You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?
Parallel Translations
-
You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?
-
Thou reioysest in the lawe and thorow breakinge the lawe dishonourest God.
-
Thou that gloriest in the Lawe, through breaking the Lawe, dishonourest thou God?
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Romans 2:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- James 4:16-17 But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil. To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.
- Romans 2:17 Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, rest on the law, glory in God,
- John 5:45 “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
- Romans 3:2 Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.
- Romans 9:4 who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
- Jeremiah 8:8-9 “ ‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie. The wise men are disappointed. They are dismayed and trapped. Behold, they have rejected Yahweh’s word. What kind of wisdom is in them?
- Matthew 19:17-20 He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder.’ ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ‘You shall not steal.’ ‘You shall not offer false testimony.’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ And, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” The young man said to him, “All these things I have observed from my youth. What do I still lack?”
- Luke 10:26-29 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
- Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
- John 9:28-29 They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses. But as for this man, we don’t know where he comes from.”
- James 1:22-27 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 23. Thou who gloriest in the law, etc. Though…
23. Thou who gloriest in the law, etc. Though every transgressor dishonors God, (for we are all born for this end — to serve him in righteousness and holiness;) yet he justly imputes in this respect a special fault to the Jews; for as they avowed God as their Lawgiver, and yet had no care to form their life according to his rule, they clearly proved that the majesty of their God was not so regarded by them, but that they easily despised him. In the same manner do they at this day dishonor Christ, by transgressing the gospel, who prattle idly about its doctrine, while yet they tread it under foot by their unbridled and licentious mode of living.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law,…
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Ver. 23. Through breaking] By shooting short, or beyond, or wide of the mark; by omission, commission, or failing in the manner.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Dost thou bring a reproach upon religion, and give…
Dost thou bring a reproach upon religion, and give occasion to the Gentiles to blaspheme his name? So it follows in the next words. See Rom 2:24.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For circumcision verily profiteth,.... The plea from circumcision in…
For circumcision verily profiteth,.... The plea from circumcision in favour of the Jews, and their acceptance with God, and justification before him, is here, and in the following verses, considered. The apostle allows that circumcision was profitable; which must be understood whilst it was in force, before the abrogation of it, for since, it is not profitable but pernicious; and then it was only profitable, in case the law was kept:
if thou keepest the law; that is, perfectly; for circumcision obliged persons to keep the whole law. Now the circumcised Jews did not keep it in such sense; wherefore circumcision was of no use to them, but, on the contrary, was an handwriting against them.
Read full note →
But if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision; that is, it is not accounted circumcision; it is of no avail; such a man was all one as an uncircumcised Gentile, and appeared to be uncircumcised in a spiritual sense: the apostle perhaps alludes to a practice among some of the Jews, to bring on and draw over the foreskin, after they had been circumcised; See Gill on Co1 7:18.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Makest thy boast ... - To boast in the…
Makest thy boast ... - To boast in the Law implied their conviction of its excellence and obligation, as a man does not boast of what he esteems to be of no value.
Dishonourest thou God - By boasting of the Law, they proclaimed their conviction that it was from God. By breaking it, they denied it. And as actions are a true test of man’s real opinions, their breaking the Law did it more dishonor than their boasting of it did it honor. This is always the case. It matters little what a man’s speculative opinions may be; his practice may do far more to disgrace religion than his profession does to honor it. It is the life and conduct, and not merely the profession of the lips, that does real honor to the true religion. Alas, with what pertinency and force may this question be put to many who call themselves Christians!
