ὁ βδελυσσόμενος τὰ εἴδωλα ἱεροσυλεῖς;

Says The fourth question of 2:21–22 sets the one who abhors idols against temple robbery: ὁ βδελυσσόμενος τὰ εἴδωλα ἱεροσυλεῖς; (BSB "You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?").

Says βδελύσσομαι (middle) is "to turn away in disgust from, to detest" (Abbott-Smith, Rom 2:22); in the LXX it renders roots for abomination. ἱεροσυλέω (hierosyleō, from ἱερόν, "temple," and συλάω, "to plunder") is "to rob a temple" (Abbott-Smith, who adds the Revised Version margin, "commit sacrilege"). Abbott-Smith gives one LXX use, 2 Macc 9:2, and the noun ἱερόσυλος at 2 Macc 4:42 and Acts 19:37 (BSB "robbed our temple").

Implies The pattern of 2:21–22 is an action forbidden and then done: teaching yet not taught, preaching against theft yet stealing, forbidding adultery yet committing it.

Uncertain The exact reference: (a) literal robbery of pagan temples or profiting from their goods, by one who claims to loathe the idols themselves (compare Deut 7:25–26); (b) a wider sense of sacrilege, such as robbing God by withholding what is due to his temple. This note leans to (a) because of the forbidden-then-done pattern and the parallel with κλέπτεις and μοιχεύεις; (b) is the main alternative. The ancient evidence, including Josephus, Ant. 4.207 and the Fulvia affair (Ant. 18.81–84), is set out in note.historical.Rom.2.1-Rom.2.29.temple-robbery.