ἀνόμως … ἐν νόμῳ … διὰ νόμου: ἀπολοῦνται / κριθήσονται

Says 2:12 has two parallel clauses: - ὅσοι γὰρ ἀνόμως ἥμαρτον, ἀνόμως καὶ ἀπολοῦνται, "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law"; - ὅσοι ἐν νόμῳ ἥμαρτον, διὰ νόμου κριθήσονται, "all who sin under the law will be judged by the law" (BSB).

Says ἀνόμως is an adverb. Abbott-Smith gives it here the sense = χωρὶς νόμου, "without law," not "lawlessly." ἐν νόμῳ is "within the sphere of the law," and διὰ νόμου is instrumental, "by means of the law." The aorist ἥμαρτον sums up each life as a whole, seen from the day of judgment; the futures look to that day (2:5, 16).

Implies The verbs differ: ἀπολοῦνται ("will perish") gives the outcome, κριθήσονται ("will be judged") the process. Both groups are lost if they have sinned: lacking the law does not excuse (1:20; 2:1), and having it does not protect (2:13, 17–24). Each is judged by the light it had. ἀνόμως twice and ἀπολοῦνται with καί ("will also perish") make the point that the absence of the law changes the standard of judgment, not the guilt.

Says γάρ ties 2:12 to the impartiality of 2:11. On the article with νόμος see note.language.Rom.2.12.nomos-article.