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Friday, September 27th, 2024
the Week of Proper 20 / Ordinary 25
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Read the Bible

King James Version

Romans 2:12

For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Gentiles;   God Continued...;   Judgment;   Respect of Persons;   Scofield Reference Index - Law of Moses;   Life;   Thompson Chain Reference - Future, the;   Judgment;   Knowledge;   Opportunity;   Privilege, Judgment According to;   The Topic Concordance - Judges;   Perishing;   Sin;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Heathen, the;   Judgment, the;   Law of God, the;   Law of Moses, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Law;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Gentile;   Judgment;   Law;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Condemnation;   Motives;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Heathen;   Hell;   Judgment, Last;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Judgment, the Final;   Resurrection of the Dead;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Judgment Day;   Romans, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - James, Epistle of;   Law;   Romans, Epistle to the;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Destruction;   Judgment Damnation;   Law;   Romans Epistle to the;   Truth (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Sin;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Law;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Accountability;   Justice;   Law in the New Testament;   Punishment, Everlasting;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;  

Parallel Translations

Simplified Cowboy Version
Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Sin is sin and will be judged accordingly.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;
Legacy Standard Bible
For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.
Bible in Basic English
All those who have done wrong without the law will get destruction without the law: and those who have done wrong under the law will have their punishment by the law;
Darby Translation
For as many as have sinned without law shall perish also without law; and as many as have sinned under law shall be judged by law,
New King James Version
For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law
Christian Standard Bible®
All those who sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all those who sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
World English Bible
For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For as many as have sinned without the law, shall also perish without the law; and as many as have sinned under the law, shall be judged by the law.
Weymouth's New Testament
For all who have sinned apart from the Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who have sinned whilst living under the Law, will be judged by the Law.
King James Version (1611)
For as many as haue sinned without Law, shall also perish without Law: and as many as haue sinned in the Law, shalbe iudged by the Law.
Literal Translation
For as many as sinned without Law will also perish without Law. And as many as sinned within Law will be judged through Law.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
shal perish also without lawe: and whosoeuer haue synned in the lawe, shalbe iudged by the lawe.
Mace New Testament (1729)
For as many as have sinned without the law, shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law, shall be condemned by the law,
THE MESSAGE
If you sin without knowing what you're doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you're doing, that's a different story entirely. Merely hearing God's law is a waste of your time if you don't do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.
Amplified Bible
For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law.
American Standard Version
For as many as have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law;
Revised Standard Version
All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And as many as haue synned vnder the lawe shalbe iudged by the lawe.
Update Bible Version
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without the law: and as many as have sinned under the law shall be judged by the law;
Webster's Bible Translation
For as many as have sinned without law, shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law,
Young's Literal Translation
for as many as without law did sin, without law also shall perish, and as many as did sin in law, through law shall be judged,
New Century Version
People who do not have the law and who are sinners will be lost, although they do not have the law. And, in the same way, those who have the law and are sinners will be judged by the law.
New English Translation
For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Berean Standard Bible
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
Contemporary English Version
Those people who don't know about God's Law will still be punished for what they do wrong. And the Law will be used to judge everyone who knows what it says.
Complete Jewish Bible
All who have sinned outside the framework of Torah will die outside the framework of Torah; and all who have sinned within the framework of Torah will be judged by Torah.
English Standard Version
For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For as many as haue sinned without the Lawe, shall perish also without the Lawe: and as many as haue sinned in the Lawe, shall be iudged by the Lawe,
George Lamsa Translation
For those who have sinned without law, shall also perish without law: and those who have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law,
Hebrew Names Version
For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
International Standard Version
For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Etheridge Translation
For they who without the law have sinned, without the law also will perish: and they who in the law have sinned, by the law will be judged.
Murdock Translation
for those without law, who sin, will also perish without law; and those under the law, who sin, will be judged by the law,
New Living Translation
When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God's written law. And the Jews, who do have God's law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it.
New Life Bible
Those who have sinned without having the Law will be lost without the Law being used. Those who have the Law and have sinned will be judged by the Law.
English Revised Version
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned under law shall be judged by law;
New Revised Standard
All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, as many as without law sinned, without law, also shall perish, and, as many as within law sinned, through law, shall be judged;
Douay-Rheims Bible
For whosoever have sinned without the law shall perish without the law: and whosoever have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.
Lexham English Bible
For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For whosoeuer hath sinned without lawe, shall also perishe without lawe: And as many as haue sinned in ye lawe, shalbe iudged by the lawe.
Easy-to-Read Version
People who have the law and those who have never heard of the law are all the same when they sin. People who don't have the law and are sinners will be lost. And, in the same way, those who have the law and are sinners will be judged by the law.
New American Standard Bible
For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;
Good News Translation
The Gentiles do not have the Law of Moses; they sin and are lost apart from the Law. The Jews have the Law; they sin and are judged by the Law.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For who euere han synned without the lawe, schulen perische withouten the lawe; and who euere han synned in the lawe, thei schulen be demyd bi the lawe.

