The passage
      v12-13. Up to this point in his letter, Paul has established the universality of sin, the consequence of which is the impartial judgment of God. Paul now introduces the role of the law of Moses. Due to sin, all are judged, irrespective of whether they are under the law of Moses or not. Those believers who submit to the law on the assumption that obedience secures their standing before God, or somehow advances their standing, are condemned by the law, for to be right before God demands complete obedience to the law.
      v14-16. On the other hand, those believers who rest on God's grace through faith are not only "declared righteous" without the law, but actually apply (imperfectly) its requirements in their day to day life, and this because they are prompted by the indwelling compelling of the Spirit - a law within their heart. This law within, as with the Mosaic law, condemns as well as praises, thus forcing them into the presence of God to recognize again that their standing is by grace through faith and not works of the law.
      v17-24. Paul shows the Jewish believers in Rome that when tested by the law of Moses they are found to be law-breakers. They may be proud that they have the law as a birthright of the old covenant, a blessing and sign of God's favour toward them, yet, in the end they dishonor God by breaking the law. By doing this they prove that they are sinners, without personal righteousness before God, and therefore under his condemnation. They may think that they have an advantage over Gentile believers through their submission to the law, which is why they seek to impose Mosaic law on their Gentile brothers. Yet, the advantage only exists where the law is obeyed, and the reality is all sin and fall short of the glory of God. In fact, Jewish hypocrisy blasphemes God's name among the wider Gentile community. So, the presumed advantage of the law is actually a disadvantage.
      v25-29. The Jewish believers in Rome may think that circumcision will advantage them before God, even exempt them from condemnation. Yet, circumcision is only an advantage where the law is obeyed. In reality, an uncircumcised believer, striving to live out their faith, is treated by God as if they were circumcised. They are blessed, while the circumcised person is condemned. God looks at the inward person, at the heart; he does not define his children on the basis of Jewish ancestry, but on the basis of their personal relationship with him. Circumcision performed on the flesh in submission to the "written code" is not the circumcision God is interested in. He looks for the "circumcision of the heart", a spiritual renewal within. Such a person receives God's "praise".

Hypocrisy
      Israel's special vocation was to promote the glory of God's name throughout the world by demonstrating what it meant to live as a community under God's law. Paul makes use of Isaiah 52:5 to illustrate that the behavior of some of the Jewish brethren in the church of Rome actually reviles God's name rather than brings praise to it.
      A common statement by the unchurched is that the church if full of hypocrites. In response churchies will often reply, "you can still come and join us, one extra won't make much difference." Hypocrisy is seen as saying one thing, but doing another. The church is often seen to take a high moral stand on social issues, but then to soften that stand for its own advantage. (eg. the protection of pederasts in the ranks).
      Recently, I was taking a Bible class when a teenager asked me a question about an issue I knew very little about. She asked whether it wasn't hypocritical for the church to take a stand against the liquor trade, but then to change church law to allow a particular church to lease some property for a licensed restaurant. I said I was under the impression that church law prohibited the sale of alcohol on church property, and I thought that was that. In the end, she was right. We had changed the law for commercial reasons. Principles were set aside for financial gain. A young student had observed our hypocrisy and so God's name was blasphemed.
      In my particular diocese we have an interesting rule on the remarriage of divorcees. With the bishop's permission, an attending member can gain permission to remarry, but a nominal "CofE" (Church of England) is refused. Now, how is that for hypocrisy? The Roman practice of annulling the former marriage leaves a similar taste in the mouth of the onlooker.
      The truth is that the law-bound become lawless and then use the sins of others to hid their own sin. Such hypocrisy blasphemes God's name. We are reminded again that only under God's grace do we become gracious and worthy of his praise.

