Romans, Part 12

Posted on August 15, 2012 by admin

For circumcision has its value (ὠφελεῖ, a form of ὠφελέω) if you practice (πράσσῃς, a form of πράσσω) the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος), but if you break (παραβάτης) the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), your circumcision has become uncircumcision.¹ I began here in the last essay and went on to John 7 to contrast Jesus to his adversaries, even his mother and brothers, to try to refine my understanding of the difference between those who hear (ἀκροατής) and those who do (ποιητής) the law. I want to do that some more in this essay after covering more of what Paul said in Romans 2:26-29 (NET).

Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not² his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised man who keeps the law judge you who, despite the written code and circumcision, transgress (παραβάτην, a form of παραβάτης) the law? For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the written code. This person’s praise is not from people but from God.

Those who do (ποιητής) the law are like the Jew who is one inwardly, his circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit, his praise is from God. The ὑποκριτής, the actor, needs a human audience. Jesus said, Thus whenever you do charitable giving, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites (ὑποκριταὶ, a form of ὑποκριτής) do in synagogues and on streets so that people will praise them.³ Whenever you pray,⁴ do not be⁵ like⁶ the hypocrites (ὑποκριταὶ, a form of ὑποκριτής), because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see⁷ them.⁸ When you fast, do not look sullen like⁹ the hypocrites (ὑποκριταὶ, a form of ὑποκριτής), for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting.¹⁰

And this circumcision that is of the heart by the Spirit is so much more than doing it again with feeling. Actors have deep feelings. The Pharisees were passionate about wanting to kill Jesus, but were they passionate because they cared so deeply for God’s honor or because Jesus upstaged them? It is a terrible thing to upstage an actor.

After his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus himself also went up, not openly but¹¹ in secret.¹² Midway through the feast He began teaching in the temple courts. Then¹³ the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”¹⁴ In other words, he wasn’t instructed by the Jewish leaders. Jesus replied, My teaching (διδαχή) is not from me, but from the one who sent me. If anyone wants (θέλῃ, a form of θέλω) to do (ποιεῖν, a form of ποιέω) God’s will (θέλημα), he will know (γνώσεται, a form of γινώσκω) about my teaching (διδαχῆς, another form of διδαχή), whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.¹⁵

I’m going to say for the sake of argument that the above statement is true. I should believe it. I claim to believe Jesus. It says that since his hearers did not know about his teaching, whether it was from God or whether He spoke from his own authority, Jesus was convinced that they did not want to do God’s will. They were those who hear (ἀκροατής) the law by definition. Their heart wasn’t in it, not by the Spirit but by the written code. They were actors (ὑποκριταὶ, a form of ὑποκριτής), hypocrites.

But wanting to do God’s will is a fairly high prerequisite to knowing about his teaching. It touches me deeply how faith helps me overcome that deficit. I may not want to do God’s will—yet—but through the faith that Jesus’ teaching comes from God and is his will I can work backwards, as it were. More to the point, He can work me backwards to the desire for God’s will. As Paul wrote, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, for the one bringing forth in you both the desire (θέλειν, another form of θέλω) and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God [Table].¹⁶

For some good reasons I’ve thought of hypocrisy as boasting about the law but not actually doing it. I want to consider something else Paul wrote: Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh (e.g., get circumcised to make themselves righteous)! For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God,¹⁷ exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials…¹⁸ Then Paul described his past as Saul the hypocrite this way: If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless [Table].¹⁹

As I considered that Paul had the audacity to write such a thing, and that the Holy Spirit had the audacity to put that writing in Holy Scripture, I had to amend my thoughts and feelings about hearers (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) and hypocrites (ὑποκριταὶ, a form of ὑποκριτής) relative to doers or poets (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής). The ἀκροαταὶ and the ὑποκριταὶ may not commit adultery, but the ποιηταὶ love their wives. And I don’t mean that they have warm fuzzy feelings for their wives when their wives make them feel good. I mean love (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a NET).

Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends [Table].

The ἀκροαταὶ and the ὑποκριταὶ may not steal, but the ποιηταὶ love their neighbors as themselves. The ἀκροαταὶ and the ὑποκριταὶ may not kill, but the ποιηταὶ love their enemies so that [they] may be like [their] Father in heaven, since [He] causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.²⁰ I have begun, but I have only begun to scratch the surface of what it means to be a ποιητής (poet, doer) of the law.

I performed one miracle and you are all amazed, Jesus said to the ἀκροαταὶ and the ὑποκριταὶ around Him. However, because Moses²¹ gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses,²² but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath. But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses²³ is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? Do not judge (κρίνετε, a form of κρίνω) according to external appearance, but judge²⁴ (κρίνετε, a form of κρίνω) with proper (δικαίαν, a form of δίκαιος) judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις).²⁵

So Jesus, speaking to hearers and actors rather than doers or poets of the law, said, Do not judge me (or by extension, God) according to external appearance, but judge me with proper (that is righteous) judgment. Slowly, it seems, I learn that lesson.

Addendum: January 1, 2021
I was struck by the Greek word κατατομήν (a form of κατατομή), translated of those who mutilate the flesh (NET) and of the concision (KJV) as I worked through this again. There is a very interesting answer to the question “What is the meaning of ‘katatomē’ in Philippians 3:2?” on the Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange online. But concision has me rethinking my rather glib explanation: those who “get circumcised to make themselves righteous.”

Is it the act itself done for this reason that Paul cautioned against rather than the men who do this act or recommend that one do this act for this reason? Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all! (Galatians 5:2 NET) It definitely has me thinking about how far reaching this warning could be, how many religious acts it may pertain to. Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God… (Hebrews 6:1 NET)

Tables comparing Romans 2:26; Matthew 6:5; 6:16; John 7:10; 7:15, 16; Philippians 3:3 and John 7:21-24 in the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 2:26 (NET)	Romans 2:26 (KJV)
Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?	Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐὰν οὖν ἡ ἀκροβυστία τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ νόμου φυλάσσῃ, οὐχ ἡ ἀκροβυστία αὐτοῦ εἰς περιτομὴν λογισθήσεται	εαν ουν η ακροβυστια τα δικαιωματα του νομου φυλασση ουχι η ακροβυστια αυτου εις περιτομην λογισθησεται	εαν ουν η ακροβυστια τα δικαιωματα του νομου φυλασση ουχι η ακροβυστια αυτου εις περιτομην λογισθησεται

Matthew 6:5 (NET)	Matthew 6:5 (KJV)
“Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites because they love to pray while standing in synagogues and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward!	And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Καὶ ὅταν προσεύχησθε, οὐκ ἔσεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταί, ὅτι φιλοῦσιν ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς καὶ ἐν ταῖς γωνίαις τῶν πλατειῶν ἑστῶτες προσεύχεσθαι, ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν	και οταν προσευχη ουκ εση ωσπερ οι υποκριται οτι φιλουσιν εν ταις συναγωγαις και εν ταις γωνιαις των πλατειων εστωτες προσευχεσθαι οπως αν φανωσιν τοις ανθρωποις αμην λεγω υμιν οτι απεχουσιν τον μισθον αυτων	και οταν προσευχη ουκ εση ωσπερ οι υποκριται οτι φιλουσιν εν ταις συναγωγαις και εν ταις γωνιαις των πλατειων εστωτες προσευχεσθαι οπως αν φανωσιν τοις ανθρωποις αμην λεγω υμιν οτι απεχουσιν τον μισθον αυτων

Matthew 6:16 (NET)	Matthew 6:16 (KJV)
“When you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, they have their reward!	Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὅταν δὲ νηστεύητε, μὴ γίνεσθε ὡς οἱ ὑποκριταὶ σκυθρωποί, ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὅπως φανῶσιν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις νηστεύοντες· ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἀπέχουσιν τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν	οταν δε νηστευητε μη γινεσθε ωσπερ οι υποκριται σκυθρωποι αφανιζουσιν γαρ τα προσωπα αυτων οπως φανωσιν τοις ανθρωποις νηστευοντες αμην λεγω υμιν οτι απεχουσιν τον μισθον αυτων	οταν δε νηστευητε μη γινεσθε ωσπερ οι υποκριται σκυθρωποι αφανιζουσιν γαρ τα προσωπα αυτων οπως φανωσιν τοις ανθρωποις νηστευοντες αμην λεγω υμιν οτι απεχουσιν τον μισθον αυτων

John 7:10 (NET)	John 7:10 (KJV)
But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, then Jesus himself also went up, not openly but in secret.	But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὡς δὲ ἀνέβησαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν ἑορτήν, τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ἀνέβη οὐ φανερῶς ἀλλὰ [ὡς] ἐν κρυπτῷ	ως δε ανεβησαν οι αδελφοι αυτου τοτε και αυτος ανεβη εις την εορτην ου φανερως αλλ ως εν κρυπτω	ως δε ανεβησαν οι αδελφοι αυτου τοτε και αυτος ανεβη εις την εορτην ου φανερως αλλ ως εν κρυπτω

John 7:15, 16 (NET)	John 7:15, 16 (KJV)
Then the Jewish leaders were astonished and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”	And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἐθαύμαζον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες· πῶς οὗτος γράμματα οἶδεν μὴ μεμαθηκώς	και εθαυμαζον οι ιουδαιοι λεγοντες πως ουτος γραμματα οιδεν μη μεμαθηκως	και εθαυμαζον οι ιουδαιοι λεγοντες πως ουτος γραμματα οιδεν μη μεμαθηκως