Contextual Overview

1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 3 And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? 4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 10 But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

For: Romans 2:14, Romans 2:15, Romans 1:18-21, Romans 1:32, Ezekiel 16:49, Ezekiel 16:50, Matthew 11:22, Matthew 11:24, Luke 10:12-15, Luke 12:47, Luke 12:48, John 19:11, Acts 17:30, Acts 17:31

in the law: Romans 2:16, Romans 3:19, Romans 3:20, Romans 4:15, Romans 7:7-11, Romans 8:3, Deuteronomy 27:26, 2 Corinthians 3:7-9, Galatians 2:16-19, Galatians 3:10, Galatians 3:22, James 2:10, Revelation 20:12-15

Reciprocal: Judges 4:16 - pursued 2 Chronicles 15:3 - without law Jeremiah 39:18 - because Matthew 25:32 - before John 5:45 - there John 7:19 - yet 1 Corinthians 9:21 - them

Cross-References

Exodus 28:20
And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall be set in gold in their inclosings.
Exodus 39:13
And the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper: they were inclosed in ouches of gold in their inclosings.
Numbers 11:7
And the manna was as coriander seed, and the colour thereof as the colour of bdellium.
Job 28:16
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
Ezekiel 28:13
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For as many as have sinned without law,.... This is an instance of the strict justice of God, and proves him to be no respecter of persons; for the Gentiles, who were "without law", the written law of Moses, not without the law of nature in their breasts, nor without some civil laws and statutes of their own; inasmuch as they "sinned" against the God of nature, and the law and light of nature, they

shall also perish without law: not that their condemnation and perdition will be illegal, or not in due course of law; but it will not proceed upon, or according to the law of Moses, they never had; and much less for not believing in Christ, of whom they never heard; but their perdition will be for their sins committed without the law of Moses, against the law of nature: their not having the written law of Moses will be no plea in their favour, or be a reason why they should not be condemned; their persons will not be regarded as with or without the law, but their sins committed by them, to which facts their consciences will bear witness:

and, so on the other hand,

as many as have sinned in the law; who have been in and under the law of Moses, and have sinned against it, meaning the Jews:

shall be judged by the law; and condemned by it, as they were in this world, and will be hereafter: their having this law will be no bar against their condemnation, but rather an aggravation of it; their hearing of it will be no plea in their favour; nor their doing of it neither, unless they could have done it to perfection; for perfect obedience it requires, as a justifying righteousness, otherwise it curses, condemns, and adjudges to death.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For - This is used to give a reason for what he had just said, or to show on what principles God would treat man, so as not to be a respecter of persons.

As many - Whosoever. This includes all who have done it, and evidently has respect to the Gentile world. It is of the more importance to remark this, because he does not say that it is applicable to a few only, or to great and incorrigible instances of pagan wickedness, but it is a universal, sweeping declaration, obviously including all.

Have sinned - Have been guilty of crimes of any kind toward God or man. Sin is the transgression of a rule of conduct, however made known to mankind.