v12
      Having established the universality of sin and the impartial judgment of God, Paul introduces the role of the law of Moses. Due to sin, all are judged with or without the law. Those who place themselves under the law are condemned by the law for to be right before God demands obedience to the law, v12-13.
      anomwV "apart from the law" - without law, not having the law. This first mention of "law" in the epistle most likely refers to "the law of Moses / Torah", although a general sense is possible, "the will of God as a rule of duty, no matter how revealed", Hodge. It does seem that on most occasions Paul has in mind the law of Moses (Torah, the old covenant law) when he refers to "law", but sometimes he does seem to use "law" in another sense, possibly referring to new covenant law, the law written on the heart of a believer, cf., 7:21-25, 8:2.
      hJmarton (hJmartanw) aor. "sin" - The aorist is probably constative, expressing the action in its entirety.
      en nomw/ (oV) "under the law" - in law. As is often the case with the word "law", there is no article. The reason is unclear, although it may support those who argue that Paul means "law in general." "In the area of the law", Morris, "in their relationship to the law."
      dia + gen. "by" - by means of, because of.

v13
      gar "for" - Those under the law will be judged by the law because a person has to obey it to be justified before God.
      oiJ akroatai (hV ou) "those who hear [the law]" - the hearers. Hearing was the usual way a person would take in the law. "It is not those who merely listen to what the law says", Cassirer.
      dikaioi adj. "righteous" - The sense is "right before God", "in a right relationship with God", "approved before God."
      oiJ poihtai (hV ou) "those who obey" - the doers. Of course, commentators are all over the place on whether anyone actually has "done" the law, and if so, who. Most see it as a theoretical possibility only, so Morris, etc. Cranfield has a rather strange idea of something that new Christians do before being introduced to the law proper. See v26.
      dikaiwqhsontai (dikaiow) fut. pas. "will be declared righteous" - will be justified. One suspects the future tense is gnomic, expressing an eternal reality, but possibly eschatological. Taking the sense "judged right before God." Note how Barrett happily goes with "made right" since it does not mean "make virtuous", but rather "grants a verdict of acquittal." In simple terms, what God says so is so. If he says we are "right", then we are "right", even though, in ourselves, we are anything but right.

v14
      Verses 14 and 15 are often treated as a parenthesis, so NIV, with v16 picking up on v13. The idea being that Gentiles potentially, or some Gentiles, or believing Gentiles, can fulfill the requirements of the law through the leading of their "conscience", or "law written on the heart", Jer.31:33 and so be declared righteous, or confirm that declaration..... Cranfield is not convinced and regards v14-16 as a single unit. Unlike the judaizers who, having sinned under the law stand condemned by the law, Gentile believers, having not actually received the Torah as a birthright, are not only "declared righteous" without the law, but apply (imperfectly) its requirements in their day to day life prompted as they are by the indwelling compelling of a law within, v14. The righteousness of these believing Gentiles is by faith, a point that Paul has yet to develop, but here he makes the point that their attention to the Mosaic law, having never received the law of Moses, is a product of the law written in their heart, which is of course, a fulfilment of Jeremiah 31:33. This law within, as with the Mosaic law, condemns as well as praises, v15, thus forcing the believer to stand before God and recognize again that their standing is by grace through faith, v16, ie., the law functions to expose sin and drive the sinner to God for mercy - to rest on faith rather than works. Cranfield's line of interpretation, here freely adapted, has much to commend it, although the sense of this passage is anything but settled.
      gar "for" - Expressing cause/reason for the statement v13b, although Dumbrell argues that v13 is an aside and so at this point Paul picks up on the argument commenced in v12.
      oJtan + subj. "when" - whenever. Forming an indefinite temporal clause.
      eqnh (oV) "Gentiles" - The lack of an article indicates "certain" Gentiles are in Paul's mind. Usually understood as either unbelieving Gentiles who have the unrealized potential of living a moral life (even some actually do live a moral life) on the basis of the revelation available to them, or like Abraham and other Old Testament saints, pre-Christian Gentiles ("righteous Gentiles") who rest in faith on the available knowledge of God's mercy. The position taken in these notes is that the "Gentiles" referred to here are "Gentile believers", who, under the regulations of the Jerusalem Council, Acts 15, were not constrained by the demands of the Old Covenant law since, in Christ, through the Spirit, the new covenant law is written on their hearts, Jer.31:33. The view that they are "Gentile Christians" is by no means innovative, eg., it was proposed by Augustine. It has also been accepted by some modern theologians, eg., W. Mundle, F. Fluckiger, Barth, J.B. Soucek. See also "Gentiles or Gentile Christians?", A. Konig, Journal of Theology for South Africa 15, 1976. Some commentators also accept the "Christian Gentile" theory, eg., Jewett. Cranfield.
      ta mh .... exonta (exw) pres. part. "who do not have [the law]" - not having [law]. The participle forms a substantive.
      fusei (iV ewV) dat. "by nature" - The dative is usually regarded as instrumental when "by nature" is taken with "do the things required by the law" (ie., natural law), but it is more likely local and taken with "who do not have the law", so Bengel, Cranfield, ie., the Gentiles did not naturally possess the law of Moses as a birthright, although, as members of the church, they would be aware of it.
      eJautoiV eisin nomoV "they are a law for themselves" - to themselves are a law. By being in Christ and indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, having the law written on their heart, they are guided independent of the Mosaic law. "They have an inner direction that serves the same purpose as law", Junkins.

