ISB ~ Romans 2 v1 - 3

Paul narrows his indictment of the world to target the failures of Israel. He charges the Jews with committing the same sins as the Gentiles (3:9), even though they have the light of the Torah to order their worship and guide their behavior. Stylistically, Paul begins in this section to employ a writing technique called a “diatribe”, which consists of a lively debate between a writer (Paul) and a hypothetical conversation partner (a Jew, 2:17). Authors in Greek antiquity used this question-and-answer format to explain their ideas and anticipate objections. The technique is utilized throughout Romans (2:17-23; 3:1-9, 27-29; 4:1, etc.).