Chapter Two

The wrath of God extends also to those who, though they know the truth, do not put it into practice in their lives (1–16). Among such people the Jews stand in the foreground, for they have the revealed law but constantly transgress it (17–29).

Romans 2:1. Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge another, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, do the same things. There are people who know well how one must live in order to please God. They like to rebuke others when those others depart from the law of God, but they themselves calmly violate it. The Apostle sternly censures such people, pointing out to them that merely acknowledging the law of God is not enough — one must also fulfill this law. At God’s judgment — an impartial judgment — every sinner will be condemned, whether Jew or Gentile, precisely for violating the law of God, insofar as it is known to the Jew from the revelation of the Old Testament and to the Gentile from the witness of his conscience. “Whoever you are who judge another.” Ancient commentators saw in this “man” the representatives of authority, but it is difficult to agree with this opinion in view of the entire subsequent speech of the Apostle, in which there is no mention at all of rulers. Most modern commentators hold that the Apostle here is addressing a Jew, but this interpretation also cannot be accepted, because here the speech is directed to any person — hence, both to a Gentile and to a Jew — and also because it is only in v. 17 that the address to the Jew is explicitly made. It is more accurate to suppose that the Apostle here has in mind both Gentiles who have not yet lost the ability to understand what is sinful and what is not, and Jews — together. — “You do the same things.” Of course, this does not indicate a perfectly exact repetition of the sins, but in any case it defines the character of the actions of the person passing judgment: in general, they are of the same kind as the sins mentioned in vv. 29–31 of ch. 1.

Romans 2:2. Now we know that the judgment of God falls on those who do such things in accordance with truth. “We” — that is, the Apostle Paul and the Roman Christians. — “In accordance with truth” — that is, in conformity with the true, actual state of affairs. The sinner, even if he has a thorough knowledge of the laws of morality, is condemned. — “The judgment of God” (κρῖμα Θ.) — the verdict of God’s judgment.

Romans 2:3. Do you suppose, O man — you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself — that you will escape the judgment of God? Here the Apostle has in view primarily the Jews. The Jews precisely thought that they could escape God’s judgment (cf. Matt 3:7), and that they, already by birth, were sons of the messianic kingdom (Matt 8:12). The Jews also were chiefly the ones who condemned the Gentiles as sinners (cf. Gal 2:15). However, Roman and Greek satirists, who denounced the vices of contemporary society, themselves sinned considerably against morality...

Romans 2:4. Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not understanding that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Here, without doubt, the Apostle has in mind the Jews of his time. Most of them genuinely did not pay sufficient attention to the numerous and varied manifestations of God’s kindness, by which God often spared them even where they might have expected severe punishment. “Restraint” — more precisely: forbearance (ἀνοχή). The Jews crucified Christ, and the wrath of God did not immediately descend upon their heads. God was giving them time to repent of their sin.

Romans 2:5. But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, “Because of your stubbornness” — cf. Acts 7:51. — “Storing up wrath.” Contempt for divine gifts does not pass without consequence. Every gift of God trampled underfoot by a person increases the treasures of God’s wrath, which is already poised to break out over the stubborn Jewish people in their unbelief, and will break out, first, at the fall of Jerusalem (Matt 3:10; Luke 11:50-51), and second, at the last judgment. In the first case the Jewish nation as a whole will be judged; in the second, individual persons from among the Jewish people.

Romans 2:6. who will repay each person according to his works: “To each according to his works” — that is, in proportion to the moral worth of each person’s actions. Judgment by deeds is spoken of in other passages of Paul’s epistles as well (Rom 14:12; 2 Cor 5:10; Gal 6:6), in the Gospel (John 5:28), and in other writings of the New Testament (e.g. Rev 20:13). How is this consistent with the Apostle’s position that justification is given by faith? Justification is indeed given only by faith, when a person has not yet had occasion to perform good works. But afterward, when a person has already received justification (in baptism) and along with it has appropriated new gracious powers from God, he must necessarily manifest these powers in good works. Works are the necessary fruits of justification accomplished by faith, and at the last judgment God will judge all Christians already by their works. Thus, the servants in the parable receive talents from their master as a gift, but the master considers it natural that the servants should multiply these talents (Matt 25:16). “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” — John the Baptist taught (Matt 3:10; cf. 1 Cor 3:9-10; Gal 6:7). “Faith leads onto the path of salvation and equips with powers; salvation itself is accomplished through works corresponding to faith” (Bishop Theophan).