So Jesus replied, “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀπεκρίθη οὖν αὐτοῖς [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν· ἡ ἐμὴ διδαχὴ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὴ ἀλλὰ τοῦ πέμψαντος με	απεκριθη αυτοις ο ιησους και ειπεν η εμη διδαχη ουκ εστιν εμη αλλα του πεμψαντος με	απεκριθη ουν αυτοις ο ιησους και ειπεν η εμη διδαχη ουκ εστιν εμη αλλα του πεμψαντος με

Philippians 3:3 (NET)	Philippians 3:3 (KJV)
For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials	For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἡμεῖς γάρ ἐσμεν ἡ περιτομή, οἱ πνεύματι θεοῦ λατρεύοντες καὶ καυχώμενοι ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐν σαρκὶ πεποιθότες,	ημεις γαρ εσμεν η περιτομη οι πνευματι θεω λατρευοντες και καυχωμενοι εν χριστω ιησου και ουκ εν σαρκι πεποιθοτες	ημεις γαρ εσμεν η περιτομη οι πνευματι θεου λατρευοντες και καυχωμενοι εν χριστω ιησου και ουκ εν σαρκι πεποιθοτες

John 7:21-24 (NET)	John 7:21-23 (KJV)
Jesus replied, “I performed one miracle and you are all amazed.	Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἓν ἔργον ἐποίησα καὶ πάντες θαυμάζετε	απεκριθη ο ιησους και ειπεν αυτοις εν εργον εποιησα και παντες θαυμαζετε	απεκριθη ιησους και ειπεν αυτοις εν εργον εποιησα και παντες θαυμαζετε

However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child on the Sabbath.

Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
διὰ τοῦτο Μωϋσῆς δέδωκεν ὑμῖν τὴν περιτομήν (οὐχ ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ Μωϋσέως ἐστὶν ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ τῶν πατέρων), καὶ \|ἐν\| σαββάτῳ περιτέμνετε ἄνθρωπον	δια τουτο μωσης δεδωκεν υμιν την περιτομην ουχ οτι εκ του μωσεως εστιν αλλ εκ των πατερων και εν σαββατω περιτεμνετε ανθρωπον	δια τουτο μωσης δεδωκεν υμιν την περιτομην ουχ οτι εκ του μωσεως εστιν αλλ εκ των πατερων και εν σαββατω περιτεμνετε ανθρωπον

But if a male child is circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken, why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?

If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
εἰ περιτομὴν λαμβάνει ἄνθρωπος ἐν σαββάτῳ ἵνα μὴ λυθῇ ὁ νόμος Μωϋσέως, ἐμοὶ χολᾶτε ὅτι ὅλον ἄνθρωπον ὑγιῆ ἐποίησα ἐν σαββάτῳ	ει περιτομην λαμβανει ανθρωπος εν σαββατω ινα μη λυθη ο νομος μωσεως εμοι χολατε οτι ολον ανθρωπον υγιη εποιησα εν σαββατω	ει περιτομην λαμβανει ανθρωπος εν σαββατω ινα μη λυθη ο νομος μωσεως εμοι χολατε οτι ολον ανθρωπον υγιη εποιησα εν σαββατω

Do not judge according to external appearance, but judge with proper judgment.”

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
μὴ κρίνετε κατ᾿ ὄψιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν δικαίαν κρίσιν κρίνετε	μη κρινετε κατ οψιν αλλα την δικαιαν κρισιν κρινατε	μη κρινετε κατ οψιν αλλα την δικαιαν κρισιν κρινατε

Romans, Part 13

Back to Romans, Part 49

Back to Torture, Part 2

Back to Romans, Part 79

Back to To Make Holy, Part 4

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 6

Back to Who Am I? Part 4

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 7

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 1

Back to Hypocrisy

Back to Romans, Part 42

Back to Romans, Part 86

Back to Who Am I? Part 11

Back to The Book of Life, Part 1

¹ Romans 2:25 (NET)

² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had οὐχ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had ουχι.

³ Matthew 6:2a (NET)

⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had προσεύχησθε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had προσευχη (KJV: thou prayest).

⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἔσεσθε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had εση.

⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὡς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had ωσπερ (KJV: as).

⁷ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had αν (KJV: they may) preceding see (KJV: be seen). The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

⁸ Matthew 6:5a (NET)

⁹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὡς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had ωσπερ (KJV: as).

¹⁰ Matthew 6:16a (NET)

¹¹ The NET parallel Greek text had ἀλλὰ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzanitine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had ἀλλ’.

¹² John 7:10 (NET)

¹³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had οὖν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzanitine Majority Text had και (KJV: And).

¹⁴ John 7:15 (NET)

¹⁵ John 7:16, 17 (NET)

¹⁶ Philippians 2:12b, 13 (NET)

¹⁷ The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had θεοῦ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had θεω.

¹⁸ Philippians 3:2, 3 (NET)

¹⁹ Philippians 3:4-6 (NET)

²⁰ Matthew 5:45 (NET) Table

²¹ In the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ Moses was spelled Μωϋσῆς, and μωσης in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

²² In the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ Moses was spelled Μωϋσέως, and μωσεως in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

²³ In the NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ Moses was spelled Μωϋσέως, and μωσεως in the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text.

²⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had κρίνετε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had κρινατε.

²⁵ John 7:21-24 (NET)

Romans, Part 11

Posted on August 11, 2012 by admin

Paul continued to describe the difference between those who hear (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) and those who do (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) the law. For circumcision has its value (ὠφελεῖ, a form of ὠφελέω) if you practice (πράσσῃς, a form of πράσσω) the law (νόμον, a form of νόμος), but if you break (παραβάτης) the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος), your circumcision has become uncircumcision.¹ I wasn’t going to delve into circumcision here, but I can’t resist the first occurrence in John 7. Perhaps an appreciation of Jesus’ frustration will do more to distinguish the ἀκροατής from the ποιητής of the law.

Jesus was staying in Galilee, avoiding Judea because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him.² This stemmed from an incident when He healed a man who had been disabled³ for thirty-eight⁴ years.⁵ So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and⁶ you are not permitted to carry your⁷ mat.” But⁸ he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” They asked⁹ him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat¹⁰ and walk’?”¹¹ The healed man didn’t know who made him well.

Later Jesus found the man in the temple and said, Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more, lest anything worse happen to you.¹² Sad to say I understand this man perfectly. For thirty-eight years, fifty-two times each year, he kept the Sabbath by not standing up, picking up his mat or walking. One Sabbath Jesus came up to him and said, Stand up!¹³ Pick up your mat and walk.¹⁴ For some reason, inexplicable except for the grace of God, the man believed this stranger and tried to stand up, pick up his mat and walk. Immediately the man was healed, and he picked up his mat and started walking.¹⁵ When Jesus told him, Don’t sin any more, the healed man was conscience stricken that he had stood up, picked up his mat and walked on the Sabbath. So he trotted back and informed the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the one who had made him well.¹⁶

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him.¹⁷

Before I get too carried away with the blindness of ancient Jewish leaders I’ll relate a fairly contemporary tale. I was standing just inside the doorway with the Pastor of a small Bible church one Sunday before the evening service. A car pulled up in the parking lot. A visiting couple got out and made their way toward the door. The Pastor opened the door and extended his hand to help the woman up the stair. She refused his hand and stopped in the doorway.

“Before I come in here, I just want to know one thing,” she said belligerently. “Did Jesus turn water into wine?”

I’d never experienced anything like this, but reasoned quickly that this was a Bible church, the woman wanted to make sure that we believed the fundamentals of the faith, including Jesus’ miracles.

“No,” the Pastor said.

I was stunned. But that was nothing compared to my confusion when the woman smiled, took the Pastor’s hand and entered the church. Later, when I got him alone, I asked, “How did you know that no was the right answer?”

Then it was his turn to be stunned that I would impugn his sincerity. “Because it is the right answer,” he said defensively. I argued fairly ineffectively for the distinction between Jesus and John the Baptist,¹⁸ but he was having none of it. “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler,”¹⁹ he quoted the Proverb. Though he never pressed me on it, I got the message that because of this Proverb Jesus would not make, serve or encourage anyone to drink alcohol—no matter what the Bible seemed to be saying to me.

Obviously I have been blinder than this many times. It’s not fair to judge the Pastor or the woman by this one idiosyncrasy, though I do think she was looking for a Pastor who would dance to her flute. She obviously didn’t return. I wonder at times why I stayed so long. But the people there were nice to me. Some said the church would close if I left. The church closed sometime after I finally left. I don’t really think there is any cause and effect there.

Remember the Sabbath day to set it apart as holy [Table]. For six days you may labor and do all your work [Table], but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or the resident foreigner who is in your gates [Table]. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy [Table].²⁰

As far as the Jewish leaders were concerned no man of God would heal a disabled man on the Sabbath and tell him to Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk. Jesus told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”²¹ But that didn’t help at all. For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.²²

Frankly, the way I’ve presented the story so far puts the Jewish leaders on a lot firmer ground scripturally than my Pastor. But if I bring in a similar story from Luke’s Gospel, the picture gets a bit more nuanced. Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath. A woman²³ was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen²⁴ years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.²⁵ Jesus healed her (Luke 13:14-17 NET).

