Roma 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ¹ Therefore ²  you are without excuse, ³  whoever you are, ⁴  when you judge someone else. ⁵  For on whatever grounds ⁶  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

Roma 8:23

8:23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, ⁷  groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, ⁸  the redemption of our bodies. ⁹ 

Roma 9:11

9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ¹⁰  would stand, not by works but by ¹¹  his calling) ¹²  –

Roma 13:3

13:3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation,

[2:1]  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).

[2:1]  ² 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.

[2:1]  ³ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[8:23]  ⁷ tn Or “who have the Spirit as firstfruits.” The genitive πνεύματος (pneumatos) can be understood here as possessive (“the firstfruits belonging to the Spirit”) although it is much more likely that this is a genitive of apposition (“the firstfruits, namely, the Spirit”); cf. TEV, NLT.

[8:23]  ⁸ tn See the note on “adoption” in v. 15.

[8:23]  ⁹ tn Grk “body.”

[9:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

[9:11]  ¹¹ tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

[9:11]  ¹² tn Grk “by the one who calls.”

[9:11]  sn The entire clause is something of a parenthetical remark.