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 23. Dishonourest thou God—This verse embraces the sum total…
23. Dishonourest thou God—This verse embraces the sum total of all the previous questions as well as of all similar ones that they justly suggest. The entire charge is, that the Jew dishonours God, by breaking the law entrusted to him by God; whereas it was his true mission by a beautiful obedience to spread the glory of God abroad through the earth.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. dishonourest] disgracest. The crimes of Jews made their…
23. dishonourest] disgracest. The crimes of Jews made their Lord’s “name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles;” as, alas, the name of Christ is, for exactly similar reasons, often blasphemed among the heathen now.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) Dishonourest thou God?—This verse has been regarded, not…
(23) Dishonourest thou God?—This verse has been regarded, not as a question, but as a summary answer to the previous questions, “You, who make all this boast in the Law, by breaking the Law, dishonour God.” There is a certain force in this view, but the structure of the clause is so similar to those that have gone before that it seems best, perhaps, upon the whole, to take it in the ordinary way.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 23, 24. Thou that makest thy boast in…
Vers. 23, 24. Thou that makest thy boast in law, through thy transgression of the Law dishonourest thou God? (or, thou dishonourest God). For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written. The reference is to Isa_52:5, where the LXX has Di umav diapanto onoma mou blasfhmeitai en toiv eynesi . The passage is not quoted as a prophecy now fulfilled, or as in its original reference exactly applicable, but only as serving to express well how the character of the Jews had brought their very religion into disrepute (el. Tacitus, "Hist.." 5:4, etc.). The remainder of the chapter is devoted to a clear and final exposition of the principle, involved throughout all the previous verses, that Jewish privileges were of no profit in themselves, or without their meaning and purpose being understood and acted on. The thought now passes exclusively to circumcision, as being the original token of the covenant, and the Jew"s rite of initiation into his whole privileged position. (Ge 17) When Jew had come to be the peculiar designation of the children of the covenant, persons were said to become Jews by circumcision. Thus Est_8:17, "And many of the people of the land became Jews," where the LXX has, Kai polloi twn eynwn perietemnonto kai Ioudaizon . It may be here observed that the known fact of other races as well as the Jews having practised, and still practising, circumcision is not subversive of the scriptural view of its being a peculiarly Jewish rite. For to the Jew alone it had a peculiar significance.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 23. Dishonorest thou God? The first part of this…
23. Dishonorest thou God? The first part of this verse is a summary of the claims of the Jews as given in verses 17–20; the last part is a decisive answer, in an interrogative form, of the four reproachful questions just asked. Through the whole passage privilege and practice are contrasted.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 23. “Who boastest in the law, and through the…
23. “Who boastest in the law, and through the transgression of the law dishonorest God.” I have that all round me till I turn heart-sick, e. g., people claiming to be paragon saints, boasting over their legal obedience in outward ordinances and churchisms, loudly condemning others, and at the same time showing by their unspiritual, carnal and frequently even profligate lives, their own utter ignorance of God and His salvation.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression…
thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou god? [These questions bring out the flagrant inconsistencies between Jewish preaching and practice. Teaching others not to steal, the Jew, though probably not often guilty of technical theft, was continually practically guilty of it in his business dealings, wherein, by the use of false weights, extortion, cheating, etc., he gathered money for which he had returned no just equivalent. Unchastity was also a besetting sin of the Jews, showing itself in the corrupt practice of permitting divorces without reasonable or righteous cause ( Mat_19:8-9 ). Some of the most celebrated Rabbis are, in the Talmud, charged with adultery. Paul's accusation, that the Jews robbed temples, has been a puzzle to many. This robbing of the temple, according to the context of his argument, must have been a species of idolatry, for he is charging the Jews with doing the very things which they condemned. They condemned stealing, and stole; they denounced adultery, and committed it; they abhorred idols, yet robbed the temples of them that they might worship them. Such is the clear meaning, according to the context. But we have no evidence that the Jews of Paul's day did such a thing. The charge is doubtless historic. The Jewish history, in which they gloried, showed that the fathers, in whom they had taken so much pride, had done this thing over and over again, and the same spirit was in their children, though more covertly concealed (comp. Mat_23:29-32 ). The last question sums up the Jewish misconduct: glorying in the law, as is shown in Rom 2:17-20; they yet dishonored the God of the law by transgressing it, as is shown in this paragraph.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain breaking the law
breaking the law
Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor…
You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
Paul uses a question to scold his listener. You can translate this as a strong statement. AT: "It is wicked that you claim to be proud of the law, while at the same time you disobey it and bring shame to God!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Read full note →
the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles
You can translate this in an active form. AT: "many Gentiles blaspheme the name of God" (See: Active or Passive)
name of God
The word "name" is a metonym that refers to the entirety of God, not just his name. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
proud
joy
law
transgress
Gentile
written
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.