But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six²⁶ days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days,²⁷ and not on the Sabbath day.” Then²⁸ the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites²⁹ (ὑποκριταί, a form of ὑποκριτής)! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall, and lead it to water?” Then shouldn’t this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be released from this imprisonment on the Sabbath day?” When he said this all his adversaries were humiliated, but the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things he was doing.

Humiliated Jewish leaders were not Jesus’ only adversaries. While He was staying out of Judea because they wanted to kill him, as the beginning of the feast of Tabernacles approached, his brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” (For not even his own brothers believed in him.)³⁰

Mark’s Gospel account gives me the impression that it was Jesus’ persistence in healing on the Sabbath even after the Pharisees began plotting³¹ with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him³² over it that alarmed his mother and his brothers. On one homecoming (probably to Peter’s house) they went out to restrain him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”³³ While the experts in the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the ruler of demons he casts out demons.”³⁴

This is the context for Jesus’ saying, “Who are my mother and³⁵ my brothers?” And looking at those who were sitting around him in a circle, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”³⁶ It is also probably a better context to consider—Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me³⁷—than Jephthah’s sacrifice of his daughter. Indeed, such a thing never even entered my mind!³⁸ The Lord told Jeremiah.

Addendum: November 19, 2020
Tables comparing Proverbs 20:1 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Proverbs 20:1 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and tables comparing John 5:5; 5:10-12; 5:8; 5:16, 17; Luke 13:11; 13:14, 15; Mark 3:6 and 3:33 in the NET and KJV follow.

Proverbs 20:1 (Tanakh)	Proverbs 20:1 (KJV)	Proverbs 20:1 (NET)
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.	Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.	Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler; whoever goes astray by them is not wise.

Proverbs 20:1 (Septuagint BLB)	Proverbs 20:1 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀκόλαστον οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη πᾶς δὲ ὁ συμμειγνύμενος αὐτῇ οὐκ ἔσται σοφός	ΑΚΟΛΑΣΤΟΝ οἶνος καὶ ὑβριστικὸν μέθη, πᾶς δὲ ἄφρων τοιούτοις συμπλέκεται
Proverbs 20:1 (NETS)	Proverbs 20:1 (English Elpenor)
Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink is something insolent, and everyone who mixes with it will not be wise.	Wine is an intemperate thing, and strong drink full of violence: but every fool is entangled with them.

John 5:5 (NET)	John 5:5 (KJV)
Now a man was there who had been disabled for 38 years.	And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἦν δέ τις ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖ τριάκοντα [καὶ] ὀκτὼ ἔτη ἔχων ἐν τῇ ἀσθενείᾳ αὐτοῦ	ην δε τις ανθρωπος εκει τριακονταοκτω ετη εχων εν τη ασθενεια	ην δε τις ανθρωπος εκει τριακοντα και οκτω ετη εχων εν τη ασθενεια

John 5:10-12 (NET)	John 5:10-12 (KJV)
So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.”	The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ἔλεγον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ· σάββατον ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστιν σοι ἆραι τὸν κράβαττον \|σου\|	ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι τω τεθεραπευμενω σαββατον εστιν ουκ εξεστιν σοι αραι τον κραββατον	ελεγον ουν οι ιουδαιοι τω τεθεραπευμενω σαββατον εστιν ουκ εξεστιν σοι αραι τον κραββατον

But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
\|ὁ\| δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς· ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ ἐκεῖνος μοι εἶπεν· ἆρον τὸν κράβαττον σου καὶ περιπάτει	απεκριθη αυτοις ο ποιησας με υγιη εκεινος μοι ειπεν αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει	απεκριθη αυτοις ο ποιησας με υγιη εκεινος μοι ειπεν αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?”

Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἠρώτησαν αὐτόν· τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ εἰπών σοι· ἆρον καὶ περιπάτει	ηρωτησαν ουν αυτον τις εστιν ο ανθρωπος ο ειπων σοι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει	ηρωτησαν ουν αυτον τις εστιν ο ανθρωπος ο ειπων σοι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

John 5:8 (NET)	John 5:8 (KJV)
Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk.”	Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἔγειρε ἆρον τὸν κράβαττον σου καὶ περιπάτει	λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγειραι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει	λεγει αυτω ο ιησους εγειραι αρον τον κραββατον σου και περιπατει

John 5:16, 17 (NET)	John 5:16, 17 (KJV)
Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him.	And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐδίωκον οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτι ταῦτα ἐποίει ἐν σαββάτῳ	και δια τουτο εδιωκον τον ιησουν οι ιουδαιοι και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι οτι ταυτα εποιει εν σαββατω	και δια τουτο εδιωκον τον ιησουν οι ιουδαιοι και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι οτι ταυτα εποιει εν σαββατω

So he told them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται καγὼ ἐργάζομαι	ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις ο πατηρ μου εως αρτι εργαζεται καγω εργαζομαι	ο δε ιησους απεκρινατο αυτοις ο πατηρ μου εως αρτι εργαζεται καγω εργαζομαι

Luke 13:11 (NET)	Luke 13:11 (KJV)
and a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten herself up completely.	And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ πνεῦμα ἔχουσα ἀσθενείας ἔτη δεκαοκτὼ καὶ ἦν συγκύπτουσα καὶ μὴ δυναμένη ἀνακύψαι εἰς τὸ παντελές	και ιδου γυνη ην πνευμα εχουσα ασθενειας ετη δεκα και οκτω και ην συγκυπτουσα και μη δυναμενη ανακυψαι εις το παντελες	και ιδου γυνη ην πνευμα εχουσα ασθενειας ετη δεκα και οκτω και ην συγκυπτουσα και μη δυναμενη ανακυψαι εις το παντελες

Luke 13:14, 15 (NET)	Luke 13:14, 15 (KJV)
But the president of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the crowd, “There are six days on which work should be done! So come and be healed on those days, and not on the Sabbath day.”	And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἀρχισυνάγωγος, ἀγανακτῶν ὅτι τῷ σαββάτῳ ἐθεράπευσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ἔλεγεν τῷ ὄχλῳ ὅτι ἓξ ἡμέραι εἰσὶν ἐν αἷς δεῖ ἐργάζεσθαι· ἐν αὐταῖς οὖν ἐρχόμενοι θεραπεύεσθε καὶ μὴ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοῦ σαββάτου	αποκριθεις δε ο αρχισυναγωγος αγανακτων οτι τω σαββατω εθεραπευσεν ο ιησους ελεγεν τω οχλω εξ ημεραι εισιν εν αις δει εργαζεσθαι εν ταυταις ουν ερχομενοι θεραπευεσθε και μη τη ημερα του σαββατου	αποκριθεις δε ο αρχισυναγωγος αγανακτων οτι τω σαββατω εθεραπευσεν ο ιησους ελεγεν τω οχλω εξ ημεραι εισιν εν αις δει εργαζεσθαι εν ταυταις ουν ερχομενοι θεραπευεσθε και μη τη ημερα του σαββατου

Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from its stall and lead it to water?

The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀπεκρίθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος καὶ εἶπεν· ὑποκριταί, ἕκαστος ὑμῶν τῷ σαββάτῳ οὐ λύει τὸν βοῦν αὐτοῦ ἢ τὸν ὄνον ἀπὸ τῆς φάτνης καὶ \|ἀπαγαγὼν\| ποτίζει	απεκριθη ουν αυτω ο κυριος και ειπεν υποκριτα εκαστος υμων τω σαββατω ου λυει τον βουν αυτου η τον ονον απο της φατνης και απαγαγων ποτιζει	απεκριθη ουν αυτω ο κυριος και ειπεν υποκριται εκαστος υμων τω σαββατω ου λυει τον βουν αυτου η τον ονον απο της φατνης και απαγαγων ποτιζει

Mark 3:6 (NET)	Mark 3:6 (KJV)
So the Pharisees went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him.	And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι εὐθὺς μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ὅπως αὐτὸν ἀπολέσωσιν	και εξελθοντες οι φαρισαιοι ευθεως μετα των ηρωδιανων συμβουλιον εποιουν κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν	και εξελθοντες οι φαρισαιοι ευθεως μετα των ηρωδιανων συμβουλιον εποιουν κατ αυτου οπως αυτον απολεσωσιν

Mark 3:33 (NET)	Mark 3:33 (KJV)
He answered them and said, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”	And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτοῖς λέγει τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοί [μου]	και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου	και απεκριθη αυτοις λεγων τις εστιν η μητηρ μου η οι αδελφοι μου

The Will of God – Jesus, Part 1

Romans, Part 12

Back to Romans, Part 14

Back to Romans, Part 26

Back to Paul’s OT Quotes – Romans 9:25-33

Back to Romans, Part 54

Back to Romans, Part 79

Back to Peter’s First Gospel Proclamation Revisited, Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 55

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 1

Back to Romans, Part 58

Back to Romans, Part 71

¹ Romans 2:25 (NET)

² John 7:1 (NET)

³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had αὐτοῦ following disabled. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had τριάκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τριακονταοκτω (KJV: thirty and eight).

