Introduction to Romans 2:1–29: the place of the chapter in the indictment of 1:18–3:20

Says Romans 2 begins with a turn to the reader: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another" (2:1, BSB). It ends with the person whose "praise does not come from men, but from God" (2:29, BSB). Between these, Paul says that God's judgment is "based on truth" (2:2, BSB), that God "will repay each one according to his deeds" (2:6, BSB), that he "does not show favoritism" (2:11, BSB), and that he "will judge men's secrets through Christ Jesus" (2:16, BSB). At 2:17 the one addressed is named for the first time: "Now you, if you call yourself a Jew" (BSB).

Implies The chapter belongs to the indictment that runs from 1:18 to 3:20. Romans 1:18–32 described the human race turning from the Creator. Romans 2 brings within the same verdict the person who agrees with 1:18–32 and condemns others, and above all the Jew who has the law. The conclusion comes in 3:9: "Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin" (BSB), and in 3:19–20, "so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God" (3:19, BSB). Romans 2 is therefore part of the case for the gospel's necessity. Its statements about judgment and doing are read within that purpose.

Structure. 2:1–5: the one who judges others and does the same things. 2:6–11: the principle of God's impartial judgment according to deeds, set out in a ring (chiasm). 2:12–16: the law and the judgment of Jew and Gentile, with the Gentiles who do "what the law requires" (2:14, BSB). 2:17–24: the Jew's privileges and the charge that he breaks the law he teaches. 2:25–29: circumcision, and the Jew "inwardly" whose circumcision is "a matter of the heart" (2:29, BSB).

Form. Paul writes in the style of a diatribe: he addresses an imagined hearer ("O man," 2:1, 3) and presses him with questions (2:3–4, 21–23). The form, its use in moral teaching, and its bearing on who is addressed are set out in note.historical.Rom.2.1-Rom.2.29.interlocutor-diatribe. Jewish teaching on the final judgment in the Second Temple period is described in note.historical.Rom.2.1-Rom.2.29.second-temple-judgment.

Labels in this chapter. Several questions in Romans 2 are open among careful interpreters, and they carry the Uncertain label below. These include who the people of 2:7, 10 and 13 are, who the Gentiles of 2:14–15 and 2:26–29 are, and several points of grammar. Where this commentary states a lean, it gives the grounds and names the alternative. A doctrinal note after 2:12–16 states how judgment according to deeds relates to justification by faith.

Text. The Greek running text is SBLGNT with the team's unit-by-unit decisions, and the English display text is the BSB. Units that bear on the exegesis are shown in full boxes generated from the variant records (2:2, 16, 17). The other units do not change the meaning and share one compact "Minor variants" box after the section on the Gentiles of 2:14–15 and 2:26–29 (STYLE_GUIDE L19).