v15
      oJtineV + ind. "since" - Forming a relative causal clause, as NIV. "Who are of such a quality as to", Morris.
      endeiknuntai (endeiknumi) pres. "they show" - they show forth. Possibly a futuristic present tense if viewed eschatologically, although it is surely a "now" reality, but then v16 becomes a problem in that it does seem to refer to the eschaton, see v16.
      to ergon tou nomou "the requirements of the law" - the work of the law. Not "effect", Barrett, but "the work which the law requires", Cranfield.
      grapton en taiV kardiaiV autwn "written on their hearts" - Obviously alluding to Jer.31:33, so Cranfield, Jewett, although denied by many commentators, eg. Barrett. Presumably it is the "requirements" which are written on the heart, rather than the actual Mosaic law.
      thV suneidhsewV (iV ewV) "[their] consciences [also bearing witness]" - The phrase is a genitive absolute probably expressing a temporal sense. The word may imply that the conscience functions as if a law within, but Cranfield argues that the word expresses inward rational thought rather than the prompting of an innate moral core; the word was commonly used "of knowledge shared with oneself whether of one's having done wrong or of one's innocence", Cranfield.
      summarturoushV (sumarturew) pres. part. "bearing witness" - bearing joint witness / bear witness, testify. Both meanings are suggested. If "bearing joint witness" then who is the other witness? Barrett suggests the Gentiles themselves, although possibly "the law" is intended. Cranfield argues for "bear witness, testify", the testimony of "the law's requirements written on their heart" of the individual Gentile Christian.
      kathgorountwn (kathgorew) pres. part. "now accusing" - accusing. Genitive absolute forming a temporal clause, so also "now even defending them." The action of the law within primarily condemning sin and thus reminding the believer of the basis upon which they stand right before God, namely, by grace through faith and not works of the law.

v16
      The sense of this verse is disputed. Its seeming reference to the great assize doesn't fit the "accusing" and "defending" of v15 which is a present reality. A nice way through the maize is to translate the verse "all this will be made plain on the day of judgment", Leenhardt, but we are best (against Dunn etc.) to view the judgment as a present ongoing reality. Every time we kneel in prayer, properly beginning with confession, we come before a judge who views our every secret.
      "This will take place" - The lack of a verb, here supplied by NIV, indicates that Paul is still working with the same time frame, a durative present.
      hJmera/ (a) "the day" - day. The lack of an article further indicates that Paul is not speaking about "the day of judgment", the last day.
      krinei (krinw) pres. "will judge" - judges. Again, the present tense here further supports the view that Paul is not thinking of a future judgment.
      dia + gen. "through [Jesus Christ]" - through, by means of. This prepositional phrase probably indicates the agent of "my gospel" rather than the agent of judgment. The word order in the Gk. supports this view.
      kata to euaggelion mou "as my gospel declares" - according to my gospel. Cranfield's "the gospel which I preach [together with other Christian preachers]" misses the point. Paul is suggesting that the gospel which he preaches is distinctive, although as it is "through the agency of Christ", it is not heretical.