⁵ John 5:5 (NET)

⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had καὶ here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had σου here. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had the article ὁ and the conjunction δὲ preceding he answered. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

⁹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν (KJV: Then) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁰ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had τον κραββατον σου here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹¹ John 5:10-12 (NET)

¹² John 5:14 (NET)

¹³ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἔγειρε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had εγειραι (KJV: Rise).

¹⁴ John 5:8 (NET)

¹⁵ John 5:9 (NET)

¹⁶ John 5:15 (NET)

¹⁷ John 5:16 (NET) The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εζητουν αυτον αποκτειναι (KJV: and sought to slay him) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹⁸ Matthew 11:18, 19; Luke 7:33-35 (NET)

¹⁹ Proverbs 20:1 (NKJV)

²⁰ Exodus 20:8-11 (NET)

²¹ John 5:17 (NET)

²² John 5:18 (NET)

²³ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ην (KJV: there was) following woman. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

²⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δεκαοκτὼ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had δεκα και οκτω.

²⁵ Luke 13:11 (NET)

²⁶ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ὅτι preceding six. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

²⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had αὐταῖς here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ταυταις (KJV: them).

²⁸ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουν (KJV: then).

²⁹ The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Byzantine Majority Text had the plural ὑποκριταί here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus had the singular υποκριτα (KJV: hypocrite).

³⁰ John 7:3-5 (NET)

³¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had συμβούλιον ἐδίδουν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had συμβούλιον εποιουν (KJV: took counsel).

³² Mark 3:6 (NET)

³³ Mark 3:21 (NET)

³⁴ Mark 3:22 (NET)

³⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had καὶ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had η (KJV: or).

³⁶ Mark 3:33-35 (NET)

³⁷ Matthew 10:37 (NET)

³⁸ Jeremiah 19:5 (NET) Table

Romans, Part 10

Posted on August 9, 2012 by admin

Paul turned his attention specifically to the Jews among the readers of his letter to believers in Rome. But if¹ you call (ἐπονομάζῃ, a form of ἐπονομάζω) yourself a Jew (Ἰουδαῖος) and rely (ἐπαναπαύῃ, a form of ἐπαναπαύω) on the law² (νόμῳ, a form of νόμος) and boast (καυχᾶσαι, a form of καυχάομαι) of your relationship (ἐν, or boast in God) to God,³ he wrote, and know (γινώσκεις, a form of γινώσκω) his will (θέλημα) and approve (δοκιμάζεις, a form of δοκιμάζω) the superior things because you receive instruction (κατηχούμενος, a form of κατηχέω) from the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος)…⁴

This all sounds like pretty good stuff to me. Since I’ve read Paul so many times before I’m a bit suspicious of relying or resting (ἐπαναπαύῃ) on the law. I have encountered the word καυχάομαι enough to know that boast of your relationship to God was the translators’ choice. It might have been translated rejoice.⁵ All in all this sounds like a description of one who would do (ποιῶσιν, a form of ποιέω; Addendum below) the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος). Since I know the proverb—Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall⁶—and have a feel for its use in storytelling, I get more suspicious as Paul continued (Romans 2:19, 20 NET).

…and if you are convinced (πέποιθας, a form of πείθω) that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law (νόμῳ, a form of νόμος) the essential features of knowledge (γνώσεως, a form of γνῶσις) and of the truth (ἀληθείας, a form of ἀλήθεια)…

Without ever using the word ὑποκριτής (actor) Paul presented a classic definition: therefore you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?⁷ I think Paul singled out the Jews here because he knew himself and his own people best. He hadn’t been to Rome to meet the Romans yet. Sometimes I feel like there are really only two types of people in the world, hypocrites and those who don’t even try.

When I think like that, however, I am defining hypocrite as a person who does not fully practice what he preaches or believes or aspires to. Obviously I have just described everyone who preaches, believes or aspires to anything. Paul was more specific. His definition was one who relies or rests on God’s law, perhaps more to the point, one who relies or rests on his own ability to keep God’s law and then does not fully practice the law he preaches, believes and aspires to.

You who boast (καυχᾶσαι, a form of καυχάομαι) in the law (νόμῳ, a form of νόμος), Paul continued, dishonor (ἀτιμάζεις, a form of ἀτιμάζω) God by transgressing (παραβάσεως, a form of παράβασις) the law (νόμου, another form of νόμος)! For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”⁸ Paul’s quotation here from Isaiah 52:5 [Table] is not simply a matter of piling on, of kicking the Jews who relied on, and didn’t fully live up to, the law when they were down. It’s a flashing beacon of the mind of Christ and a portent where Paul’s thoughts, and letter, were headed.

This boasting in the law, this dishonoring of God by transgressing the law, was known. It was prophesied. It is part of God’s Holy Word. It was like Jesus prophesying to Peter, I tell you the truth, on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times,⁹ but on a grander scale. Here is the promise that follows Isaiah 52:5 (Isaiah 52:6-12 NET):

For this reason my people will know my name, for this reason they will know at that time that I am the one who says, “Here I am.” How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Listen, your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes the Lord’s return to Zion. In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects Jerusalem. The Lord reveals his royal power in the sight of all the nations; the entire earth sees our God deliver. Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

Addendum: November 1, 2020
In the second paragraph I had indicated that ποιῶσιν was a form of ποιητής. It is actually a form of ποιέω. I may have been thinking of Romans 2:13 where do was the NET translation of ποιηταὶ which is a form of ποιητής.

A table of Isaiah 52:6-12 translated from the Masoretic text and the Septuagint follows:

Masoretic Text		Septuagint
Isaiah 52:6-12 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:6-12 (NET)	Isaiah 52:6-12 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:6-12 (Elpenor English)
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.	For this reason my people will know my name; for this reason they will know at that time that I am the one who says, ‘Here I am.’”	Therefore my people shall know my name in that day, because I myself am the one who speaks: I am here,	Therefore shall my people know my name in that day, for I am he that speaks: I am present,
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!	How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”	like season upon the mountains, like the feet of one bringing glad tidings of a report of peace, like one bringing glad tidings of good things, because I will make your salvation heard, saying to Sion, “Your God shall reign,”	as a season of beauty upon the mountains, as the feet of one preaching glad tidings of peace, as one preaching good news: for I will publish thy salvation, saying, O Sion, thy God shall reign.
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again (בְּשׁ֥וּב) Zion.	Listen, your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes the Lord’s return (shuwb, בשוב) to Zion.	because the voice of those who watch over you was lifted up, and with their voice they shall rejoice together, because eyes shall look at eyes when the Lord will have mercy (ἐλεήσῃ) on Sion.	For the voice of them that guard thee is exalted, and with the voice together they shall rejoice: for eyes shall look to eyes, when the Lord shall have mercy (ἐλεήσῃ) upon Sion.
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted (נִחַ֚ם) his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.	In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles (nacham, נחם) his people; he protects Jerusalem.	Let the desolate places of Ierousalem break forth together in joy, because the Lord has had mercy (ἠλέησεν) on her and has delivered Ierousalem.	Let the waste places of Jerusalem break forth [in] joy together, because the Lord has had mercy (ἠλέησε) upon her, and has delivered Jerusalem.
The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.	The Lord reveals his royal power in the sight of all the nations; the entire earth sees our God deliver.	And the Lord shall reveal his holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that comes from God.	And the Lord shall reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that [comes] from our God.
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.	Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items.	Depart, depart, go out from there, and touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of it; be separated, you who carry the vessels of the Lord,	Depart ye, depart, go out from thence, and touch not the unclean thing; go ye out from the midst of her; separate yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord.
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.	Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.	because you shall not go out with confusion, nor shall you go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the Lord God of Israel is the one who gathers you together.	For ye shall not go forth with tumult, neither go by flight: for the Lord shall go first in advance of you; and the God of Israel shall be he that brings up your rear.

Tables comparing Proverbs 16:18; Isaiah 52:6; 52:7; 52:8; 52:9; 52:10; 52:11 and 52:12 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and Proverbs 16:18; Isaiah 52:6; 52:7; 52:8; 52:9; 52:10; 52:11 and 52:12 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow. Following those is a table comparing Romans 2:17 in the NET and KJV.

Proverbs 16:18 (Tanakh)	Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)	Proverbs 16:18 (NET)
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.	Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.	Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 16:18 (Septuagint BLB)	Proverbs 16:18 (Septuagint Elpenor)
πρὸ συντριβῆς ἡγεῗται ὕβρις πρὸ δὲ πτώματος κακοφροσύνη	πρὸ συντριβῆς ἡγεῖται ὕβρις, πρὸ δὲ πτώματος κακοφροσύνη
Proverbs 16:18 (NETS)	Proverbs 16:18 (English Elpenor)
Pride goes before ruin, and malice before a fall.	Pride goes before destruction, and folly before a fall.

Isaiah 52:6 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:6 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:6 (NET)
Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.	Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I.	For this reason my people will know my name; for this reason they will know at that time that I am the one who says, ‘Here I am.’”