Without law - ἀνόμως anomōs. This expression evidently means without revealed or written law, as the apostle immediately says that they had a law of nature, Romans 2:14-15. The word “law,” νόμος nomos. is often used to denote the revealed Law of God, the Scriptures, or revelation in general; Matthew 12:5; Luke 2:23-24; Luke 10:26; John 8:5, John 8:17.

Shall also perish - ἀπολοῦνται apolountai. The Greek word used here occurs frequently in the New Testament. It means to destroy, to lose, or to corrupt, and is applied to life, Matthew 10:39; to a reward of labor, Matthew 10:42; to wisdom 1 Corinthians 1:19; to bottles, Matthew 9:17. It is also used to denote future punishment, or the destruction of soul and body in hell, Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:14; John 3:15, where it is opposed to eternal life, and therefore denotes eternal death; Romans 14:15; John 17:12. In this sense the word is evidently used in this verse. The connection demands that the reference should be to a future judgment to be passed on the pagan. It will be remarked here that the apostle does not say they shall be saved without law. He does not give even an intimation respecting their salvation. The strain of the argument, as well as this express declaration, shows that they who had sinned - and in the first chapter he had proved that all the pagan were sinners - would be punished. If any of the pagan are saved, it will be, therefore, an exception to the general rule in regard to them. The apostles evidently believed that the great mass of them would be destroyed. On this ground they evinced such zeal to save them; on this ground the Lord Jesus commanded the gospel to be preached to them; and on this ground Christians are now engaged in the effort to bring them to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. It may be added here, that all modern investigations have gone to confirm the position that the pagan are as degraded now as they were in the time of Paul.

Without law - That is, they shall not be judged by a law which they have not. They shall not be tried and condemned by the revelation which the Jews had. They shall be condemned only according to the knowledge and the Law which they actually possess. This is the equitable rule on which God will judge the world. According to this, it is not to be apprehended that they will suffer as much as those who have the revealed will of God; compare Matthew 10:15; Matthew 11:24; Luke 10:12.

Have sinned in the law - Have sinned having the revealed will of God, or endowed with greater light and privileges than the pagan world. The apostle here has undoubted reference to the Jews, who had the Law of God, and who prided themselves much on its possession.

Shall be judged by the law - This is an equitable and just rule; and to this the Jews could make no objection. Yet the admission of this would have led directly to the point to which Paul was conducting his argument, to show that they also were under condemnation, and needed a Saviour. It will be observed here, that the apostle uses a different expression in regard to the Jews from what he does of the Gentiles. He says of the former, that they “shall be judged;” of the latter, that they “shall perish.” It is not certainly known why he varied this expression. But if conjecture may be allowed, it may have been for the following reasons.

(1) If he had a affirmed of the Jews that they should perish, it would at once have excited their prejudice, and have armed them against the conclusion to which he was about to come. Yet they could bear the word to be applied to the pagan, for it was in accordance with their own views and their own mode of speaking, and was strictly true.

(2) The word “judged” is apparently more mild, and yet really more severe. It would arouse no prejudice to say that they would be judged by their Law. It was indeed paying a sort of tribute or regard to that on which they prided themselves so much, the possession of the Law of God. Still, it was a word. implying all that he wished to say, and involving the idea that they would be punished and destroyed. If it was admitted that the pagan would perish; and if God was to judge the Jews by an unerring rule, that is, according to their privileges and light; then it would follow that they would also be condemned, and their own minds would come at once to the conclusion. The change of words here may indicate, therefore, a nice tact, or delicate address in argument, urging home to the conscience an offensive truth rather by the deduction of the mind of the opponent himself than by a harsh and severe charge of the writer. In instances of this, the Scriptures abound; and it was this especially that so eminently characterized the arguments of our Saviour.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Romans 2:12. For as many as have sinned without law, c.] They, viz. the Gentiles, who shall be found to have transgressed against the mere light of nature, or rather, that true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, John 1:9, shall not come under the same rule with those, the Jews, who have in addition to this enjoyed an extraordinary revelation but they shall be dealt with according to the inferior dispensation, under which they lived: while those, the Jews, who have sinned against the law-the positive Divine revelation granted to them, shall be judged by that law, and punished proportionably to the abuse of such an extraordinary advantage.


 
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