RSV ~ Romans 2 Notes

Rom 2:1-3 | ISB Notes

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.).

Rom 2:3 | ISB Notes

escape the judgment of God?: Presumption was a temptation for many Jews in the biblical period, who believed their membership in the Old Covenant and their Israelite descent would exempt them from the judgments of God (Mt 3:9; Jn 8:33). Paul attacks this mind-set and the attitude of superiority that springs from it.

Rom 2:4 | ISB Notes

forbearance: The time that God gives the sinner to repent is a grace (Wis 11:23; 2 Pet 3:9). To make light of this opportunity is to show contempt for his mercy.

• Forbearance differs from patience in that God is forbearing to those who sin out of weakness, but he endures with patience those who sin deliberately and brazenly. And this patience has limits, as seen when God finally acts to drown the generation of the flood and destroy the godless of Sodom (Origen, Commentary on Romans 2, 3).

Rom 2:6 | ISB Notes

according to his works: Paul looks ahead to the Last Day, when the life of every person is unrolled before God, and every thought (1 Cor 4:5), word (Mt 12:36), and deed (2 Cor 5:10) is weighed in the balance of divine justice. That God will determine his verdict on the basis of human works is a teaching that originates in the OT (Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12). It was later confirmed by Jesus (Mt 16:27) and reiterated by the apostles (2 Cor 5:10; 1 Pet 1:17). Paul is here stressing that Jews and Gentiles will be held to the same standard of judgment (CCC 682).

Rom 2:8 | ISB Notes

those who are factious: Or, better, “those who are selfish”.

Rom 2:11 | ISB Notes

no partiality: The Jews can expect no favoritism over the Gentiles on the day God judges the world (Acts 10:34-35). It matters only that people repent of evil in time to live for God (2:7) instead of themselves and their shallow ambitions (2:8).

Rom 2:13 | ISB Notes

not the hearers: Salvation is guaranteed, not to every Jew who hears the Torah read in the synagogue (Acts 15:21), but to those who put what they hear into practice (Jas 1:2225).

Rom 2:14 | ISB Notes

by nature: The Greek expression can be understood in two ways. (1) If it modifies the verb “do”, as in the translation, it means the Gentiles follow the natural law that God has inscribed on their hearts (CCC 1954, 2070). (2) If it modifies the verb “have”, it means the Gentiles were not privileged by birth to possess the Mosaic Law. This is the sense of the expression in 2:27 (rendered “physically”).

• When Paul says that the Gentiles keep the Law by nature, he means, not by nature apart from grace, but by nature that is healed and restored by grace (St. Augustine, On the Spirit and the Letter 47).

Rom 2:17-29 | ISB Notes

Paul rails against the Jew who boasts of possessing the Torah but fails to practice it. Already charged with presumption (2:4), he is now charged with hypocrisy (2:23).

Rom 2:19 | ISB Notes

a light … in darkness: Israel was called to share its wisdom with the nations as a living witness to the ways of righteousness.

• This missionary vocation has roots in the Pentateuch (Deut 4:5-8) and comes to full expression in Isaiah (Is 42:6; 49:6).

Paul charges that the Jews have fallen from this high calling: instead of being a iight to the Gentiles, they have become iike the Gentiles through their brazen transgressions of the Law.

Rom 2:24 | ISB Notes

The name of God: A citation from the Greek version of Is 52:5.

• Isaiah reminds the people of Israel that because their iniquities drove them into exile and scattered them among the nations, the very name and reputation of Yahweh are dishonored throughout the world. For Paul, continued infidelity to the Torah among the Jews perpetuates this shameful legacy.

Rom 2:29 | ISB Notes

real circumcision: Physical circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17:9-14) and the rite of initiation into the family of Israel (Lev 12:3). However, the Torah itself teaches that circumcision of the body points to a deeper need to circumcise the heart by consecrating it to God and cutting away its rebellious inclinations (Lev 26:41; Deut 10:16). God circumcises the hearts of believers in Baptism (Col 2:1112), just as he promised Moses he would do in the time of restoration (Deut 30:6). As a result, this spiritual procedure makes the literal procedure unnecessary and outdated in the new economy of grace (1 Cor 7:19; Gal 6:15; Phil 3:3).

His praise: A wordplay on the term “Jew”, which comes from the Hebrew name “Judah” and is related to the notion of “praise” (Gen 29:35).