Isaiah 52:6 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:6 (Septuagint Elpenor)
διὰ τοῦτο γνώσεται ὁ λαός μου τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτὸς ὁ λαλῶν πάρειμι	διὰ τοῦτο γνώσεται ὁ λαός μου τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι αὐτὸς ὁ λαλῶν· πάρειμι
Isaiah 52:6 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:6 (English Elpenor)
Therefore my people shall know my name in that day, because I myself am the one who speaks: I am here,	Therefore shall my people know my name in that day, for I am he that speaks: I am present,

Isaiah 52:7 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:7 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:7 (NET)
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!	How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!	How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”

Isaiah 52:7 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:7 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὡς ὥρα ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων ὡς πόδες εὐαγγελιζομένου ἀκοὴν εἰρήνης ὡς εὐαγγελιζόμενος ἀγαθά ὅτι ἀκουστὴν ποιήσω τὴν σωτηρίαν σου λέγων Σιων βασιλεύσει σου ὁ θεός	ὡς ὥρα ἐπὶ τῶν ὀρέων, ὡς πόδες εὐαγγελιζομένου ἀκοὴν εἰρήνης, ὡς εὐαγγελιζόμενος ἀγαθά, ὅτι ἀκουστὴν ποιήσω τὴν σωτηρίαν σου λέγων Σιών· βασιλεύσει σου ὁ Θεός
Isaiah 52:7 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:7 (English Elpenor)
like season upon the mountains, like the feet of one bringing glad tidings of a report of peace, like one bringing glad tidings of good things, because I will make your salvation heard, saying to Sion, “Your God shall reign,”	as a season of beauty upon the mountains, as the feet of one preaching glad tidings of peace, as one preaching good news: for I will publish thy salvation, saying, O Sion, thy God shall reign.

Isaiah 52:8 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:8 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:8 (NET)
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.	Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion.	Listen, your watchmen shout; in unison they shout for joy, for they see with their very own eyes the Lord’s return to Zion.

Isaiah 52:8 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:8 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι φωνὴ τῶν φυλασσόντων σε ὑψώθη καὶ τῇ φωνῇ ἅμα εὐφρανθήσονται ὅτι ὀφθαλμοὶ πρὸς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὄψονται ἡνίκα ἂν ἐλεήσῃ κύριος τὴν Σιων	ὅτι φωνὴ τῶν φυλασσόντων σε ὑψώθη, καὶ τῇ φωνῇ ἅμα εὐφρανθήσονται· ὅτι ὀφθαλμοὶ πρὸς ὀφθαλμοὺς ὄψονται, ἡνίκα ἂν ἐλεήσῃ Κύριος τὴν Σιών
Isaiah 52:8 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:8 (English Elpenor)
because the voice of those who watch over you was lifted up, and with their voice they shall rejoice together, because eyes shall look at eyes when the Lord will have mercy on Sion.	For the voice of them that guard thee is exalted, and with the voice together they shall rejoice: for eyes shall look to eyes, when the Lord shall have mercy upon Sion.

Isaiah 52:9 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:9 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:9 (NET)
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.	Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.	In unison give a joyful shout, O ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord consoles his people; he protects Jerusalem.

Isaiah 52:9 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:9 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ῥηξάτω εὐφροσύνην ἅμα τὰ ἔρημα Ιερουσαλημ ὅτι ἠλέησεν κύριος αὐτὴν καὶ ἐρρύσατο Ιερουσαλημ	ῥηξάτω εὐφροσύνην ἅμα τὰ ἔρημα ῾Ιερουσαλήμ, ὅτι ἠλέησε Κύριος αὐτὴν καὶ ἐρρύσατο ῾Ιερουσαλήμ
Isaiah 52:9 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:9 (English Elpenor)
Let the desolate places of Ierousalem break forth together in joy, because the Lord has had mercy on her and has delivered Ierousalem.	Let the waste places of Jerusalem break forth [in] joy together, because the Lord has had mercy upon her, and has delivered Jerusalem.

Isaiah 52:10 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:10 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:10 (NET)
The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.	The LORD hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.	The Lord reveals his royal power in the sight of all the nations; the entire earth sees our God deliver.

Isaiah 52:10 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:10 (Septuagint Elpenor)
καὶ ἀποκαλύψει κύριος τὸν βραχίονα αὐτοῦ τὸν ἅγιον ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ ὄψονται πάντα τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ	καὶ ἀποκαλύψει Κύριος τὸν βραχίονα τὸν ἅγιον αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ ὄψονται πάντα ἄκρα τῆς γῆς τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν
Isaiah 52:10 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:10 (English Elpenor)
And the Lord shall reveal his holy arm before all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that comes from God.	And the Lord shall reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation that [comes] from our God.

Isaiah 52:11 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:11 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:11 (NET)
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.	Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD.	Leave! Leave! Get out of there! Don’t touch anything unclean! Get out of it! Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items.

Isaiah 52:11 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:11 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ἀπόστητε ἀπόστητε ἐξέλθατε ἐκεῗθεν καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε ἐξέλθατε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς ἀφορίσθητε οἱ φέροντες τὰ σκεύη κυρίου	ἀπόστητε, ἀπόστητε, ἐξέλθατε ἐκεῖθεν καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅπτεσθε, ἐξέλθετε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς, ἀφορίσθητε, οἱ φέροντες τὰ σκεύη Κυρίου
Isaiah 52:11 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:11 (English Elpenor)
Depart, depart, go out from there, and touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of it; be separated, you who carry the vessels of the Lord,	Depart ye, depart, go out from thence, and touch not the unclean thing; go ye out from the midst of her; separate yourselves, ye that bear the vessels of the Lord.

Isaiah 52:12 (Tanakh)	Isaiah 52:12 (KJV)	Isaiah 52:12 (NET)
For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.	For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.	Yet do not depart quickly or leave in a panic. For the Lord goes before you; the God of Israel is your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:12 (Septuagint BLB)	Isaiah 52:12 (Septuagint Elpenor)
ὅτι οὐ μετὰ ταραχῆς ἐξελεύσεσθε οὐδὲ φυγῇ πορεύσεσθε πορεύσεται γὰρ πρότερος ὑμῶν κύριος καὶ ὁ ἐπισυνάγων ὑμᾶς κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ισραηλ	ὅτι οὐ μετὰ ταραχῆς ἐξελεύσεσθε, οὐδὲ φυγῇ πορεύσεσθε, προπορεύσεται γὰρ πρότερος ὑμῶν Κύριος καὶ ὁ ἐπισυνάγων ὑμᾶς Θεὸς ᾿Ισραήλ
Isaiah 52:12 (NETS)	Isaiah 52:12 (English Elpenor)
because you shall not go out with confusion, nor shall you go in flight, for the Lord will go before you, and the Lord God of Israel is the one who gathers you together.	For ye shall not go forth with tumult, neither go by flight: for the Lord shall go first in advance of you; and the God of Israel shall be he that brings up your rear.

Romans 2:17 (NET)	Romans 2:17 (KJV)
But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relationship to God	Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Εἰ δὲ σὺ Ἰουδαῖος ἐπονομάζῃ καὶ ἐπαναπαύῃ νόμῳ καὶ καυχᾶσαι ἐν θεῷ	ιδε συ ιουδαιος επονομαζη και επαναπαυη τω νομω και καυχασαι εν θεω	ιδε συ ιουδαιος επονομαζη και επαναπαυη τω νομω και καυχασαι εν θεω

Romans, Part 11

Back to Romans, Part 12

Back to To Make Holy, Part 4

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 4

Back to To Make Holy, Part 2

Back to Christianity, Part 2

¹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had Εἰ δὲ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ιδε (KJV: Behold).

² The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had the article τω preceding law. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

³ Romans 2:17 (NET)

⁴ Romans 2:18 (NET)

⁵ Cf. Romans 5:2, 3, 11 (NET)

⁶ Proverbs 16:18 (NET)

⁷ Romans 2:21, 22 (NET)

⁸ Romans 2:23, 24 (NET)

⁹ Matthew 26:34 (NET)

Romans, Part 9

Posted on August 8, 2012 by admin

The warning Paul gave those with stubborn and unrepentant hearts breaks quite naturally into two columns.

He will reward each one according to his works:

Romans 2:6 (NET)

…eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality…

Romans 2:7 (NET)

…but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.

Romans 2:8 (NET) Table

…but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.

Romans 2:10 (NET)

There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek…

Romans 2:9 (NET)

For there is no partiality with God.

Romans 2:11 (NET) Table

…and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:12b (NET)

For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law…

Romans 2:12a (NET)

The Jews of Paul’s day may have wanted to label the left column “Jews” and the right column “Greeks” or “Gentiles.” We might want to do something similar with “Church Folk” and “Unchurched Folk” or “Religious” and “Irreligious.” But Paul was quite careful to label the columns himself: For it is not those who hear (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος) who are righteous (δίκαιοι, a form of δίκαιος) before God, but those who do (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος) will be declared righteous (δικαιωθήσονται, a form of δικαιόω).¹

He will reward each one according to his works:

Romans 2:6 (NET)

those who do (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος)

Romans 2:13b (NET) Table

those who hear (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος)

Romans 2:13a (NET)

…eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality…

Romans 2:7 (NET)

…but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.

Romans 2:8 (NET)

…but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.

Romans 2:10 (NET)

There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek…

Romans 2:9 (NET)

For there is no partiality with God.

