The one who judges others is without excuse, and God's kindness leads to repentance (Romans 2:1–5)

Says Διὸ ἀναπολόγητος εἶ, ὦ ἄνθρωπε πᾶς ὁ κρίνων: "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another" (2:1, BSB). The reason follows: "For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things" (BSB). Implies ἀναπολόγητος (anapologētos, "without excuse") is the word of 1:20, where the human race is "without excuse" before the witness of creation (lex.G379; note.language.Rom.2.1.anapologetos; note.language.Rom.1.20.anapologetous). The one who judges stands where 1:18–32 left the rest. Paul plays on the verb: κρίνεις ... κατακρίνεις, "you judge ... you condemn" (literal). The sentence the judge passes on others falls on himself, because he does "the same things" (τὰ αὐτά). These are the things listed in 1:29–31, many of them sins of everyday life, not only the idolatry and sexual sins of 1:23–27 (note.language.Rom.2.1.krino-krima; lex.G2919; lex.G2917).

Uncertain What Διό ("therefore") draws on. It may draw on 1:32, the nearest statement: people "know God's righteous decree" (BSB), and the one who judges shows by his judging that he knows it too. Or it may draw on the whole of 1:18–32. This commentary leans to 1:32, since the link of knowing and doing is the point of both verses, but the sense of the chapter is the same either way.

Uncertain Who is addressed in 2:1–5. Three views are held. (1) A Jewish interlocutor from the start: the confidence in God's kindness in 2:4 fits Jewish hope, and 2:17 names a Jew. (2) A Gentile who moralizes, in line with the diatribe's address to a pretentious hearer. (3) Anyone who judges, with the Jew foremost. This commentary leans, loosely, to (3). πᾶς ὁ κρίνων ("everyone who judges," literal) is general. The word "Jew" does not appear until 2:17. And 2:9–10 brings Jew and Greek under one standard. Yet the description fits the Jew most closely, and 2:17–24 makes that explicit. The main alternative is (1).

Stowers reads ὦ ἄνθρωπε as the diatribe's apostrophe to an imagined hearer (src.stowers-diatribe). Thorsteinsson argues for a Gentile interlocutor in Romans 2 (src.thorsteinsson-interlocutor). The forms are described in note.historical.Rom.2.1-Rom.2.29.interlocutor-diatribe.

Says "And we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth" (2:2, BSB). Implies "We know" appeals to common ground that the hearer will grant. κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ("according to truth," literal) means that God's judgment matches what is actually so. It does not rest on appearance, on a name, or on the judge's own standing. Whether the verse begins with δέ ("and") or γάρ ("for") makes little difference (var.Rom.2.2.de-gar).

Says "So when you, O man, pass judgment on others, yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment?" (2:3, BSB). "Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you to repentance?" (2:4, BSB). Implies The hearer takes God's patience as a sign of exemption. Paul says it is a summons to repent. The three nouns, χρηστότης, ἀνοχή and μακροθυμία, name God's restraint in not judging at once (note.language.Rom.2.4.chrestotes-anoche-makrothymia; lex.G5544; lex.G463; lex.G3115). Romans 3:25–26 will speak of the same forbearance (ἀνοχή) in passing over former sins.

Uncertain Whether ἄγει ("leads") is conative, "is meant to lead you" (literal), or simply states what God's kindness does. The conative sense suits 2:5, where the hearer does not repent. The sense is close either way: the kindness has repentance as its aim.

Uncertain What background Paul has in view in 2:4. (1) Israel's confession of God as "slow to anger" (Exod 34:6, BSB; אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם, erekh appayim; xref.Rom.2.4.Exod.34.6.heb; note.language.Rom.2.4.exod-34-6-slow-to-anger). The pairing of kindness and patience echoes that confession, which recurs often in the Old Testament. (2) The Wisdom of Solomon (non-canonical; cited for historical context only). After its attack on Gentile idolatry (Wis 13–14), it says, "But you, our God, are kind and true, patient" (Σὺ δὲ ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν χρηστὸς καὶ ἀληθής, μακρόθυμος, 15:1, literal), and then, "For even if we sin, we are yours" (καὶ γὰρ ἐὰν ἁμάρτωμεν, σοί ἐσμεν, 15:2, literal). Paul's sequence in 1:18–2:4, with idolatry condemned and then confidence in God's kindness exposed, follows the same order, and 2:4 shares the words χρηστ- and μακροθυμ-. Whether Paul has Wisdom 15 in mind cannot be shown (note.historical.Rom.1.1-Rom.1.32.wisdom-polemic).

Says "But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed" (2:5, BSB). Implies θησαυρίζεις ("you are storing up") is ironic: the hearer is laying up a treasure, but the treasure is wrath (note.language.Rom.2.5.sklerotes-ametanoetos; lex.G4643; lex.G279). The "day of wrath" is the prophets' day of the Lord: "That day will be a day of wrath" (Zeph 1:15, BSB; xref.Rom.2.5.Zeph.1.15.heb; note.language.Rom.2.5.day-of-wrath). The wrath now being revealed (1:18) has its last day still to come. δικαιοκρισία ("righteous judgment") occurs only here in the New Testament (lex.G1341). The Byzantine text adds καί ("of revelation and of righteous judgment," literal); the sense is unchanged (var.Rom.2.5.kai-dikaiokrisias).