Romans 2:27

Rom 2:27. Κρινεῖ, shall judge) Those, whom thou now judgest, will in their turn judge thee at the day of judgment, Rom 2:16. Mat 12:41; 1Co 6:2-3.—τελοῦσα, keeping (if it fulfil): a word of large meaning. Therefore ἐὰν, if, Rom 2:26, has a conditional meaning, and does not positively assert.—σὲ, thee), who art its judge [the self-constituted judge of the uncircumcised].—τὸν) the article does not properly belong to παραβάτην, but τὸν διὰ is used as ἡ ἐκ.—διὰ [by, or] with) Thou hast the letter, but thou even abusest it; there is an antithesis between by nature, and with the letter; then follows a Hendiadys, by the letter and circumcision. Concerning the letter and spirit, see ch. Rom 7:6.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_2:27 is regarded by most modern expositors, including Rückert, Reiche (undecidedly), Köllner, Fritzsche, Olshausen, Philippi, Lachmann, Ewald and Mehring, as a continuation of the question, so that οὐχί is again understood before κρινεῖ. But the sequence of thought is brought out much more forcibly, if we take Rom_2:27 as affirmative, as the reply to the question contained in Rom_2:26 (as is done by Chrysostom, Erasmus, Luther, Bengel, Wetstein and others; now also by Tholuck, de Wette, van Hengel, Th. Schott, Hofmann). In this case the placing κρινεῖ first conveys a strong emphasis; and καί, as often in classic authors (Thiersch, § 354, 5 b.; Kühner, a[712] Xen. Mem. ii. 10, 2) is the simple and, which annexes the answer to the interrogative discourse as if in continuation, and thus assumes its affirmation as self-evident (Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 880). And the natural uncircumcision, if it fulfils the law, shall judge, i.e. exhibit in thy full desert of punishment (namely, comparatione sui, as Grotius aptly remarks[713]), thee, who, etc. Compare, on the idea, Mat_12:41; the thought of the actual direct judgment on the last day, according to 1Co_6:2, is alien to the passage, although the practical indirect judgment, which is meant, belongs to the future judgment-day.

ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβ.] The uncircumcision by nature, i.e. the (persons in question) uncircumcised in virtue of their Gentile birth. This ἐκ φύσεως, which is neither, with Koppe and Olshausen, to be connected with ΤῸΝ ΝΌΜ. ΤΕΛ., nor, with Mehring, to be taken as equivalent to ἘΝ ΣΑΡΚΊ, is in itself superfluous, but serves to heighten the contrast ΔΙᾺ ΓΡ. Κ. ΠΕΡΙΤ. The idea, that this ἈΚΡΟΒΥΣΤΊΑ is a ΠΕΡΙΤΟΜΉ ἘΝ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΙ, must (in opposition to Philippi) have been indicated in the text, and it would have no place in the connection of our passage; see Rom_2:29, where it first comes in.

ΤῸΝ ΔΙᾺ ΓΡΆΜΜ. Κ. ΠΕΡΙΤ. ΠΑΡΑΒ. ΝΌΜΟΥ] who with letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law. διά denotes the surrounding circumstances amidst which, i.e. here according to the context: in spite of which the transgression takes place.[714] Compare Rom_4:11, Rom_14:20; Winer, p. 355 [E. T. 475]. Others take διά as instrumental, and that either: διὰ νόμου.… προαχθείς (Oecumenius; comp Umbreit) or: occasione legis, (Beza, Estius, and others; comp Benecke), or: who transgressest the law, and art exhibited as such by the letter, etc. (Köllner). But the former explanations introduce a foreign idea into the connection; and against Köllners view it may be urged that his declarative rendering weakens quite unnecessarily the force of the contrast of the two members of the verse. For the most natural and most abrupt contrast to the uncircumcised person who keeps the law is he, who transgresses the law notwithstanding letter and circumcision, and is consequently all the more culpable, because he offends against written divine direction (γραμμ.) and theocratic obligation (ΠΕΡΙΤ.)

[712] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[713] Not so, that God in judging will apply the Gentile obedience of the law as a standard for estimating the Jewish transgression of it (Th. Schott), which is gratuitously introduced. The standard of judgment remains the law of God (ver. 12 f.); but the example of the Gentile, who has fulfilled it, exposes and practically condemns the Jew who has transgressed it.