v17
      In v17-24 Paul reminds the Jewish believers in Rome that their efforts to impose the Mosaic law on their Gentile brothers and sisters is little more than blasphemy since they do not do what they preach. For Israel, such has always been the case.
      ei + ind. "if" - Note variant ide, "behold", probably an attempt to deal with the unwieldy conditional clause. Conditional sentence, 1st class, where the condition is assumed to be true. The "if" clause (protasis) is formed by multiple clauses, the apodosis in the form of a question/s, v21. The point being, "if, as you claim, you are righteous under the law, do you actually keep the law? Probably better translated as a positive statement; "Some of you call yourselves Jews. You trust in the Lord and take pride in God. .....", CEV.
      eponomazh/ (eponomazw) pres. pas. "you call yourself" - Given the passive, possibly "you are called a Jew", or better "you bear the honored name of a Jew", Bruce.
      IoudaioV "Jew" - A member of the covenant people of God with its associated privileges and responsibilities. The "you" being a Jewish believer, member of the church at Rome.
      epanapauh/ (epanapauomai) pres. "rely on" - rest on, rely upon. "Rely" on the law for standing with God; "lean back in the arms of", Peterson.
      kaucasai (kaucaomai) pres. "boast" - "Boast" as to their standing before God, so "brag", Morris.
      en "about your relationship to [God]" - in [God]. They "brag", not about their particular relationship with God, but "because of", Turner, God himself. They think they know God and assume that he can always be counted on to act in their favor, Jewett.

v18
      dokimazeiV (dokimazw) pres. "approve" - test, prove, approve. Possibly "test out" what is right, "discover what is right", CEV, but more likely "determine and then approve" what is right; "you are able, through your knowledge of the Law, truly to appreciate moral values", Phillips.
      ta diaferonta (diaferw) pres. part. "what is superior" - excelling, being worth more than. Participle forming a substantive. "What is excellent", RSV.
      kathcoumenoV (kathcew) pres. part. "because you are instructed" - being instructed. "Instructed" orally, although this was the usual form of instruction, "being instructed in a formal way", Wuest. The participle possibly forms a causal clause, as NIV, possibly means (instrumental), "by being instructed", Williams.

v19
      pepoiqaV (peiqw) perf. "you are convinced" - having persuaded, been sure, certain [yourself]. "You have convinced yourself", Jewett.
      einai (eimi) "that your are" - The infinitive serving to form a dependent statement of perception, as NIV. The Jewish believers, because of their possession of the law, consider that "they are accredited teachers of those whose eyes are blinded by ignorance", Junkins.

v20
      afronwn adj. "the foolish" - mindless, thoughtless, unthinking, foolish... Probably with regard spiritual things; you "instruct those who [you think] have no spiritual wisdom", Phillips.
      nhpiwn adj. "infants" - Possibly used of children, but the word can also be used metaphorically, eg., "babies in Christ", 1Cor.3:1. It is likely that this is the sense here. These "babies" are, in the view of the "righteous" believers in Rome ("the weak", nomists), those who are missing that extra special ingredient in the Christian life, namely, righteousness under the law (the necessary extra tacked onto the cross that will get us from this world to the next. Even today there are those who promote the essential extra!!).
      econta (ecw) pres. part. "because you have" - having. The NIV has again taken the participle as forming a causal clause. Of course, Paul is being ironical, so "because in the law you have [you believe you have] ....", Moffatt.
      thn morfwsin (iV ewV) "the embodiment" - the outward form. Earlier, eg., Lightfoot, saw the word as a mere representation, sketch of an inward reality, but it is now seen as "a true depiction and representation of the idea", TDNT. Only Paul's law-bound friends have "the basis of true knowledge", Phillips.

