1 Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone who is judging; for in what you judge the other, you condemn yourself, for you, the one judging, practise the same things.
2 And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth upon those practising such things.
3 And do you think this, O man - you who are judging those who practise these things and (yet) are doing them - that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you disdain the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath and of revelation of the righteousness of God,
6 who will give back to each according to his works;
7 to those on the one hand seeking glory and honour and imperishability according to perseverance of good work eternal life,
8 to those on the other out of self-seeking disobeying the truth but letting themselves be persuaded by the unrighteousness wrath and fury.
9 Affliction and anguish upon every soul of man working evil, Jew first, then Greek;
10 but glory and honour and peace to everyone working good, Jew first, then Greek;
11 for there is no partiality with God.
My translation
Submitted by andrew on Thu, 19/04/2007 - 21:13.
1 It is not immediately clear whether Paul has Jews or Gentiles primarily in mind at this point when he addresses the presumption of those who condemn others but commit the same offences themselves. On the whole a Jewish auditor seems more likely, so that the therefore in 2:1 picks up the implicit complaint against Jewish idolatry and unrighteousness in the preceding section.
i) The vocative ‘O man’ recalls Micah 6:8, which belongs to a prophecy of judgment against Israel as a consequence of the nation’s failure to ‘do justice’ – to be in Paul’s phrase ‘doers of the law’. ii) The language of 2:2-10 is especially descriptive of Israel; the word used for hardness of heart in 2:5 is used of sinful Israel in Deuteronomy 9:27. iii) The passage seems to presuppose a knowledge of the Jewish law (‘We know that…’, ‘Do you not know that…’). iv) The rest of this section of Romans through to the end of chapter 4 deals expressly with the standing of the Jew before God.
So the argument in the first place is that the Jews in Rome cannot afford to pass judgment on the Greek-Roman world for its idolatry, immorality and wickedness when they themselves act in much the same way. They cannot take the complacent course of assuming that God will postpone judgment indefinitely. If at the moment they are experiencing God’s kindness and forbearance and patience, they should understand that as an opportunity to repent. Otherwise, they are simply storing up wrath for themselves on a day of wrath and of revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
5 In the Old Testament the ‘day of wrath’ is always a historical event. It is the day, for example, when God shatters the kings who oppose his anointed ruler (Ps. 110:5). It is a day when armies attack Jerusalem and the inhabitants of the land are slaughtered (Zeph. 1:15, 18), a day when those who are humble and seek righteousness may perhaps be preserved (Zeph. 2:2-3). The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was a ‘day of the Lord’ (Lam. 1:12; 2:21-22), but it will also be a ‘day of the Lord’ when the Medes rise up and overthrow the Babylonians (Is. 13:9, 17). This background is determinative for Paul’s usage: he envisages devastating historical circumstances that will constitute judgment first on the Jews, secondly on the Greek-Roman world.
6 On this day God will give back to each according to his works. The thought occurs in both Psalm 61:13 LXX and Proverbs 24:12 LXX. The psalmist is harried by his enemies but he waits patiently for God, who is his rock and salvation, to deliver him. He warns against trusting in the wealth that accrues from extortion and robbery, for God will ‘give back to each according to his works’ (62:12). The point is reinforced that the day of wrath is God’s response to social evil. In Proverbs it constitutes a judgment pronounced on the person who fails to help those who are being taken away to be killed, claiming no knowledge of their fate (24:11).
7-10 The two groups are clearly defined. Those who through perseverance in good work seek glory and honour and incorruption will receive the life of the age, which is interpreted as glory and honour and peace (2:7, 10). Those, however, who are disobedient towards the truth out of contentiousness, who instead obey unrighteousness, who accomplish evil, will receive wrath and fury, tribulation and distress – the Jew first, and then the Greek (2:8-9). God shows no partiality.
The outcome of the judgment in both cases is described not in metaphysical but in concrete social and existential terms – glory, honour and peace, on the one hand; tribulation and distress, on the other. The language of tribulation and distress comes from the catalogue of curses that Israel will suffer if it does not keep the commandments and statutes of God. Specifically they refer to the suffering caused by the nation that God will send against Israel to beseige them in their towns and villages (Deut. 28:53, 55, 57 LXX; cf. Is. 8:22; 30:6). This suggests that in Paul’s mind the suffering of unrighteous Israel on the day of wrath would be the same kind.
1 Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone who is judging; for in what you judge the other, you condemn yourself, for you, the one judging, practise the same things.