[714] Th. Schott arbitrarily: who with the possession of the law and circumcision does not cease to be a transgressor and to pass for such.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_2:27

Calvin makes this verse a part of the interrogation begun in Rom_2:26, a mode of pointing followed by Koppe, Lachmann, Fritzsche, and many others. Shall not uncircumcision be reckoned circumcision, and condemn you who break the law? Our translators supply οὐχί, before κρινεῖ, and make Rom_2:27 a distinct interrogation, and shall not the uncircumcision condemn you, etc. Meyer takes Rom_2:27 categorically, and καί in the sense of even or moreover, so that Rom_2:27 is virtually an answer to the preceding question. Shall not uncircumsion be taken for circumcision? (Yes, verily), it will even condemn you, etc. In either way the idea is, that the obedient uncircumcised heathen would be better off, he would stand on higher ground, than the disobedient circumcised Jew. It is only putting the truth taught in this verse into different words to say, the unbaptized believer shall condemn the baptized unbeliever. The which circumcision which is by nature, ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβυστία. The position of the article shows plainly that ἐκ φύσεως qualifies ἀκροβυστία, and is not to be connected with the following participle τελοῦσα. The sense is, the uncircumcision which is natural, and not which by nature keeps the law. If it fulfill the law, i.e., provided it is obedient, and therefore righteous. Shall judge, κρινεῖ, by implication, shall condemn; the judgment is by the context supposed to be a condemnatory one. Comp. Mat_12:41. Thee who by the letter, etc.; σὲ τὸν διὰ γράμματος, thee with the letter, i.e., the written law. In the present case it is not used in a disparaging sense, for the mere verbal meaning in opposition to the spirit. The context rather requires that γράμμα and περιτομή should be taken as expressing the real and substantial benefits of the Jews. Our version renders διά by, Beza also has per. He understands the apostle to mean that external circumcision being profaned only rendered the Jews so much the worse. But as διά with the genitive so often means with, as expressing the circumstances under which anything is done (as δι ̓ ὑπομονῆς; with patience, διὰ προσκόμματος with offense), the meaning is, Te, qui literas et circumcisionem habens, contra legem facis. Notwithstanding they had the law and circumcision, they were transgressors of the law. Calvin makes letter and circumcision to mean literal circumcision; but this is unnecessary, and unsuited to the context; for when speaking of the advantages of the Jews, the law is of too much importance to allow of the word which expresses it being merged into a mere epithet.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Paul useth oftentimes to set the letter against the Spirit: but in this place, the circumcision which is according to the letter, is the cutting off of the foreskin, but the circumcision of the Spirit, is the circumcision of the heart, that is to say, the spiritual end of the ceremony, is true holiness and righteousness whereby the people of God is known from profane and heathenish men.

He which is uncircumcised by nature and blood.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 27. And shall not uncircumcision, which is by nature] And shall not the Gentile, who is εκ φυσεως, according to the custom of his country - who is, by birth, not obliged to be circumcised.

If it fulfil the law] If such a person act according to the spirit and design of the law; judge κρινει condemn thee, who, whilst thou dost enjoy the letter, the written law, and bearest in thy body the proof of the circumcision which it requires, dost transgress that law?

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. By the letter and circumcision, etc. A construction which means a literal circumcision. He does not mean that they violated the law, because they had the literal circumcision; but because they continued, though they had the outward rite, to neglect the spiritual worship of God, even piety, justice, judgment, and truth, which are the chief matters of the law.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(27) Judge thee.—Comp. Mat_12:41-42, “The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it,” et seq. The idea is that of “putting to shame by contrast.”

By the letter.—The preposition here marks the condition or circumstance under which the action is done, and might be paraphrased, “with all the advantages of the written Law and of circumcision.”

Here, again, the sentence may not be a question, but an affirmation.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. uncircumcision which is by nature] Better, the uncircumcision, &c.; a phrase not easy to explain exactly. Perhaps (though the Gr. of the two passages is not quite parallel) we may illustrate by Gal_2:15 : “Jews by nature,” Jews born and bred. Here thus the sense would be “Gentiles born and bred, with no physical succession to Jewish privilege.”

if it fulfil] Lit. fulfilling; as e.g. Cornelius did in the sense pointed out above.

judge] criticize and condemn. Perhaps the phrase arises from the solemn words of the Saviour Himself, Mat_12:41-42. A stronger Gr. verb is used in that passage, however.