Romans 2:7. to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality — eternal life; The Apostle speaks here not only of Christians but of humanity in general. In all peoples, in his conviction, there can be people who constantly strive toward the attainment of the highest ideals of life — the highest glorification, which will never end — “immortality” — more precisely from the Greek (ἀφθαρσίαν): incorruption, or better, incorruptible (glory), since this expression serves as a modifier of “glory and honor.” Is such a seeking of glorification permissible, however, from a religious standpoint? Does it not stir up in a person a love of glory and ambition? No, it does not. Once this seeking is directed toward eternal glory in the Kingdom of Heaven, it arouses only good dispositions. “In order to desire and seek that glory and honor, one must renounce oneself and everything high and elevated on earth, and descend to the most humble and lowly lot” (Bishop Theophan). — “Eternal life” — that is, eternal blessed life in the Kingdom of Christ (Rom 5:21 and following; Gal 6:8). There and then precisely will be realized the ideal toward which these people had been striving throughout their entire earthly life. But if the Apostle here promises the Kingdom of Christ to everyone who seeks a higher ideal, does he not contradict himself — that position of his own that without faith in Christ salvation is impossible for a person? This perplexity can only be resolved by the assumption that the Apostle considers it inevitable for such a person — sooner or later — to turn to Christ. Christ the Savior said: “the one who does what is true comes to the light” (John 3:21; cf. Rom 7:17). And indeed, the striving for the ideal that animates a person drives him toward Christ, in whom this ideal has already found its realization. Striving for virtue is, one might say, already in itself agreement with the teaching of the Gospel. And if in this life a person striving for the ideal does not have the opportunity to join the Church, this opportunity opens to him beyond the grave. Such is the meaning of the words of the Apostle Peter about the preaching of the Gospel to the dead (1 Pet 3:19).

Romans 2:8. but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth but give themselves over to unrighteousness — wrath and fury. “Are self-seeking and do not obey the truth” — more precisely from the Greek: “for those who act out of partisan and personal interests (τοῖς δὲ ἐξ ἐριθείας — from ἔριθος, a hired worker, one who works for money) and who are (consequently) disobedient to the truth.” By truth one should understand the truth known to people from the beginning — the existence of God and the elementary concepts of morality (cf. Rom 1:18). Disobedience to this truth was evidently the result of the development in people of self-seeking impulses. — Unrighteousness (ἀδικία) — the opposite of truth (cf. Rom 1:18). — “Wrath” (θυμός) — inward agitation of the soul; “fury” (ὀργή) encompasses both the wrathful gaze and the wrathful verdict and the punishment.

Romans 2:9. Tribulation and distress for every human soul who does evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek! Romans 2:10. But glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also for the Greek! Here the thought of vv. 7 and 8 is repeated, in order to bring into view the equal accountability before God’s judgment of both Jews and Gentiles. — “Tribulation” (θλίψις) — misfortunes, calamities. — “Distress” (στενοχωρία) — a completely inescapable situation (cf. Rom 8:35; 2 Cor 4:8). — “For every human soul” — for each individual person. — “For the Jew first.” “From everyone,” said Christ the Savior, “to whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). The Jews, who knew what threatens the violators of God’s law and what awaits its fulfillment (Lev 19; Deut 28), are of course subject to greater accountability for neglect of God’s law. — “And peace.” Since this peace is placed among the rewards together with glory and honor, it cannot here signify the inner tranquility of a person, but something external — namely salvation in the broad sense of that word, as in ch. 1:7 (peace from God). — “For the Jew first.” Since the law prescribed to the Jew an extraordinarily broad task (“your commandment is exceedingly broad” — Ps 118:96), it is natural that the Jew should have preeminence over the Gentile also in the matter of reward, as one appointed to be a faithful fulfiller of God’s will. Here, as above, the Apostle of course speaks of Jews and Greeks not yet enlightened by the light of the Gospel (Chrysostom).

