Romans 2:17-29 Study

My translation:

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 2

17 Εἰ δὲ σὺ Ἰουδαῖος ἐπονομάζῃ καὶ ἐπαναπαύῃ νόμῳ καὶ καυχᾶσαι ἐν θεῷ 18 καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου, 19 πέποιθάς τε σεαυτὸν ὁδηγὸν εἶναι τυφλῶν, φῶς τῶν ἐν σκότει, 20 παιδευτὴν ἀφρόνων, διδάσκαλον νηπίων, ἔχοντα τὴν μόρφωσιν τῆς γνώσεως καὶ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐν τῷ νόμῳ—

17 Now if you call yourself a Jew and you find rest in the law and you boast in God 18 and you know the will of God and you approve of the superior things because you are being instructed by the law, 19 and you are confident that you yourself are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, 20 a trainer for the ignorant, a teacher for infants because you have in the law the formal structure of knowledge and truth –

All the privileges they enjoyed led them to pride — a danger for us too.

Hebrews 4:1-3.

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 2

21 ὁ οὖν διδάσκων ἕτερον σεαυτὸν οὐ διδάσκεις; ὁ κηρύσσων μὴ κλέπτειν κλέπτεις; 22 ὁ λέγων μὴ μοιχεύειν μοιχεύεις; ὁ βδελυσσόμενος τὰ εἴδωλα ἱεροσυλεῖς; 23 ὃς ἐν νόμῳ καυχᾶσαι, διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις; 24 τὸ γὰρ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ διʼ ὑμᾶς βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καθὼς γέγραπται.

21 You, then, who are teaching others, are you not teaching yourself? You who are preaching, “Thou shalt not steal!” – are you stealing? 22 You who are saying, “Thou shalt not commit adultery!” – are you committing adultery? You who are claiming to detest idols, are you robbing temples? 23 You who boast in the law, are you dishonoring God by transgressing the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.

[1] LXX of Isaiah 52:5, quoted in v. 24 here: διʼ ὑμᾶς διὰ παντὸς τὸ ὄνομά μου βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν (Because of you continually my name is blasphemed among the nations/Gentiles). Hebrew: and continually all the day my name is being spurned (no mention of nations/Gentiles or because of you).

“The reasoning of the Gentiles is to the effect that a people are like their God and if the people can perpetrate such crimes their God must be of the same character and is to be execrated accordingly.” - Murray

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 2

25 Περιτομὴ μὲν γὰρ ὠφελεῖ ἐὰν νόμον πράσσῃς· ἐὰν δὲ παραβάτης νόμου ᾖς, ἡ περιτομή σου ἀκροβυστία γέγονεν. 26 ἐὰν οὖν ἡ ἀκροβυστία τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ νόμου φυλάσσῃ, οὐχ ἡ ἀκροβυστία αὐτοῦ εἰς περιτομὴν λογισθήσεται; 27 καὶ κρινεῖ ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβυστία τὸν νόμον τελοῦσα σὲ τὸν διὰ γράμματος καὶ περιτομῆς παραβάτην νόμου.

25 For circumcision benefits you only if you do the law; but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if the uncircumcised man guards the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be reckoned as circumcision? 27 And the one who by nature is uncircumcised yet carries out the demands of the law will pass judgment on you who are the transgressor of the law despite having the written document of the law and circumcision.

“The rite of circumcision is of no avail apart from that which it signifies [hearts dedicated to God], and if that which it signifies is present the absence of the sign does not annul this grace.” - Murray

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition Chapter 2

28 οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν, οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ περιτομή· 29 ἀλλʼ ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι, οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ.

28 For the Jew is not the one who is out in the open, nor is circumcision out in the open in the flesh; 29 but the Jew is one in secret, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written document; his approval comes not from man but from God.

“The outward has no spiritual significance except as the sign and seal of that which it represents, and the true circumcision is that work of grace in the heart which the external rite signifies.” - Murray

A true Jew is one who praises God (based on the name Judah - “he praises Yahweh”)

The surrender of the flesh is worthless without the surrender of the heart.