by the letter and circumcision] The phrase is a verbal paradox. The “letter and circumcision” are properly the means to a knowledge of the law, to obligation to it, and obedience under it; here they are, by paradox, the means to the wilful breaking of it, and not mere obstacles overcome by the transgressor.—“The letter” is the “letter of the law” of circumcision: q. d., “thou usest thy literal circumcision as a means to transgression,” a salve to thy conscience.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But he is a Jew which is one inwardly,.... Who has an internal work of grace upon his soul: who has not only an outward name, but an inward nature; not the law of God in the hand, but in the heart; not an external righteousness only, but internal holiness; and who is not a mere outward court worshipper, but a worshipper of God in Spirit and in truth. The Jews have a (e) saying themselves,

"that whosoever denies idolatry, , "is called a Jew":''

so that, according to them, this is a name that is not confined to themselves, but belongs to all such who truly fear and worship God; and they say, in the same place, that Pharaoh's daughter was called "a Jewess", because she denied idolatry, and went down to wash herself from the idols of her father's house. And elsewhere (f),

"that faith does not depend upon circumcision, but upon the heart: he that believes not as he should, circumcision does not make him a Jew; and he that believes as he ought, he indeed is a Jew, though he is not circumcised.''

And circumcision is that of the heart; which God requires, and he himself promises to give, Deu 10:16, upon which last passage, a very noted Jew (g) has this observation, , "this is the circumcision of the heart"; the very phrase the apostle here uses: circumcision of the flesh was typical of this, which lies in a godly sorrow for sin, in a putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, and in renouncing a man's own righteousness in the business of justification. The ancient Jews had some notion of this typical use of circumcision. So Philo the Jew says (h), that circumcision taught , "the cutting off of all pleasures and affections": and elsewhere he says (i): it is a symbol of two things particularly; the one is the cutting off of pleasures, as before; and the other is the removal of arrogancy, that grievous disease of the soul: and in another place (k) he calls purity, or chastity, , "the circumcision of circumcision". Now this our apostle says is

in the spirit; meaning either the spirit or soul of man, which is the seat and subject of it; or the Spirit of God, who is the author of it: the Ethiopic version reads it, "by the Holy Ghost":

and not in the letter; or "by the letter" of the law; but the Holy Ghost produces this spiritual work instrumentally, by the preaching of the Gospel. To which the apostle adds,

whose praise is not of men, but of God; referring not to circumcision immediately spoken of before, but to the Jew who is one inwardly: and alludes to the name Judah, from whence the Jews are called, which comes from the word which signifies to "praise"; and intimates here, that such persons must not expect praise from men, who are only taken, with outward things, but from God, who searches and knows the heart.

(e) T. Bab. Megilia, fol. 13. 1. (f) Nizzachon ad Gen. xvii. Apud Maji Theolog. Jud. p. 252. (g) R. David Kimchi in Jer. iv. 4. (h) De Migrat. Abraham, p. 402. (i) De Circumcisione, p. 811. (k) De Somniis, p. 1111.

Next: Romans Chapter 3

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

Ver. 27. Judge thee] Men’s guilt is increased by their obligations, as was Solomon’s in departing from Gad, who had appeared unto him twice, 1Ki 11:9.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which is by nature - Which is the natural state of man; his condition before he is admitted to any of the unique rites of the Jewish religion.

If it fulfil the law - If they who are uncircumcised keep the Law.

Judge thee - Condemn thee as guilty. As we say, the conduct of such a man condemns us. He acts so much more consistently and uprightly than we do, that we see our guilt. For a similar mode of expression, see Mat 12:41-42.

Who by the letter ... - The translation here is certainly not happily expressed. It is difficult to ascertain its meaning. The evident meaning of the original is, “Shall not a pagan man who has none of your external privileges, if he keeps the law, condemn you who are Jews; who, although you have the letter and circumcision, are nevertheless transgressors of the law? ‘

The letter - The word “letter” properly means the mark or character from which syllables and words are formed. It is also used in the sense of writing of any kind Luk 16:6-7; Act 28:21; Gal 6:11, particularly the writings of Moses, denoting, by way of eminence, the letter, or the writing; Rom 7:6; 2Ti 3:15.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Uncircumcision which is by nature; a periphrasis of the Gentiles, who want circumcision, or are by nature without it.

Fulfil the law; here is another word; before it was keep, but now it is fulfil the law: though the word be varied, yet the sense is the same: see Jam 2:8.

