17 But if you are named a ’Jew’ and rest upon the law and boast in God
18 and know (his) will and approve the distinctions, being instructed from the law,
19 and you are persuaded that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of those in darkness,
20 an instructor of foolish ones, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of truth;
21 the one then teaching another, do you not teach yourself? The one preaching 'do not steal', do you steal?
22 The one saying 'do not commit adultery', do you commit adultery? The one abhorring the idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the law, through the transgression of the law you dishonour God,
24 for the name of God because of you is held in contempt among the Gentiles, as it has been written.
My translation
Submitted by andrew on Fri, 20/04/2007 - 15:06.
Paul now brings the problem of Israel clearly into focus. A Jew may legitimately claim to rest upon the law, boast in God, be instructed from the law so as to know his will and differentiate rightly between good and evil, to be a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, a teacher of those who lack wisdom because the law is the embodiment of knowledge and of truth. But if this Jew does not live in accordance with the law that he teaches, if he transgresses the law in which he boasts, then he dishonours God.
Verse 24 is a quotation from Isaiah 52:5 LXX. The immediate argument here is that YHWH’s name is held in contempt or blasphemed among the nations because his people are in exile, regarded as the captive people of an ineffectual god. But the exile was a punishment for Israel’s sin, and Paul’s argument is presumably that Israel is still oppressed, held captive, because the Jews have boasted in the commandments but have not kept them. For this reason Israel faces a ‘day of wrath’.
17 But if you are named a ’Jew’ and rest upon the law and boast in God
18 and know (his) will and approve the distinctions, being instructed from the law,
19 and you are persuaded that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of those in darkness,
20 an instructor of foolish ones, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and of truth;
21 the one then teaching another, do you not teach yourself? The one preaching 'do not steal', do you steal?
22 The one saying 'do not commit adultery', do you commit adultery? The one abhorring the idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the law, through the transgression of the law you dishonour God,
24 for the name of God because of you is held in contempt among the Gentiles, as it has been written.
Paul now brings the problem of Israel clearly into focus. A Jew may legitimately claim to rest upon the law, boast in God, be instructed from the law so as to know his will and differentiate rightly between good and evil, to be a guide to the blind, a light to those in darkness, a teacher of those who lack wisdom because the law is the embodiment of knowledge and of truth. But if this Jew does not live in accordance with the law that he teaches, if he transgresses the law in which he boasts, then he dishonours God.
Verse 24 is a quotation from Isaiah 52:5 LXX. The immediate argument here is that YHWH’s name is held in contempt or blasphemed among the nations because his people are in exile, regarded as the captive people of an ineffectual god. But the exile was a punishment for Israel’s sin, and Paul’s argument is presumably that Israel is still oppressed, held captive, because the Jews have boasted in the commandments but have not kept them. For this reason Israel faces a ‘day of wrath’.