Romans 2:11. For there is no partiality with God. Romans 2:12. For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. “For there is no...” The Apostle grounds his position, stated in vv. 7–10, in the fact that God cannot have any partiality toward individual peoples (cf. Acts 10:34; Sir 32:15). — “As many as have sinned without the law.” Here the Apostle develops the thought of v. 11. The sinner will inevitably be punished, whether or not he knew the Mosaic law — this is the Apostle’s basic position. Gentiles who sinned in their lives but did not violate the Mosaic law (which was unknown to them — though there were other Gentiles who did know the law: these were the proselytes) will be (at the last judgment) doomed to perdition (cf. v. 5), although the strict provisions of the Mosaic law will not be applied to them (“without the law” — ἀνόμως): they will be condemned on the basis of that understanding of God’s will accessible to them — that is, on the basis of the law of natural morality. On the other hand, Hebrews, who possessed the Mosaic law, will be condemned for their sins in the manner required by that Mosaic law (“will be judged by the law”); they will have to answer at the last judgment on an incomparably greater number of counts than the Gentiles.

Romans 2:13. for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified, Here the Apostle confirms the idea of the necessary condemnation of sinful Jews. Moses once told the Hebrews that the law given to them was the greatest treasure, the possession of which placed the Hebrews in a special, exceptional position among all the peoples of the earth (Deut 4). Of course, he said this with the assumption that the Hebrews would fulfill this law; but they, over time, became fixed in the notion that the Mosaic law was a saving palladium for them, a magical means of escaping all social calamities — that by knowing the law they were thereby already full members of the kingdom of the Messiah and would not be subject to any judgment at all. The Apostle now demolishes their self-conceit. Knowledge of the law alone is not sufficient for salvation — fulfillment of the law’s requirements is needed. “Hearers of the law” — an allusion to the Saturday gatherings of Jews in synagogues for the reading of sections from the Old Testament (cf. Acts 15:21; 2 Cor 3:14). — “Before God” (παρὰ Θεῷ) — in the judgment of God (cf. 1 Cor 3:19; 2 Thess 1:6). — “Doers of the law.” The Apostle himself says below that there can be no doers of the law in the full sense of the word (Rom 3:20). Consequently, here too he could only have had in mind people who do their best to fulfill the law. — “Will be justified.” Likewise the justification in view here is not a recognition of a person’s complete righteousness, not a testimony that some people can fulfill the entire law (Mosaic or evangelical). It means only that God will reward people who strive to fulfill the law and fulfill it as best they can. It should be noted that justification here no longer has the same meaning as in ch. 1 (and ch. 3). There it signified the appropriation by a sinner of the righteousness of God, the cleansing of the sinner and the equipping of him with gracious powers for a new life in Christ; here it has the meaning of an acquittal, the verdict that will be pronounced over a person who has lived according to God’s law at the last judgment of God.