Judge thee; i.e. rise up in judgment against thee; or else, shall he not do it by his example? as in Mat 12:41,42, the men of Nineveh, and the queen of Sheba, shall judge the Israelites. The meaning is, the obedient Gentile shall condemn the disobedient Jew.

By the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law; i.e. the outward literal circumcision; or, by the letter understand the law; see 2Co 3:6. The sense is, by means of the law and circumcision, and resting in them, as pledges of the love of God, {so Rom 2:17} they are the more secure and bold in sinning against God; it is to them an occasion of transgression.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. By the letter and circumcision—By here has the force of in possession of. The letter is the law. Possessing the law and circumcision the Jew is still a transgressor.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 27-29. And shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature (i.e. men in a state of nature, Without any distinct revelation, or sign of a peculiar covenant) judge thee (thou presumest, in virtue of thy position, to judge them; nay, rather, they shall judge thee), who by (rather, with, i.e. though in possession of) the letter and circumcision dost transgress the Law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter (or, in spirit, not in letter. Both the nouns, pneumati , and grammati , here are without the article, so as to bring out their inherent significance. See above as to o nomov and nomov). Whose praise is not of men, but of God. In these two concluding verses we observe the double sense in which the term Ioudaiov may be used. It denotes here one possessed of the true spirit of Judaism; in which sense the Gentile might be the better Jew. In a like double sense we may use the word "Christian". (cf. Joh_1:47, alhywv Israhlithv ; Joh_8:39, "If ye were Abraham"s children, ye would do the works of Abraham;" also Ro 4 and Gal_3:7) So, too, peritomh for spiritual circumcision, (peritomh aceirotoihtov Col_2:11) in the sense of inward dedication to God"s service, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh". (Col_2:11; see also Php_3:2, 3) Such ethical significance of the rite appears even in the Old Testament. We read there of "uncircumcised lips", (Exo_6:12, Exo_6:30) or "ears", (Jer_6:10) or "hearts"; (Lev_26:41) and in Deu_30:6 we find the significant words." The LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live;" and in Jer_4:4, Circumcise yourselves to the Loan, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem." (Cf. Isa_3:1, "Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yea, the uncircumcision that is by nature - Those who are, literally speaking, uncircumcised. Fulfilling the law - As to the substance of it. Shall judge thee - Shall condemn thee in that day. Who by the letter and circumcision - Who having the bare, literal, external circumcision, transgressest the law.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

uncircumcision the uncircumcision, i.e. the Gentiles.

breaking the law Sin. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. “Truly that which is uncircumcision by nature, keeping the law, will condemn thee who, through the letter of the circumcision, art a transgressor of the law.” From this clear statement of the Holy Ghost we see how God will put the non-ritualistic holy Quakers on the witness block in the Day of Judgment to testify against the millions who have received the ordinances and lived unworthily.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

and shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who with the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law? [The Gentile, remaining as he was by nature, uncircumcised, if he fulfilled the law, shall, in his turn, judge the Jew, who was so ready to judge him ( Rom_2:1 ), who, with a written law and circumcision, was yet a transgressor. The judging referred to is probably the indirect judging of comparison. On the day of judgment, the Gentile, with his poor advantages, will condemn, by his superior conduct, the lawlessness of the Jew. Comp. Mat_11:21-22 ; Luk_11:31-32 ]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

27. Uncircumcision which is by nature. The Gentiles, who are of uncircumcised races. If such an one keeps the essential principles of the law, his obedience is a rebuke to the Jewish transgressor who has covenanted to keep the law.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

27. ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκρ. This introduces the distinction between the external symbol and the spiritual condition.

τὸν νόμον τελοῦσα, ‘if it keep …’ or ‘by keeping …’: perhaps better = ‘which keeps …,’ τελοῦσα, adjectival, owing its position to the fact that there is a second adj., ἐκ φύσεως.

διὰ γράμματος καὶ περιτομῆς = under a condition of written law and circumcision: an advantageous condition as far as it goes. γρ. is the external form of revelation, as περ. is the external form of the covenant. The emphasis is on the character of these forms; therefore anarthrous; and ‘letter’ is a better translation than ‘scripture.’ For this abstraction of the external form of scripture cf. Rom 7:6; 2Co 3:3. For διὰ w. gen., expressing a condition or state, cf. Rom 4:11, Rom 8:25, Rom 14:20; cf. Blass, p. 132 f.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27.] I prefer with De Wette (and Erasm.), Luth., Bengel, Wetst., Knapp, and Meyer, to regard this verse not as a continuation of the question, but as a separate emphatic assertion, and as leading the way to the next verse.

