:17]  ³ tn Grk “boast in God.” This may be an allusion to Jer 9:24.

[2:18]  ⁴ tn Grk “the will.”

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “because of being instructed out of the law.”

[2:19]  ⁶ tn This verb is parallel to the verbs in vv. 17-18a, so it shares the conditional meaning even though the word “if” is not repeated.

[2:21]  ⁷ tn The structure of vv. 21-24 is difficult. Some take these verses as the apodosis of the conditional clauses (protases) in vv. 17-20; others see vv. 17-20 as an instance of anacoluthon (a broken off or incomplete construction).

[2:22]  ⁸ tn Or “detest.”

[2:24]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 52:5.

[3:2]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “much in every way.”

[3:2]  ¹¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[3:2]  tn Grk “first indeed that.”

[3:2]  ¹² tn Grk “they were.”

[3:2]  ¹³ tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.