Romans 2:14. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they, not having the law, are a law to themselves: Romans 2:15. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their thoughts alternately accuse or else defend them. Here the Apostle grounds the thought stated in v. 13. That justification at God’s judgment will indeed be granted not to hearers but to doers of the law — this is beyond doubt! If it were otherwise, if God were to justify Jews merely for hearing the law, then he would be obliged, as a just Judge, to justify Gentiles as well, because they too listened to what the law of conscience prompted them, but for the most part did not fulfill it — just as the Jews did not fulfill the Mosaic law. The Apostle, however, for the purpose of shaming the Jews, takes into account here those exceptional cases when Gentiles — evidently, the best among them — followed the voice of this natural moral law. — “Who do not have the law” — the revealed, Mosaic law, or a law received from God in a manner similar to the Mosaic. — “Do by nature what the law requires” — that is, they fulfill in essence those individual moral requirements clearly expressed in the Mosaic law. They are moved to this by nature (φύσις) — that is, an innate moral instinct. — “They are a law to themselves” — that is, this instinct takes the place for them of the divinely revealed law that the Jews have. — “They show” — that is, through this fulfillment of the moral law they plainly demonstrate to the attentive observer. — “That the work of the law is written on their hearts” — that is, what the divinely revealed law requires, recorded in the Mosaic law on stone tablets, is inscribed in their, the Gentiles’, hearts. The heart in Holy Scripture is always the seat of the emotions, from which all decisions issue that have influence on a person’s entire life (Matt 15:19). — “While their conscience also bears witness.” By conscience (συνείδησις) in Paul (cf. Rom 9:1; 1 Cor 8:7-10) is everywhere understood a person’s awareness of the moral character of his actions, when he can say to himself whether they are bad or good. It is understood that this presupposes the existence of a norm by which conscience renders judgment on actions. Conscience, to translate more precisely from the Greek, adds its testimony (συμμαρτυρούσης) to the impulse or prompting that proceeds from the heart — an impulse toward the performance of a good action. That is, conscience, after the heart, is the second witness to the existence among the Gentiles of a moral law. It says “amen” to the declaration of moral instinct or to the word proceeding from the heart, just as those present in the synagogue said “amen” after the reading of a passage from the law. “And their thoughts alternately accuse or else defend them.” Rabbis were accustomed to debate among themselves regarding the sinfulness of various human actions — whether actual or only possible. So also the Gentiles discuss the worth of their actions or, more precisely, of the thoughts and motives that lay at the basis of those actions. The thoughts of the Gentiles struggle with one another in this process: some attack, others defend (the reference is not to a person’s judgment of other individuals, but to a conscientious person’s judgment of himself). These thoughts (λογισμοί) are individual expressions of conscience, which in them judges particular actions of a person and their motives, on which the moral character of the actions themselves depends. Not only Gentiles but also Christians often judge, long after performing an action, not only the action itself but also the thoughts they had when performing it, and their judgment often diverges from their earlier views. Conscience not infrequently passes judgment even on itself, convicting itself of insincerity and partiality in the condemnation that took place earlier. It is evident from the Apostle’s words, therefore, that the Gentiles have their own law (moral and internal), have definite views on the character of human actions, and discuss these actions — just as the Jews do all this. But is that sufficient? If they do not fulfill the requirements of the moral law, they will of course be condemned by God. With such a position the Jews would undoubtedly fully agree. Why, then, do they not apply what was said to themselves? For they too do not fulfill their own, divinely revealed law — consequently, they too will be condemned by God. This is what the Apostle wished to say in vv. 14 and 15... It should be noted that in depicting the Gentiles favorably here, the Apostle of course had in mind rare and exceptional cases from Gentile history. One may recall, for example, Neoptolemus (in Philoctetes), who refuses to save Greece at the cost of deception; Antigone, who commits a violation of the strict royal law in order to fulfill the duty of love toward her executed brothers; or Socrates, who, out of obedience to the authorities, does not wish to save himself from execution by flight. In his dealings with Gentiles the Apostle had probably also encountered examples of Gentile nobility.

Romans 2:16. on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secret things of people through Jesus Christ. This verse has a direct connection to v. 15, and the parenthesis that closes v. 15 is better transferred to the end of v. 16. The Apostle wants to say that the conflict of “thoughts” among the Gentiles will be especially pronounced on the day of the dread judgment of God, when God himself through Jesus Christ will judge people’s secret intentions. The Gentiles will have much to deliberate then — both defending themselves and accusing themselves, acknowledging their transgressions, the fact that they did not heed the voice of their conscience in time... Yet the Apostle still makes it clear that the judgment will take place exactly as it ought to, in accordance with what the Apostle proclaimed (“according to my gospel”) about the equality before God’s judgment of all people, whether Jew or Gentile. Moreover, the judge will be Jesus Christ; and Jesus Christ, according to Paul’s teaching, is the second Adam (Rom 5:14; 1 Cor 15:45), and consequently stands in relation not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles, and will undoubtedly be merciful to the Gentiles as well, since God wills that all people be saved (1 Tim 2:1-7).

Romans 2:17. Now you call yourself a Jew and rest upon the law and boast in God, Having stated the general principle — that it is not possessing the law but fulfilling the law that justifies a person before God (vv. 13–16) — the Apostle applies this principle to the Jew. The Jew prides himself enormously on knowing the law and even being able to teach it to others. But what benefit is that knowledge to him? For he takes no care to fulfill the law, and thereby only dishonors the name of God, since the Gentiles look upon the Jews as the people of God. If the Jews should appeal to the fact that they do at least fulfill the law regarding circumcision, that appeal will be of no benefit to them. What does it matter if they are circumcised? Bodily circumcision does not in itself grant justification — what matters is inner circumcision, circumcision of the heart, through which a person becomes a fulfiller of God’s law. The Apostle begins to enumerate the theocratic privileges that the Jews displayed before the Gentiles as their exclusive possession. First of all, they bear an honorable name (“Jew” comes from two words: yehudah and yah — glory of Yahweh) and are fond of being so called (cf. Rev 2:9). Then they comfort themselves with the awareness that they have the law; in their opinion this guarantees them against any shipwreck, even if they do not take care to fulfill the law (“rest upon” — more precisely: repose calmly upon it). Christ himself pointed to this delusion of the Jews (John 5:45). Finally, the Jews boast that God is exclusively their God and protector (cf. Gen 17:7; Isa 45:25; Jer 31:33), but, as the Apostle will show below (Rom 3:29), they are greatly mistaken in this...

Romans 2:18. and know his will and approve what is superior, being instructed from the law, In the previous verse the Apostle indicated the privileges of the Jews that are, so to speak, independent of them. Here he points to the special capacities by which they surpass the Gentiles. The Jews know the will of God — that is, what God requires of a person: it is all written out in the Mosaic law! The Jews discern what is superior (δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα) — that is, they can precisely determine how best to act in given circumstances, since they have a law that defines, one might say, every step of a person’s life (being instructed from the law).

Romans 2:19. and are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, Romans 2:20. an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth: Here, finally, the pride of the Jews is indicated — the pride in the role they were, in their own conviction, called to play in the history of all humanity. This is the role of guide, instructor, teacher (an allusion to the Jews’ striving to increase the number of proselytes (Matt 23:15)), who look upon all Gentiles as blind, ignorant, and childish. The Apostle clearly does not agree with this high opinion the Jews have of themselves (“are confident” — this is irony). Indeed, to teach others the fulfillment of the law while oneself not fulfilling the law at the same time — these are two incompatible things. — “Having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth.” In the Mosaic law the Jew truly found a precise sketch (“embodiment” — μόρφωσις), a strictly defined formula of the knowledge or understanding that every person should have of things and actions, and of the truth — that is, of the very substance of virtue. Knowledge thus points to the subjective, inner possession of a person, while truth points to something objective, existing outside the person, which becomes the object of knowledge. That is, the Jews possessed, by having the law of Moses, not only the truth itself but also its precise formula, by means of which they could convey this truth to others. This was indeed their genuine advantage.

Romans 2:21. you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? Romans 2:22. You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say, “do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? Romans 2:23. You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? Romans 2:24. For, as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Here the Apostle puts to shame the Jews, who, considering themselves capable of teaching the Gentiles, were themselves mired in various vices. Theft, adultery, and sacrilege — these are their main crimes on which the Apostle fixes his attention. And all the while they everywhere boast of being the people of God! Do they not thereby bring shame upon the very name of God? — “You steal... you commit adultery.” The Apostle chooses these two examples of Jewish criminality probably for the purpose of showing that the Jews also had vices corresponding specifically to the pagan ones of greed and incontinence (Rom 1:29). — “You rob temples” (ἱεροσυλεῖς). Chrysostom, Theophylact, and many others see here a reference to instances of Jews stealing precious objects from pagan temples, and this interpretation is fully consistent with the preceding remark of the Apostle: “you who abhor idols.” Evidently the word “you rob temples” also refers to the theft of sacred objects from idol temples, which did occur in reality (Acts 19:37). — “Because of you... the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” The Gentiles, seeing the depraved life of the Jews, would of course say: “Can this be the people that God loves? Can a God who loves such people be the true God?” (Theophylact of Ohrid).

