Romans 2:17 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Romans 2:17-29

In the latter part of the chapter the apostle directs his discourse more closely to the Jews, and shows what sins they were guilty of, notwithstanding their profession and vain pretensions. He had said (Rom. 2:13) that not the hearers but the doers of the law are justified; and he here applies that great truth to the Jews. Observe, I. He allows their profession (Rom. 2:17-20) and specifies their particular pretensions and privileges in which they prided themselves, that they might see he did... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Romans 2:17-29

2:17-29 If you are called by the name of Jew, if you take your rest in the Law, if you boast in God and know his will, if you give your approval to the excellent things, if you are instructed in the Law, if you believe yourself to be a leader of the blind, a light in darkness, and educator of the foolish, a teacher of the simple, if you believe yourself to have the very shape of knowledge and of truth in the Law--do you, then, who instruct another, not instruct yourself? Do you, who proclaim... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 2:17

Behold, thou art called a Jew ,.... From hence to the end of the chapter the Jews are particularly addressed; their several privileges and characters are commemorated, which by an ironical concession are allowed them; several charges are brought against them, even against their principal men; and the plea in favour of them, from their circumcision, is considered; and the apostle's view in the whole, is to show that they could not be justified before God by their obedience to the law of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 2:17

Behold, thou art called a Jew - What the apostle had said in the preceding verses being sufficient to enforce conviction on the conscience of the Jew, he now throws off the cover, and openly argues with him in the most plain and nervous manner; asserting that his superior knowledge, privileges, and profession, served only to aggravate his condemnation. And that, in fact, he who, under all his greater advantages, transgressed the law of God, stood condemned by the honest Gentile, who, to the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 2:17

Verse 17 17.Behold, thou art named a Jew, etc. Some old copies read εἰ δὲ, though indeed; which, were it generally received, would meet my approbation; but as the greater part of the manuscripts is opposed to it, and the sense is not unsuitable, I retain the old reading, especially as it is only a small difference of one letter. (77) Having now completed what he meant to say of the Gentiles, he returns to the Jews; and that he might, with greater force, beat down their great vanity, he allows... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:1-29

( b ) Those who judge others, not excepting the Jews. Here a new stage of the argument, in proof of the position propounded in Romans 1:18 , begins, and is continued to the end of the chapter. The position to be proved is that all mankind is guilty before God (see note on Romans 1:18 ). So far this has been shown with regard to the mass of the heathen world; its general moral corruption, prevalent and condoned, having been pointed out finally as a glaring proof; the main point of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:12-24

Law and guilt. God, as the Judge, is utterly impartial. But how, then, shall the differences between Jew and Gentile, especially in respect of the Law, be dealt with in that day? Sin shall be judged, condemned, in Jew or Gentile. The Gentile shall perish according to the measure of his sin; the Jew according to the measure of his. For law must pass into life, otherwise it is void and useless, save for condemnation. We have here—the Gentiles and the Jews in their respective relations to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:17

But if (the true reading being certainly εἰ δὲ , not ἰδὲ , as in the Textus Receptus) thou ( σὺ , emphatic) art named a Jew . The Israelites who had remained in Palestine, or who returned to it after the Captivity, seem thenceforth to have been designated Jews ( ἰουδαῖοι , though they included some of other tribes than that of Judah, notably that of Benjamin, of which St. Paul himself was, and of course of Levi. They are so called, whether resident in Palestine or... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:17-27

Tu quoque! Although himself a Jew, St. Paul shows no favor to his fellow-countrymen. No sooner has he characterized and condemned the sins of the heathen, than he turns upon the Israelites to include them in the same condemnation of sin and unbelief. In this passage, where close reasoning is combined with vigorous irony, he presses home upon those Jews who censure the flagitious crimes of heathenism the sentence which justice compels them to admit as their due. I. PRIVILEGE IS ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:17-29

True religion. Most men want to have a religion of some sort. If they do not want to have it while they live, yet, recognizing the importance of eternity and the judgment, they want to have it before they die. Hence men who never think of religion in their hours of health and activity, will send for the minister when they are on a bed of sickness. Hence you have such cases as that of the great Emperor Charles V. of Germany, who had been a man of war and restless ambition almost all his... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Romans 2:17-29

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Romans 2:17-29

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Romans 2:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 2:17

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Romans 2:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:1-29

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:12-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:17-27

The Pulpit Commentary - Romans 2:17-29

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