Romans 2.17-Three Jewish Privileges
Wenstrom Bible Miniistries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday August 29, 2007
Romans: Romans 2:17-Three Jewish Privileges
Lesson # 57
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:17.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans 2, which contains twelve principles regarding God’s judgment of mankind.
This evening we will begin to study the twelfth and final principle of divine judgment, which is contained in Romans 2:17-29, namely, that God judges according to reality and without regard of racial background or religious profession.
The Jews erroneously, presumptuously and arrogantly thought that they would enter the kingdom of heaven because of their racial background as Jews and circumcision as well as the privileges that God had given to them such as possessing the Law given to Moses.
In Romans 2:17-29, Paul destroys their false security, which was based upon six privileges God had given to them: (1) Security in their Racial Heritage: “Jew” (Romans 2:17) (2) Security in Being the Recipients of the Law: “Rely upon the Law” (Romans 2:17) (3) Security in their Relationship with God Obtained through the Covenant Promises to the Patriarchs: “Boast in God” (Romans 2:17). (4) Security in their Knowledge of the Will of God Obtained through the Law: “Know His will” (Romans 2:18). (5) Security in their Awareness of Spiritual Essentials that they Obtained through the Law: “Approve the things that are essential” (Romans 2:18). (6) Security in Being Instructed out of the Law: “Being instructed out of the Law” (Romans 2:18).
These privileges did not produce obedience in the Jews but rather arrogance towards their relationship with the Gentiles.
This arrogance was manifested in four pretensions according to Paul in Romans 2:19-20.
A “pretension” is the laying of a claim to something, a claim to dignity, importance or merit.
In Romans 2:19-20, the apostle Paul lists four Jewish pretensions that were in response to the privileges listed in Romans 2:17-18: (1) They believed they were a guide to the spiritually blind Gentiles: “Are confident that you yourselves are a guide to the blind” (Romans 2:19). (2) They believed they were a light to the Gentiles who were in spiritual darkness: “A light to those who are in darkness” (Romans 2:19). (3) They believed they were instructors of the foolish Gentiles: “A corrector of the foolish” (Romans 2:20). (4) They believed they were teachers of the spiritually immature: “A teacher of the immature” (Romans 2:20).
In Romans 2:20c, Paul teaches that this arrogance is based upon “having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
This evening we will begin our study of Romans 2:17-29 by noting Romans 2:17, in which the apostle Paul presents the first three privileges that produced Jewish pride and self-righteousness.
Let’s read Romans 2:17-29 and then concentrate on Romans 2:17.
Romans 2:17-29, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? For ‘THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,’ just as it is written. For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
Now, let’s look at in detail Romans 2:17.
Romans 2:17, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God.”
“But” is the “transitional” use of the post-positive conjunction de (deV), which introduces a new topic of discussion, transitioning from Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:11-16 to his teaching concerning the failure of the Jews to live up to the revelation and privileges given to them by God in Romans 2:17-29.
In Romans 2:1-3:8, the apostle Paul addresses the sin of the Jews and does so in three stages: (1) Without naming his opponent, but establishes the principles of divine judgment by which the Jew is clearly condemned, thus the Jews are as guilty as the pagan Gentiles and will likewise receive the wrath of God (Romans 2:1-16). (2) Paul explains how the Law condemns (2:17-29). (3) Paul adds a parenthetical response to possible misconceptions of what he has said (3:1-8).
Therefore, we can see that the first paragraph in this section that deals with the Jews need for salvation like the Gentiles is contained in Romans 2:1-16 and the conjunction de in Romans 2:17 introduces a new paragraph and explicitly addresses the self-righteous unregenerate Jew explaining to them how the Law condemns them.
“If” is the conditional particle ei (ei)) (i), which introduces a first class conditional statement, which indicates the assumption of truth for the sake of argument.
He conveys the first class condition “explicitly” employing the conditional particle ei, “if” with the indicative mood of the verb eponomazo (e)ponomavzw) (ep-on-om-ad-zo), “bear the name” in order to introduce the protasis, which appears in Romans 2:17-20.
However, the apodasis appears in Romans 2:21-23 in the form of five rhetorical questions and is introduced by the inferential use of the post-positive conjunction oun (ou@n) (oon), “therefore.”
In Romans 2:17-23, the basic relation that the protasis has to the apodasis is “evidence-inference.”
The apostle Paul infers in the apodasis of Romans 2:21-23 that the self-righteous Jew does not live up to the privilege and responsibilities of being a Jew, which he presents as evidence in the protasis in Romans 2:17-20.
The idea behind the first class condition in Romans 2:17 is not “since” but rather, “if-and let us assume for the sake of argument, then...”
This would encourage Paul’s Jewish audience to respond and come to the conclusion of the apodosis since they already agreed with him on the protasis.
Therefore, Paul is employing the first class condition as a tool of persuasion with his Jewish audience.
Paul’s Jewish audience would totally agree with his statements in Romans 2:17-18 in which he lists six privileges that the Jews received from God and would give him no argument on.
They would also agree with his statements in Romans 2:19-20 in which he lists the attitude of superiority that the Jews had towards their relationship with the Gentiles and they would not give Paul an argument on these as well.
However, in Romans 2:21-23, Paul presents five rhetorical questions that expose Jewish hypocrisy.
Thus, revealing to the Jews through persuasion that even though they were a privileged race and nation, they had not lived up to these privileges and responsibilities and were therefore, no better than the Gentiles whom they thought they were superior to.
Romans 2:17, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God.”
“You” is the 2nd person singular personal pronoun su (suv), which emphasizes that Paul is addressing the self-righteous Jew in this new paragraph since in Romans 1:1-17, Paul uses the 2nd person plural to address the Roman believers and when referring to the Gentiles he uses the third person plural, thus through the process of elimination we know that Paul is speaking to the Jew.
“Bear the name” is the verb eponomazo (e)ponomavzw) (ep-on-om-ad-zo), which means, “to apply a name to, surname, call by name, to classify oneself by means of a name.”
“Jew” is the proper name Ioudaios ( )Ioudaio$) (ee-oo-dah-yos), which refers to those members of the human race who are descendants racially of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and members of the nation of Israel and thus, denotes nationality distinguishing the Jew from the Gentile.
There are three titles used in Scripture for the racial descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: (1) Hebraios ( (Ebraio$) (heb-rah-yos), “Hebrew” (2) Ioudaios ( )Ioudaio$) (ee-oo-dah-yos), “Jew” (3) Israelite (’Israhlivth$) (is-rah-ale-ee-tace), “Israelite.”
The first title, “Hebrew” distinguishes a Hebrew-speaking Jew from a Greek-speaking one and this is illustrated by Paul when describing his pre-salvation distinctions in Philippians 3:5.
The second title, “Jew” distinguishes a Jew from a Gentile and denotes nationality, which Paul applies here to his audience in Romans 2:17.
The third title, “Israelite” speaks of the fact that the Jew is a member of a theocracy and is the heir of the promises given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose name was later changed by the Lord to “Israel” (See Romans 11:1)
Prior to the first century, the most common terms used for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were “Hebrew” and “Israelite.”
However, by the first century, the term “Jew” had become the most common designation for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
“Jew” is from “Judah,” (“praise”) and was one of the twelve tribes descended from Jacob’s son Judah and was also a designation for the southern half of Solomon’s kingdom after his death.
From the time of the Babylonian captivity, the whole race bore this title.
So we see that the first privilege listed by Paul that the Jews placed their confidence in to gain them entrance into the kingdom of heaven was their racial heritage as designated by the term “Jew.”
The use of this term “Jew” expresses the Jews’ self-righteousness and arrogant pride and attitude of superiority over the Gentile nations.
The Jews thought arrogantly and presumptuously that their racial background would provide them security from receiving eternal condemnation.
John the Baptist addressed the self-righteous attitude of the Jew who thought their racial background and relationship to Abraham would guarantee their entrance into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 3:5-9).
The Lord Jesus Christ also addressed this self-righteous attitude of the Jews (Matthew 8:11-12; John 8:34-45).
Romans 2:17, “But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Law and boast in God.”
“Rely upon” is the verb epanapauo (e)panapauvw) (ep-an-ah-pow-om-i), which means that the Jew “rested upon” the Law meaning he relied upon the Law of Moses to provide him with a secure standing before God.
“The Law” is the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which is a reference to the Mosaic Law.
It is important to understand the attitude of the Jews in the first century in that before the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the three pillars of Jewish society were the following: (1) Land (2) Law (3) Temple.
The Jews put undo emphasis upon these three things.
So we see that the second privilege listed by Paul that the Jews placed their confidence in and thought would get them automatically into the kingdom of heaven was that they were the recipients of the Law.
They erroneously and arrogantly and presumptuously thought that the fact that being the possessors of the Mosaic Law would give them security against God’s righteous judgment and eternal condemnation.
“Boast in” is the verb kauchaomai (kauxavomai) (kow-khah-om-i), which means, “to express an unusually high degree of confidence in someone or something being exceptionally noteworthy,” thus, “to boast.”
In Romans 2:17, the verb kauchaomai is used intransitively and in the deponent middle voice with the prepositional phrase en theo, “in God.”
The verb kauchaomai is used to express the Jews unusually high degree of confidence in their unique relationship with God based on the covenant promises made to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their being the recipients of the Law through Moses.
The word refers to the Jew priding himself in his relationship to God based on the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, New and Mosaic Covenants and is used to express the Jew’s total and absolute confidence in and dependence upon his relationship with God.
The Jews thought erroneously and arrogantly and presumptuously that their relationship with God, which was established through the covenant promises made to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would provide them security from eternal condemnation.
C.E.B. Cranfield commenting on this Jewish boasting in their relationship with God, writes, “to boast or glory in God is a thoroughly good thing, if it is the sort of boasting in Him, which truly gives Him the glory, a truly humble boasting in His goodness and mercy; but it is an altogether different matter, if it is the sort, which is a self-centered boasting in Him as a basis for one’s own self-importance. (Romans, A Shorter Commentary, page 55)
The object of the self-righteous Jew’s boasting is identified for us by the apostle Paul with a prepositional phrase, which is composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the dative masculine singular form of the noun theos (qeov$), “God.”
The preposition en is a marker of “association” and thus denotes the unique covenant relationship to God that the Jew claimed, which was based upon the covenant promises made to the patriarchs as well as their possession of the Mosaic Law.
The noun theos, “God” is a reference to the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The figure of “metonymy” applies to the noun meaning that God is put for a relationship with Him.
The noun theos is a dative of association indicating that the self-righteous Jew claims to possess an “association” or “relationship” with God through the covenant promises made to the patriarchs and their possession of the Mosaic Law.
So we see that the third privilege listed by Paul that the Jews erroneously assumed would get them automatically into the kingdom of heaven and protect them from eternal condemnation was that they were given a covenant relationship with God by virtue of the promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
They erroneously, arrogantly, and presumptuously thought that because their forefathers received covenant promises from God that this would provide them with security and protect them from eternal condemnation.
They arrogantly assumed that this covenant relationship was based upon the merits of the patriarchs and their own merits as their racial descendants, when in reality it was based upon God’s grace, love and faithfulness.