2 And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth upon those practising such things.
3 And do you think this, O man - you who are judging those who practise these things and (yet) are doing them - that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you disdain the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But according to your hardness and impenitent heart you are storing up for yourself wrath on the day of wrath and of revelation of the righteousness of God,
6 who will give back to each according to his works;
7 to those on the one hand seeking glory and honour and imperishability according to perseverance of good work eternal life,
8 to those on the other out of self-seeking disobeying the truth but letting themselves be persuaded by the unrighteousness wrath and fury.
9 Affliction and anguish upon every soul of man working evil, Jew first, then Greek;
10 but glory and honour and peace to everyone working good, Jew first, then Greek;
11 for there is no partiality with God.
1 It is not immediately clear whether Paul has Jews or Gentiles primarily in mind at this point when he addresses the presumption of those who condemn others but commit the same offences themselves. On the whole a Jewish auditor seems more likely, so that the therefore in 2:1 picks up the implicit complaint against Jewish idolatry and unrighteousness in the preceding section.
i) The vocative ‘O man’ recalls Micah 6:8, which belongs to a prophecy of judgment against Israel as a consequence of the nation’s failure to ‘do justice’ – to be in Paul’s phrase ‘doers of the law’. ii) The language of 2:2-10 is especially descriptive of Israel; the word used for hardness of heart in 2:5 is used of sinful Israel in Deuteronomy 9:27. iii) The passage seems to presuppose a knowledge of the Jewish law (‘We know that…’, ‘Do you not know that…’). iv) The rest of this section of Romans through to the end of chapter 4 deals expressly with the standing of the Jew before God.
So the argument in the first place is that the Jews in Rome cannot afford to pass judgment on the Greek-Roman world for its idolatry, immorality and wickedness when they themselves act in much the same way. They cannot take the complacent course of assuming that God will postpone judgment indefinitely. If at the moment they are experiencing God’s kindness and forbearance and patience, they should understand that as an opportunity to repent. Otherwise, they are simply storing up wrath for themselves on a day of wrath and of revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
5 In the Old Testament the ‘day of wrath’ is always a historical event. It is the day, for example, when God shatters the kings who oppose his anointed ruler (Ps. 110:5). It is a day when armies attack Jerusalem and the inhabitants of the land are slaughtered (Zeph. 1:15, 18), a day when those who are humble and seek righteousness may perhaps be preserved (Zeph. 2:2-3). The destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was a ‘day of the Lord’ (Lam. 1:12; 2:21-22), but it will also be a ‘day of the Lord’ when the Medes rise up and overthrow the Babylonians (Is. 13:9, 17). This background is determinative for Paul’s usage: he envisages devastating historical circumstances that will constitute judgment first on the Jews, secondly on the Greek-Roman world.
6 On this day God will give back to each according to his works. The thought occurs in both Psalm 61:13 LXX and Proverbs 24:12 LXX. The psalmist is harried by his enemies but he waits patiently for God, who is his rock and salvation, to deliver him. He warns against trusting in the wealth that accrues from extortion and robbery, for God will ‘give back to each according to his works’ (62:12). The point is reinforced that the day of wrath is God’s response to social evil. In Proverbs it constitutes a judgment pronounced on the person who fails to help those who are being taken away to be killed, claiming no knowledge of their fate (24:11).
7-10 The two groups are clearly defined. Those who through perseverance in good work seek glory and honour and incorruption will receive the life of the age, which is interpreted as glory and honour and peace (2:7, 10). Those, however, who are disobedient towards the truth out of contentiousness, who instead obey unrighteousness, who accomplish evil, will receive wrath and fury, tribulation and distress – the Jew first, and then the Greek (2:8-9). God shows no partiality.
The outcome of the judgment in both cases is described not in metaphysical but in concrete social and existential terms – glory, honour and peace, on the one hand; tribulation and distress, on the other. The language of tribulation and distress comes from the catalogue of curses that Israel will suffer if it does not keep the commandments and statutes of God. Specifically they refer to the suffering caused by the nation that God will send against Israel to beseige them in their towns and villages (Deut. 28:53, 55, 57 LXX; cf. Is. 8:22; 30:6). This suggests that in Paul’s mind the suffering of unrighteous Israel on the day of wrath would be the same kind.
See also the extensive discussions concerning the meaning and scope of the phrases ’day of the Lord ’ and ’day of wrath’ here: ’Reading Romans eschatologically’, and ’Day of the Lord - Day of Wrath: Judgement in history or final judgement?’.
See also: