Romans 2.20-The Third and Fourth Jewish Pretensions in Response to Their Privileges
Prairie View Christian Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday September 5, 2007
Romans: Romans 2:20-The Third and Fourth Jewish Pretensions in Response to Their Privileges
Lesson # 60
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 2:17.
This evening we will continue 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 Knowledge of God Obtained through the Law: “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.
We completed our study of these six privileges and last evening we begin a study of how this Jewish arrogance and self-righteousness manifested itself.
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 pretensions of the Jews meaning they claimed a particular dignity, importance or merit: (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.”
Last evening we studied Romans 2:19, in which Paul presents two Jewish pretensions that were in response to their privileges listed by Paul in Romans 2:17-18.
This evening we will study Romans 2:20, which presents to us the third and fourth of these Jewish pretensions.
Let’s read Romans 2:17-29 and then concentrate on Romans 2:20.
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 2:20.
Romans 2:20, “A corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
“Corrector” is the noun paideutes (paideuthv$) (pahee-dyoo-tace), which refers to “one who provides instruction for the purpose of proper behavior,” thus an “instructor, trainer, teacher, educator.”
In Romans 2:20, the noun paideutes is used with reference to the unsaved Jews who considered themselves as those who could provide the unsaved Gentiles with instruction for the purpose of proper behavior, thus, they considered themselves as instructors, trainers, teachers, or educators of the unsaved Gentiles.
Of course, they failed in this in that they conducted themselves just as the Gentiles did according to Romans 2:1.
Romans 2:1, “For this very reason, you are, as an eternal spiritual truth, without excuse O man, each and everyone of you without exception who as a lifestyle judge as guilty for by means of that which you as a lifestyle judge as guilty the other person, you, as an eternal spiritual truth condemn yourself for you, who as a lifestyle judge as guilty, make it a habit to practice the same things.”
This pretension was based on the fact that the Jews were given the Old Testament Scriptures and were educated by their parents while growing up and by their rabbis in their synagogues every Sabbath as adults according to Romans 2:19.
Romans 2:17-19, “Now, if-and let us assume for the sake of argument-you identify yourself by the name ‘Jew’ and you rely upon the Law and boast in a relationship with God. And know His will through instruction and can discern the essentials because you have received oral instruction in the past in a detailed, systematic and repetitious manner by means of the Law and continue to do so. Moreover, you are confident in yourself, namely that you are as a guide for the blind, a light to those in darkness.”
This word expresses the unsaved, self-righteous Jew’s attitude towards the unsaved Gentiles in that they considered the Gentiles spiritual babes, who needed upbringing and handling like children in order for them to grow up to spiritual maturity.
Thus, the Jews believed that the unsaved Gentiles needed direction, teaching, instruction and a certain measure of discipline from them for maturity to become a reality in a Gentile.
Romans 2:20, “A corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
“Of the foolish” is the adjective aphron (a&frwn) (af-rone), which describes the unsaved Gentiles as people who are uneducated or ignorant of matters pertaining to the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Thus, the Jews considered themselves as being able to educate the Gentiles regarding the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the nation of Israel because they as a people were custodians of the Old Testament Scriptures and educated in them since birth.
“A teacher” is the noun didaskalos (didavskalo$) (did-as-kal-os), which is used with reference to the unsaved Jew describing them as one who systematically imparts their technical knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures to the Gentiles on a regular or sustained basis.
To the Greeks, a didaskalos denoted someone who taught or instructed his pupils, who might be an educator or he may be a leader of a philosophical school of thought.
In the Greek New Testament, didaskalos appears 58 times, 41 of which are used with reference to the Lord Jesus Christ as a “teacher” of the Word of God.
The vocative form of the word is equivalent to the Hebrew term, rhabbi, “rabbi.”
However, despite the fact that didaskalos functions as an equivalent for rhabbi, there is a great difference between the Greek and Hebrew understandings of the role of the “teacher.”
Didaskalos should be interpreted in the New Testament especially in light of the place of rabbi in Judaism (Wegenast, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3.767).
Those who sat under the teaching of a didaskalos were called mathetes, “disciples.”
The word was used of students who lived in close fellowship with their teacher, they traveled with him, ate with him, attended festive occasions with him.
The students of a teacher were characterized by complete submission to the authority of the teacher, as well as by a devotion to him which was to surpass devotion to father or mother and which displayed itself in service to the teacher.
The teaching or learning method was to sit at the feet of the teacher listening to him and also involved engaging in a question and answer encounter with the teacher as well as observing the actions of the teacher, especially how he conducted himself in regard to the Law or solved problems of conduct through his knowledge of Law and tradition.
After the strenuous studies the student was ordained through the laying on of hands and received the right to be called Rabbi.
He then had the responsibility to pass on that which he had learned from his teacher and to make disciples himself.
John the Baptist had his disciples (Matt. 9:14), the Phari¬sees had theirs (Matt. 22:16), even Paul had his (Acts 9:25), and of course, the Lord had many disciples (Luke 6:17).
In Romans 2:20, the noun didaskalos is used with reference to the unsaved Jews who considered themselves because of their instruction in the Law as being able to systematically impart their technical knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures to the Gentiles on a regular or sustained basis.
Romans 2:20, “A corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
“Of the immature” is the adjective nepios (nhvpio$) (nay-pee-os), which literally means, “that which does not talk,” namely, “an infant.”
This term was used by the Jews to designate proselytes or novices to Judaism.
In Romans 2:20, the adjective nepios is used by Paul from the perspective of the unsaved, self-righteous Jew in a patronizing way of the Gentiles who were considered by the Jews as immature concerning issues related to God and the worship of Him.
It was a word that described the Gentiles as being “unskilled,” or “untrained” in the Old Testament Scriptures, which would give them knowledge of God and His ways.
The reason again for this patronizing attitude on the part of the Jews towards the Gentiles is that they were given the Law and were trained in it from birth.
Romans 2:20, “A corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth.”
“Having” is the verb echo (e&xw) (ekh-o), which means, “to hold in one’s possession.”
The word’s object is the Law or Old Testament Scriptures.
Therefore, the Jews possessed the Law in the sense that they were the custodians of the Old Testament Scriptures.
In Romans 2:20, the participle form of the verb echo is a “causal” participle since it answers the question as to “why” these Jews were confident that they were guides to the spiritually blind Gentiles and a light to them who dwelled in spiritual darkness, and considered themselves as their instructors and teachers.
The causal participle indicates that the Jews were confident “because” they possessed the Old Testament Scriptures or were the custodians of the Old Testament Scriptures.
“The embodiment” is the noun morphosis (movrfwsi$) (mor-fo-sis), which refers to the fact that in the Old Testament Scriptures, the Jews possessed “in concrete, written form, a body” of knowledge and truth that originated from God.
In Romans 2:20, the noun morphosis means, “embodiment” and is used with reference to the Old Testament Scriptures as indicated by the prepositional phase en to nomo, “in the Law” and also used in relation to the noun aletheia, “truth” and “gnosis, “knowledge,” which is contained in the Old Testament Scriptures.
The noun morphosis means, “embodiment” in that the Old Testament Scriptures expressed in concrete written form a body of knowledge and truth that originated from God.
“Of knowledge” is the noun gnosis (gnwsi$) (gno-sis), which is used in an objective sense for the content of what is known about the character and nature of God and His will and ways as they are revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures.
In Romans 2:20, the gnosis is used in an objective sense for the content of what is known about the character and nature of God and His will and ways as revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures.
“Of the truth” is noun aletheia (a)lhvqeia) (al-ay-thi-a), which refers to the truth of God in an objective sense as a body of knowledge containing the revelation of God’s character and nature, His ways and His will for mankind.
“In the Law” is the composed of the preposition en (e)n), “in” and the dative articular masculine form of the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), “the Law.”
In Romans 2:20, nomos is not referring to the Mosaic Law but rather the Old Testament Scriptures in their entirety since Paul is emphasizing the entire body of revelation that the Jews received from God in written form.