Romans 2:11 (NET)

…and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:12b (NET)

For all who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law…

Romans 2:12a (NET)

Paul continued to explain why the two columns should not be labeled “Jew” and “Gentile” rather than “Doer” and “Hearer” of the law. For whenever the Gentiles (ἔθνη, a form of ἔθνος), who do not have (ἔχοντα, a form of ἔχω) the law (νόμον, another form of νόμος), do² (ποιῶσιν, a form of ποιέω) by nature (φύσει, a form of φύσις) the things required by the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος), these who do not have (ἔχοντες, another form of ἔχω) the law (νόμον, another form of νόμος) are a law (νόμος) to themselves. They show that the work (ἔργον) of the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος) is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend them, on the day when God will judge (κρίνει, a form of κρίνω) the secrets (κρυπτὰ, a form of κρυπτός) of human hearts, according to my gospel through Christ Jesus.³

The word translated do in those who do the law will be declared righteous is the Greek word for poet. For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets (ποιητῶν, another form of ποιητής) have said, “For we too are his offspring,”⁴ Paul preached in Athens. It is derived from ποιέω, to make, to do. Our word poet bears no trace of a relationship to making or doing. A poet of the law might be indistinguishable to me from a hearer of the law. I might imagine that a poet of the law, rather than doing the law, writes pretty sonnets about the law, or worse, writes his own laws to establish his own righteousness.

If I recall how often Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites⁵ (ὑποκριταὶ, a form of ὑποκριτής, actor) and assume that Paul was very sensitive to this, his choice of words becomes clearer. It relates to the Greek theater. The actor wore a mask, with a megaphone built in to artificially amplify his voice. He played a part and spoke lines written for him by a poet. But when a poet performed on stage, he wore no mask. He spoke his own lines with his own voice from his own heart.

I believe it is important, especially in the how-to portion of Romans, to keep it straight that fulfilling the law, becoming a doer or poet of the law, was Paul’s point. This focus can protect me from stumbling over the things he wrote that are hard to understand, things the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.⁶

One of the things that made it more difficult for me to fully embrace Paul’s teaching was that I never heard anyone quote Paul’s concept—you are not under law but under grace—as a means to an end of fulfilling the law or becoming a doer of the law, not even as a reason why sin will have no mastery over you.⁷ It was always quoted as justification for some sin the speaker wished to continue indulging. Whenever I asked my elders about the things I thought I was learning from Paul, they assumed I wanted to indulge some secret sin and responded with something like, “No, you really have to do it!” They had no way of knowing, I suppose, that they were encouraging me to keep on trying to have my own righteousness derived from the law.⁸

Though Paul and James may not have agreed fully on all aspects of the law and its relationship to believers in Jesus Christ, on these two things—becoming a doer rather than a hearer, and not judging—they were in complete agreement. And I quote James to demonstrate these two points and conclude this essay.

By his sovereign plan he gave us birth through the message (λόγῳ, a form of λόγος) of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. Understand this,⁹ my dear brothers and sisters! Let every¹⁰ person be quick to listen (ἀκοῦσαι, a form of ἀκούω), slow to speak (λαλῆσαι, a form of λαλέω), slow to anger (ὀργήν, a form of ὀργή). For human anger (ὀργή) does not accomplish¹¹ (ἐργάζεται, a form of ἐργάζομαι) God’s righteousness (δικαιοσύνην, a form of δικαιοσύνη). So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly welcome the message (λόγον, another form of λόγος) implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. But be sure you live out (ποιηταὶ, a form of ποιητής) the message (λόγου, another form of λόγος) and do not merely listen (ἀκροαταὶ, a form of ἀκροατής) to it and so deceive yourselves. For if someone merely listens (ἀκροατής) to the message (λόγου, a form of λόγος) and does not live it out (ποιητής), he is like someone who gazes at his own face in a mirror. For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who peers into the perfect (τέλειον, a form of τέλειος) law (νόμον, another form of νόμος) of liberty (ἐλευθερίας, a form of ἐλευθερία) and fixes his attention there,¹² and does not become a forgetful listener (ἀκροατής) but one who lives it (ἔργου, a form of ἔργον) out (ποιητής) – he will be blessed in what he does (ποιήσει, a form of ποίησις).¹³

Do not speak against (καταλαλεῖτε, a form of καταλαλέω) one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against (καταλαλῶν, another form of καταλαλέω) a fellow believer or¹⁴ judges (κρίνων, a form of κρίνω) a fellow believer speaks against (καταλαλεῖ, another form of καταλαλέω) the law (νόμου, a form of νόμος) and judges (κρίνει, another form of κρίνω) the law (νόμον, another form of νόμος). But if you judge (κρίνεις, another form of κρίνω) the law (νόμον, another form of νόμος), you are not a doer (ποιητής) of the law (νόμον, another form of νόμος) but its judge (κριτής).¹⁵

Addendum: October 3, 2020
Tables comparing Romans 2:14; James 1:19, 20; 1:25 and 4:11 in the NET and KJV follow.

Romans 2:14 (NET)	Romans 2:14 (KJV)
For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves.	For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὅταν γὰρ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ νόμον ἔχοντα φύσει τὰ τοῦ νόμου ποιῶσιν, οὗτοι νόμον μὴ ἔχοντες ἑαυτοῖς εἰσιν νόμος	οταν γαρ εθνη τα μη νομον εχοντα φυσει τα του νομου ποιη ουτοι νομον μη εχοντες εαυτοις εισιν νομος	οταν γαρ εθνη τα μη νομον εχοντα φυσει τα του νομου ποιη ουτοι νομον μη εχοντες εαυτοις εισιν νομος

James 1:19, 20 (NET)	James 1:19, 20 (KJV)
Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters! Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger.	Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
῎Ιστε, ἀδελφοί μου ἀγαπητοί· ἔστω δὲ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος ταχὺς εἰς τὸ ἀκοῦσαι, βραδὺς εἰς τὸ λαλῆσαι, βραδὺς εἰς ὀργήν	ωστε αδελφοι μου αγαπητοι εστω πας ανθρωπος ταχυς εις το ακουσαι βραδυς εις το λαλησαι βραδυς εις οργην	ωστε αδελφοι μου αγαπητοι εστω πας ανθρωπος ταχυς εις το ακουσαι βραδυς εις το λαλησαι βραδυς εις οργην

For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.

For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὀργὴ γὰρ ἀνδρὸς δικαιοσύνην θεοῦ οὐκ ἐργάζεται	οργη γαρ ανδρος δικαιοσυνην θεου ου κατεργαζεται	οργη γαρ ανδρος δικαιοσυνην θεου ου κατεργαζεται

James 1:25 (NET)	James 1:25 (KJV)
But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there, and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out—he will be blessed in what he does.	But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ παρακύψας εἰς νόμον τέλειον τὸν τῆς ἐλευθερίας καὶ παραμείνας, οὐκ ἀκροατὴς ἐπιλησμονῆς γενόμενος ἀλλὰ ποιητὴς ἔργου, οὗτος μακάριος ἐν τῇ ποιήσει αὐτοῦ ἔσται	ο δε παρακυψας εις νομον τελειον τον της ελευθεριας και παραμεινας ουτος ουκ ακροατης επιλησμονης γενομενος αλλα ποιητης εργου ουτος μακαριος εν τη ποιησει αυτου εσται	ο δε παρακυψας εις νομον τελειον τον της ελευθεριας και παραμεινας ουτος ουκ ακροατης επιλησμονης γενομενος αλλα ποιητης εργου ουτος μακαριος εν τη ποιησει αυτου εσται

James 4:11 (NET)	James 4:11 (KJV)
Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. He who speaks against a fellow believer or judges a fellow believer speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but its judge.	Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Μὴ καταλαλεῖτε ἀλλήλων, ἀδελφοί. ὁ καταλαλῶν ἀδελφοῦ ἢ κρίνων τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καταλαλεῖ νόμου καὶ κρίνει νόμον· εἰ δὲ νόμον κρίνεις, οὐκ εἶ ποιητὴς νόμου ἀλλὰ κριτής	μη καταλαλειτε αλληλων αδελφοι ο καταλαλων αδελφου και κρινων τον αδελφον αυτου καταλαλει νομου και κρινει νομον ει δε νομον κρινεις ουκ ει ποιητης νομου αλλα κριτης	μη καταλαλειτε αλληλων αδελφοι ο καταλαλων αδελφου και κρινων τον αδελφον αυτου καταλαλει νομου και κρινει νομον ει δε νομον κρινεις ουκ ει ποιητης νομου αλλα κριτης

Paul’s OT Quotes – Romans 2

Romans, Part 10

Back to Romans, Part 11

Back to Romans, Part 26

Back to Romans, Part 49

Back to Torture, Part 2

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? Part 7

Back to Romans, Part 70

Back to Condemnation or Judgment? – Part 12

Back to Romans, Part 79

Back to Romans, Part 83

Back to Fear – Deuteronomy, Part 3

Back to Sowing to the Flesh, Part 2

Back to My Deeds, Part 1

Back to To Make Holy, Part 4

Back to Hypocrisy

Back to My Deeds, Part 3

Back to Father, Forgive Them, Part 3

Back to Forgiven or Passed Over? Part 6

Back to Paul’s Religious Mind Revisited, Part 7

Back to The Lost Son of Perdition, Part 2

Back to Fear – Numbers, Part 3

¹ Romans 2:13 (NET) Table

² The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ποιῶσιν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ποιη.