Romans 2:25. For circumcision indeed is of value if you keep the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Since the Jews might further object to the Apostle that they are guaranteed from God’s judgment by the circumcision they have received — which, according to the general conviction of the Jews, was like a patent for entry into the kingdom of the Messiah — the Apostle sees it as necessary to dwell especially on this point. Circumcision, he says, is indeed of value — it makes a person a participant in all the promises given by God to the chosen people — but at the same time the reception of circumcision is the acceptance by a person of an obligation to fulfill God’s law, to please God (cf. Gen 17 and following; Lev 18:5; Deut 27:26; Gal 5:3). — “The law.” By “the law” the Apostle understands all the prescriptions of the Mosaic law, pertaining to both the ceremonial and the moral life of the Jewish people. And circumcision was but one of these many prescriptions. — “Has become uncircumcision” — that is, by not fulfilling the law, you become just as culpable before God’s judgment as the sinful Gentile who is uncircumcised.

Romans 2:26. So then, if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Here the Apostle takes the reverse case in order to show the absurdity of the Jews’ reliance on circumcision alone. If a Gentile begins to fulfill the law without having received circumcision, will this not be counted for him at God’s judgment as though he had received circumcision? The Apostle evidently has in mind here those cases he spoke of in v. 14. There might be, somewhere in a distant land, Gentiles who had no notion of the Mosaic law but who, by the prompting of the heart, were fulfilling in essence the same things required by that law — acts of mercy and the commandment of purity. Such people could not remain without reward from God (cf. v. 10), even though they did not have circumcision.

Romans 2:27. And will not the physically uncircumcised man who fulfills the law condemn you who, having the written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? Such an “uncircumcised man by nature” — that is, by virtue of his Gentile origin, through no fault of his own — will condemn at the last judgment the Jew who does not fulfill the law; he will condemn him, of course, not by words but by his very appearance, by his example. — “Having the written code and circumcision.” By the written code (γράμμα) the Apostle understands the letter of the law. The Jew always had before his eyes the law, clearly inscribed in writing. This is already quite different from the inner, sufficiently indeterminate voice of moral instinct by which the Gentile had to be guided in his moral life! (vv. 14 and 15). The Jew also had circumcision, which constantly reminded him of the obligation to fulfill the law. And despite all this, the Jews turned out to be constant transgressors of the law!

Romans 2:28. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision what is external on the flesh; Romans 2:29. but a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from people but from God. One can be a Jew outwardly — that is, have circumcision, or, what amounts to the same thing, bear on the body (the flesh) the sign of union with God — circumcision — and at the same time not be a true Jew and not stand in a genuinely special communion with God. A similar thought is expressed in the Gospel as well (see Matt 8:11). Conversely, the title of a true Jew — that is, a person who has special rights in the history of the economy of salvation — can only be given to one who is such inwardly (in soul), who by his moral nature stands out among other people. The true circumcision is likewise circumcision of the heart — that is, the removal from the heart, from the inner being of the person, of everything impure and sinful. — “By the Spirit.” More correctly: by the Holy Spirit. If one understands here the human spirit, then its addition would be entirely superfluous alongside the expression “of the heart.” — “Not by the letter.” The mere fulfillment of the letter, or the external ordinance about circumcision, is insufficient, because it says nothing about the necessity of the inner transformation of the person receiving circumcision, and cannot produce such a transformation of itself. Only the Holy Spirit changes the inner life of a person! — “His” — that is, both the true circumcision’s and the true Jew’s. — “Praise.” This word relates to the meaning of the name “Jew” (praise of God). The praise will of course be pronounced upon such a person and such a circumcision at the last judgment (cf. 1 Cor 4:5). * * * Notes Deissmann says that even now in the East, Christians buy stolen precious carpets from mosques for their own homes...