κρινεῖ, ‘shall rise up in judgment against,’ judge indirectly by his example. See Mat 12:41, Mat 12:42, where κατακρίνω is used in a sense precisely similar.

ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβ.] ‘he, who remains in his natural state of uncircumcision.’ ἐκ φύς. is contrasted with διὰ γράμ. κ. περιτ. below. The position of ἐκ φύσεως decides for this rendering and against joining it with τελοῦσα, which would require ἡ ἀκροβυστία, ἐκ φύσεως τὸν νόμον τελοῦσα.

τὸν νόμ. τελ.] such is the supposition—that an uncircumcised man could fully act up to the (moral) requirements of the law. It is not ἡ τὸν νόμ. τελ.; because ἀκροβ. is used in the widest abstract sense: no distinction is made between one and another uncircumcised person, but some one man is taken as an example of ἀκροβυστία. So that the omission of the art. does not give a new hypothetic sense, ‘if it fulfil the law,’ but merely restates the hypothesis: fulfilling (as it does, as we have supposed) the law.

σὲ τὸν.… παραβάτην νόμου] Here again the position of διὰ γράμματος κ. περιτομῆς, between τὸν and παραβάτην, sufficiently shews that, as ἐκ φύσεως above, it is a qualification of σὲ τὸν παραβάτην νόμου. Bp. Middleton (it appears, Gr. Art. in loc. and compare his ref.) would take σὲ τὸν διὰ γράμματος κ. περιτομῆς (ὄντα), ‘thee who art a professor of the law and a circumcised person,’ and understand εἶναι after παραβάτην,—shall adjudge thee to be a transgressor of the law. But this appears exceedingly forced, and inconsistent with the position of παραβ. νόμου, which if it had been thus emphatic, would certainly have been placed either before, or immediately after κρινεῖ. We may well imagine that such an interpretation would not have been thought of, except to serve the supposed canon, that, ‘if τόν were immediately the article of παραβάτην, νόμου depending on it could not be anarthrous.’ See above on παραβ. νόμ. ver. 25, and on ver. 13.

διὰ γρ. κ. περ.] διὰ (see reff.) is here used of the state in which the man is when he does the act, regarded at the medium through which the act is done. It is rightly rendered by in E. V. [though this gives too much the idea of the state being the instrument by means of which] (not, ‘in spite of,’ as Köllner and al.).

γράμματος] ‘litera scripta,’ the written word: here in a more general sense than in ver. 29, where it is pressed to a contrast with πνεῦμα: thee, who in a state of external conformity with the written law and of circumcision, art yet a transgressor of the law.

In vv. 28, 29, supply the ellipses thus: in ver. 28, fill up the subjects from the predicates,—οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ (Ἰουδαῖος) Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν, οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ (περιτομὴ) περιτομή (ἐστιν); in ver. 29, fill up the predicates from the subjects,—ἀλλʼ ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος (Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν), καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι (περιτομή ἐστιν). Thus the real Jew only, and the real circumcision only, are expressed in both verses. This is the arrangement of Beza, Estius, Rückert, De Wette: Erasm., Luther, Meyer, Fritzsche, take Ἰουδαῖος, and ἐν πν. οὐ γράμ., as the predicates in ver. 29; but the latter gives a very vapid sense, besides that the opposition of ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ, and ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ is, as De W. observes, also vapid.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

27. κρινεῖ: most probably categorical and not a question as AV. and RV.; = ‘condemn’ by comparison and contrast, as in Mat 12:41, Mat 12:42 ‘the men of Nineveh shall stand up in the judgement with this generation and shall condemn it,’ &c. Again we are pointed back to vv. 1-3; the judge of others shall be himself judged.

ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβυστία: uncircumcision which physically remains as it was born. The order of the words seems opposed to Prof. Burton’s rendering, ‘the uncircumcision which by nature fulfils the law’ (ἐκ φύς. = φύσει 5:14).

διά of ‘attendant circumstances’ as in 4:11, 8:25, 14:20; Anglicé ‘with,’ with all your advantages of circumcision and the possession of a written law.

The distinction between the literal Israel which is after the flesh and the true spiritual Israel is a leading idea with St. Paul and is worked out at length in 9:6 ff.; see also Php 2:14 sup. We may compare Php 3:3, where St. Paul claims that Christians represent the true circumcision.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.