³ Romans 2:14-16 (NET)

⁴ Acts 17:28 (NET)

⁵ Matthew 6:2, 5, 16; 7:5; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29; 24:51; Mark 7:6; Luke 6:42

⁶ 2 Peter 3:16b (NET) Table

⁷ Romans 6:14 (NET)

⁸ Philippians 3:9 (NET)

⁹ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ῎Ιστε here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ωστε (KJV: Wherefore).

¹⁰ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had δὲ preceding every. The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text did not.

¹¹ The NET parallel Greek text had οὐκ ἐργάζεται here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus, Byzantine Majority Text and NA²⁸ had οὐ κατεργάζεται (KJV: worketh not).

¹² The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had ουτος (KJV: therein) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹³ James 1:18-25 (NET)

¹⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἢ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και (KJV: and).

¹⁵ James 4:11 (NET)

Romans, Part 8

Posted on August 6, 2012 by admin

Paul continued writing to those who do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance (μετάνοιαν, a form of μετάνοια).¹ But because of your stubbornness (σκληρότητα, a form of σκληρότης) and your unrepentant (ἀμετανόητον, a form of ἀμετανόητος) heart, you are storing up wrath (ὀργὴν, a form of ὀργή) for yourselves in the day of wrath (ὀργῆς, another form of ὀργή), when God’s righteous judgment (δικαιοκρισίας, a form of δικαιοκρισία) is revealed (ἀποκαλύψεως, a form of ἀποκάλυψις)!²

The Greek word σκληρότητα (a form of σκληρότης) is only used this once in the New Testament, but it comes from the word σκληρός (dry, hard, tough). In “The Parable of the Talents” (Matthew 25:14-30) the evil and lazy slave³ described his master as a hard (σκληρός) man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed.⁴

Jesus said, I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I⁵ will raise him up on⁶ the last day. For my flesh is true⁷ food, and my blood is true drink. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him.⁸ His own disciples responded, This is a difficult (σκληρός) saying! Who can understand it?⁹ Jesus’ explanation is right on target for the study of Paul’s letter to the Romans, The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.¹⁰

Paul, recounting his own experience resisting repentance, told King Agrippa what Jesus had said to him on the Damascus road: When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me¹¹ in Aramaic, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting (σκληρός) yourself by kicking against the goads.”¹²

James wrote about harsh (σκληρῶν, a form of σκληρός) winds,¹³ and Jude about harsh (σκληρῶν, a form of σκληρός) words (Jude 1:14, 15 NET).

Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, even prophesied of them, saying, “Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment (κρίσιν, a form of κρίσις) on all, and to convict (ἐλέγξαι, a form of ἐλέγχω) every person¹⁴ of all their thoroughly ungodly (ἀσεβείας, a form of ἀσέβεια) deeds (ἔργων, a form of ἔργον) that they have committed (ἠσέβησαν, a form of ἀσεβέω), and of all the harsh (σκληρῶν, a form of σκληρός) words that ungodly (ἀσεβεῖς, a form of ἀσεβής) sinners (ἁμαρτωλοὶ, a form of ἁμαρτωλός) have spoken against him.”

This day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed¹⁵ is the reason Paul said, So then, do not judge (κρίνετε, a form of κρίνω) anything before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition from God.¹⁶

As far as an unrepentant (ἀμετανόητον, a form of ἀμετανόητος) heart is concerned, ἀμετανόητος is probably the negation of μετανοέω, to think differently, reconsider. I’ve already written about the righteous prayer that justified (δεδικαιωμένος, a form of δικαιόω) the tax collector who prayed it, God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!¹⁷ In the specific context of Paul’s letter to the Romans it is not too difficult for a repentant heart to find itself in the wide net Paul cast in chapter 1:18-32. Anyone can pray, “God be merciful to me. I have been given over to a depraved mind because I did not see fit to acknowledge you.”¹⁸ Or, “God be merciful to me. I have been given over to dishonorable passions because I worshiped and served the creation rather than you.”¹⁹ Or, “God be merciful to me. I have been given over to impurity because I worshiped you as if you were a created thing. I haven’t glorified you or given you thanks.”²⁰

In the context of Romans the real stubbornness (σκληρότητα, a form of σκληρότης) at this point would be to continue to assert one’s own righteousness before God, to persist in the effort to make oneself righteous (whether that be according to his law or on one’s own terms) rather than accept his mercy and grace. It is to this stubborn and unrepentant heart that Paul warns, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! He will reward each one according to his works (ἔργα, another form of ἔργον):²¹

eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness [Table]. There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. For there is no partiality with God. 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 (κριθήσονται, another form of κρίνω) by the law.²²

Addendum: July 18, 2020
Tables comparing John 6:54, 55; 6:60; James 3:4 and Jude 1:15 in the NET and KJV follow.

John 6:54, 55 (NET)	John 6:54, 55 (KJV)
The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.	Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ	ο τρωγων μου την σαρκα και πινων μου το αιμα εχει ζωην αιωνιον και εγω αναστησω αυτον τη εσχατη ημερα	ο τρωγων μου την σαρκα και πινων μου το αιμα εχει ζωην αιωνιον και εγω αναστησω αυτον εν τη εσχατη ημερα

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθής ἐστιν βρῶσις, καὶ τὸ αἷμα μου ἀληθής ἐστιν πόσις	η γαρ σαρξ μου αληθως εστιν βρωσις και το αιμα μου αληθως εστιν ποσις	η γαρ σαρξ μου αληθως εστιν βρωσις και το αιμα μου αληθως εστιν ποσις

John 6:60 (NET)	John 6:60 (KJV)
Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things, said, “This is a difficult saying! Who can understand it?”	Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Πολλοὶ οὖν ἀκούσαντες ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ εἶπαν· σκληρός ἐστιν ὁ λόγος οὗτος· τίς δύναται αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν	πολλοι ουν ακουσαντες εκ των μαθητων αυτου ειπον σκληρος εστιν ουτος ο λογος τις δυναται αυτου ακουειν	πολλοι ουν ακουσαντες εκ των μαθητων αυτου ειπον σκληρος εστιν ουτος ο λογος τις δυναται αυτου ακουειν

James 3:4 (NET)	James 3:4 (KJV)
Look at ships too: Though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination directs.	Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἰδοὺ καὶ τὰ πλοῖα τηλικαῦτα ὄντα καὶ ὑπὸ ἀνέμων σκληρῶν ἐλαυνόμενα, μετάγεται ὑπὸ ἐλαχίστου πηδαλίου ὅπου ἡ ὁρμὴ τοῦ εὐθύνοντος βούλεται	ιδου και τα πλοια τηλικαυτα οντα και υπο σκληρων ανεμων ελαυνομενα μεταγεται υπο ελαχιστου πηδαλιου οπου αν η ορμη του ευθυνοντος βουληται	ιδου και τα πλοια τηλικαυτα οντα και υπο σκληρων ανεμων ελαυνομενα μεταγεται υπο ελαχιστου πηδαλιου οπου αν η ορμη του ευθυνοντος βουληται

Jude 1:15 (NET)	Jude 1:15 (KJV)
to execute judgment on all, and to convict every person of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds that they have committed, and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”	To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ποιῆσαι κρίσιν κατὰ πάντων καὶ ἐλέγξαι \|πᾶσαν ψυχὴν\| περὶ πάντων τῶν ἔργων ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν ὧν ἠσέβησαν καὶ περὶ πάντων τῶν σκληρῶν ὧν ἐλάλησαν κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀσεβεῖς	ποιησαι κρισιν κατα παντων και εξελεγξαι παντας τους ασεβεις αυτων περι παντων των εργων ασεβειας αυτων ων ησεβησαν και περι παντων των σκληρων ων ελαλησαν κατ αυτου αμαρτωλοι ασεβεις	ποιησαι κρισιν κατα παντων και ελεγξαι παντας τους ασεβεις αυτων περι παντων των εργων ασεβειας αυτων ων ησεβησαν και περι παντων των σκληρων ων ελαλησαν κατ αυτου αμαρτωλοι ασεβεις

Romans, Part 9

Back to Romans, Part 58

Back to Christianity, Part 6

¹ Romans 2:4 (NET)

² Romans 2:5 (NET) Table

³ Matthew 25:26 (NET)

⁴ Matthew 25:24 (NET)

⁵ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had καγὼ here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εγω.

⁶ The Byzantine Majority Text had εν here. The NET parallel Greek text, NA²⁸ and Stephanus Textus Receptus did not.

⁷ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had ἀληθής here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αληθως (KJV: indeed).

⁸ John 6:53-56 (NET)

⁹ John 6:60 (NET)

¹⁰ John 6:63 (NET) Table

¹¹ The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και λεγουσαν (KJV: and saying) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ did not.

¹² Acts 26:14 (NET) Table

¹³ James 3:4 (NET)

¹⁴ The NET parallel Greek text and NA²⁸ had πᾶσαν ψυχὴν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had παντας τους ασεβεις αυτων (KJV: all that are ungodly among them). And I missed it completely. I assumed this was another reference to the day of wrath. Now (Addendum: July 18, 2020) I am more willing to consider this as a reference to a much longer period of time more in keeping with John 16:7-11 and 2 Peter 3:8-13.

¹⁵ Romans 2:5 (NET) Table

¹⁶ 1 Corinthians 4:5 (NET)

¹⁷ Luke 18:13b (NET) Table

¹⁸ Romans 1:28 (NET)

¹⁹ Romans 1:25, 26 (NET)

²⁰ Romans 1:21-24 (NET) Table1 Table2

²¹ Romans 2:5, 6 (NET)

²² Romans 2:7-12 (NET)

Romans, Part 7

Posted on August 4, 2012 by admin

What follows Paul’s history of sin is not the wholesale condemnation one might expect. In my opinion Paul learned something profound and difficult from his experience in Corinth, his judgment of the Corinthians in general, his specific judgment of the man who was cohabiting with his father’s wife,¹ and the affliction that happened to him in the province of Asia, that he was burdened excessively, beyond his strength, so that he despaired even of living.² Unlike God’s wrath revealed from heaven, this affliction came with comfort and restoration as its goal.

So after Paul wrote a history of sin from the time of Noah to the present he did not launch into a polemic against the worst and most blatant sinners. Instead—knowing he probably addressed Jews, God-fearers or other Gentiles who had attached themselves to a Jewish synagogue, he spoke directly to them. Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge (κρίνων, a form of κρίνω) someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge (κρίνεις, another form of κρίνω) another, you condemn (κατακρίνεις, a form of κατακρίνω) yourself, because you who judge (κρίνων, a form of κρίνω) practice (πράσσεις, a form of πράσσω) the same things.³

This statement persuades me that the correct answer to Paul’s rhetorical question in 1 Corinthians—Are you not to judge those inside [i.e., the church]?⁴—is no. I know that, for whatever reasons, Paul did not correct this impression in 2 Corinthians directly (and I do think that 2 Corinthians was written after Romans). But this rhetorical question is part of Paul’s original justification for judging the one who was cohabiting with his father’s wife, and his justification was significantly amended in 2 Corinthians 2:9-11 and 7:11, 12.

One of the points that is often forgotten in the parable of the wheat and the tares (weeds) is that the answer to the slaves’ (δοῦλοι, a form of δοῦλος) question—Do you want us to go and gather⁵ [the weeds]?⁶—was also no: No, since in gathering the weeds you may uproot the wheat with them.⁷ The implication being that slaves (δοῦλοι, a form of δοῦλος) like me, and slaves (δοῦλοι, a form of δοῦλος) like Paul—a slave (δοῦλος) of Christ Jesus⁸—are not competent to make those decisions or carry out those procedures in real time. Those decisions and that task will fall to angels at the end of the age,⁹ the harvest.

The Grand Inquisitor in my opinion is part gossip, part busybody, and all a part of the religious mind of human beings. It is a nasty beast to unleash on others, and an awful terror when it turns inward and devours itself. Paul seemed to have a handle on the latter in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 4:1-5 NET):

One should think about us this way – as servants (ὑπηρέτας, a form of ὑπηρέτης) of Christ and stewards (οἰκονόμους, a form of οἰκονόμος) of the mysteries of God. Now what¹⁰ is sought in stewards (οἰκονόμοις, another form of οἰκονόμος) is that one be found faithful (πιστός). So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged (ἀνακριθῶ, a form of ἀνακρίνω) by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge (ἀνακρίνω) myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges (ἀνακρίνων, another form of ἀνακρίνω) me is the Lord. So then, do not judge (κρίνετε, another form of κρίνω) anything before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Then each will receive recognition from God.

After the affliction that happened to us in the province of Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of living,¹¹ and after an intense bout with coveting, sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires,¹² Paul had a handle on the issue of unleashing the Grand Inquisitor on others (Romans 2:1 NET):

Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge someone else. For on whatever grounds you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

I may not be guilty of every sin listed in Romans 1:18-32 (and the same was probably true of the Jews, God-fearers and other Gentiles who had attached themselves to a Jewish synagogue). But I owe that to God’s mercy and grace, for I am certainly guilty of all three types of unrighteous worship that led to God’s wrath revealed from heaven; namely, God giving people over 1) in the desires of their hearts to impurity,¹³ 2) to dishonorable passions,¹⁴ and 3) to a depraved mind.¹⁵

Now we know (οἴδαμεν, a form of εἴδω) that God’s judgment (κρίμα) is in accordance with truth against those who practice (πράσσοντας, another form of πράσσω) such things, Paul continued. And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge (κρίνων, a form of κρίνω) those who practice (πράσσοντας, another form of πράσσω) such things and yet do (ποιῶν, a form of ποιέω) them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment (κρίμα)?¹⁶

Seriously, apart from revelation here and other places in the Old Testament scripture, who knew that God was so concerned to be worshiped properly that He would give people over to impurity, dishonorable passions and a depraved mind? In my depraved thoughts I was more or less content to praise me any time things went “right” (my way), and blame God or anyone, or anything, else every time things went “wrong” (not my way). Until God intervened in my life I didn’t know another way to think about it. And if my old depraved thoughts come back to haunt me, asking, Doesn’t all this righteous worship talk sound a bit self-serving? I have an answer now, with new thoughts, by rote if necessary: No, Love is not self-serving¹⁷ and God is love.¹⁸

Paul continued with another question: Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know (ἀγνοῶν, a form of ἀγνοέω) that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?¹⁹ I wouldn’t choose to compete with Paul in many things. But in one thing I think I may have a shot at the title. And this in my opinion clarifies Paul’s meaning in his question above (1 Timothy 1:15-17 NET):

This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” – and I am the worst (πρῶτος) of them! But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that in me as the worst (πρώτῳ, a form of πρῶτος), Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost²⁰ patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life. Now to the eternal king, immortal, invisible, the only²¹ God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

Addendum: June 28, 2020
Tables comparing Matthew 13:28; 1 Corinthians 4:2; 1 John 4:16 and 1 Timothy 1:16, 17 in the NET and KJV follow.

Matthew 13:28 (NET)	Matthew 13:28 (KJV)
He said, ‘An enemy has done this!’ So the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather it?’	He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὁ δὲ ἔφη αὐτοῖς· ἐχθρὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῦτο ἐποίησεν. οἱ δὲ \|δοῦλοι\| λέγουσιν \|αὐτῷ\|· θέλεις οὖν ἀπελθόντες συλλέξωμεν αὐτά	ο δε εφη αυτοις εχθρος ανθρωπος τουτο εποιησεν οι δε δουλοι ειπον αυτω θελεις ουν απελθοντες συλλεξωμεν αυτα	ο δε εφη αυτοις εχθρος ανθρωπος τουτο εποιησεν οι δε δουλοι ειπον αυτω θελεις ουν απελθοντες συλλεξομεν αυτα

1 Corinthians 4:2 (NET)	1 Corinthians 4:2 (KJV)
Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful.	Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ὧδε λοιπὸν ζητεῖται ἐν τοῖς οἰκονόμοις, ἵνα πιστός τις εὑρεθῇ	ο δε λοιπον ζητειται εν τοις οικονομοις ινα πιστος τις ευρεθη	ο δε λοιπον ζητειται εν τοις οικονομοις ινα πιστος τις ευρεθη

1 John 4:16 (NET)	1 John 4:16 (KJV)
And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.	And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐγνώκαμεν καὶ πεπιστεύκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχει ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἡμῖν. Ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, καὶ ὁ μένων ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ ἐν τῷ θεῷ μένει καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐν αὐτῷ \|μένει\|	και ημεις εγνωκαμεν και πεπιστευκαμεν την αγαπην ην εχει ο θεος εν ημιν ο θεος αγαπη εστιν και ο μενων εν τη αγαπη εν τω θεω μενει και ο θεος εν αυτω	και ημεις εγνωκαμεν και πεπιστευκαμεν την αγαπην ην εχει ο θεος εν ημιν ο θεος αγαπη εστιν και ο μενων εν τη αγαπη εν τω θεω μενει και ο θεος εν αυτω μενει

1 Timothy 1:16, 17 (NET)	1 Timothy 1:16, 17 (KJV)
But here is why I was treated with mercy: so that in me as the worst, Christ Jesus could demonstrate his utmost patience, as an example for those who are going to believe in him for eternal life.	Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἠλεήθην, ἵνα ἐν ἐμοὶ πρώτῳ ἐνδείξηται Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς τὴν ἅπασαν μακροθυμίαν πρὸς ὑποτύπωσιν τῶν μελλόντων πιστεύειν ἐπ᾿ αὐτῷ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον	αλλα δια τουτο ηλεηθην ινα εν εμοι πρωτω ενδειξηται ιησους χριστος την πασαν μακροθυμιαν προς υποτυπωσιν των μελλοντων πιστευειν επ αυτω εις ζωην αιωνιον	αλλα δια τουτο ηλεηθην ινα εν εμοι πρωτω ενδειξηται ιησους χριστος την πασαν μακροθυμιαν προς υποτυπωσιν των μελλοντων πιστευειν επ αυτω εις ζωην αιωνιον

Now to the eternal king, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

NET Parallel Greek	Stephanus Textus Receptus	Byzantine Majority Text
Τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ τῶν αἰώνων, ἀφθάρτῳ ἀοράτῳ μόνῳ θεῷ, τιμὴ καὶ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν	τω δε βασιλει των αιωνων αφθαρτω αορατω μονω σοφω θεω τιμη και δοξα εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων αμην	τω δε βασιλει των αιωνων αφθαρτω αορατω μονω σοφω θεω τιμη και δοξα εις τους αιωνας των αιωνων αμην