v21
      oun "then" - therefore. Possibly resumptive rather than expressing result. Paul finally gets to the apodosis of his conditional sentence which commenced in v17, although the syntax has been lost along the way and so he now resorts to rhetorical questions. "Prepared as you are to instruct others, do you ever teach yourself anything?", Phillips.
      oJ didaskwn (didaskw) pres. part. "you who teach [others]" - the one teaching. The participle forming a substantive.

v22
      oJ legwn "you who say" - the one saying. Participle as a substantive.
      mh moiceuein (moiceuw) pres. inf. "that people should not commit adultery" - not to commit adultery. The infinitive forming a dependent statement of saying. Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, completes ("fulfills") the law by declaring it in perfection and by so doing, removes any possibility of claiming God's approval on the basis of doing it. Although the law serves as a guide to the Christian life, it primarily serves to expose sin, and it is for this purpose that Jesus regularly used it. None-the-less, it is easy for a law-bound believer to miss the obvious, to preach against adultery, condemn the adulterer, but ignore their own adulterous thoughts, as though they don't count.
      iJerosuleiV (iJerosulew) pres. "rob temples" - commit sacrilege. Trying to find some actual offence against the temple misses the point. As with adultery, Paul is speaking of the ethical purity demanded in the sermon on the mount, a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, a perfection where there is not the hint of sacrilege in either thought, or action. "Thy piety is arrogance, for where is the piety which does not approach God too nearly", Barth.

v23
      en "[brag] about [the law]" - [boast] in [the law]. Possibly "because of the law", Turner; "are confident because of their standing under the law", ie., righteous under the law. The confidence of a Jew probably didn't lie in their submission to the law to gain salvation (legalism), since their standing before God was a matter of grace, a birthright under God. Their confidence rested in their privileged status under the blessing of the law, which blessing maintained and progressed their standing before God (nomism - the law as an instrument of divine approval). Many Jewish believers, "the weak", had brought this thinking with them into the Christian fellowship and it is this issue which Paul confronts. Paul's argument, drawn from the teaching of Jesus, is that a person's standing before God, their righteousness, their holiness, is by grace through faith. All the law does is remind us of this fact, for righteousness is not possible under the law, only condemnation. So, "the weak" (Jewish believers) in Rome may be confident because of their standing under the law, but then, the problem is that they break the law and in so doing enact the curse of the law against them. The reader will understand how common this heresy is today and also, that this issue is central to the present debate over Pauline theology between new perspective and reformed commentators.
      tou nomou (oV) gen. "[breaking] the law" - [disobedience] of the law. Obviously an objective genitive, as NIV. "Do you dishonor God by its violation?", Phillips.

v24
      gar "-" - for. As is often the case, this conjunction is left untranslated in the NIV. Basically expressing cause/reason, in that sense it often functions as part of the argument, explaining something about the previous statement; "for, as the scripture says, ...", Williams. Certainly here the point is argumentative, even to the point of being consequential; "as a consequence of your behavior, as the scripture says, ..."
      to onoma (a atoV) "[God's] name" - In the sense of "God's person."
      blasfhmeitai (blasfhmew) pres. pas. "blasphemed" - Probably in the sense of defaming God by their failure to obey. Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles, but the hypocrisy of the self-righteous is easy to see.

v25
      Verses 25-29 identifies the contentious issue of circumcision that was disturbing Paul's mission churches. For the law-bound believers (judaizers, members of the circumcision party, nomists, "the weak", 15:1) the circumcision of Gentile believers marked their submission to the law of Moses and thus their participation in its attendant blessings. Paul's point is that circumcision is a sign of blessing if a person keeps the law, but a sign of cursing it they don't. Anyway, as has always been the case, true circumcision is a matter of the heart (cf. Jer.4:4), such that a believer in Christ is already circumcised and so fully a member of God's new covenant community.
      gar "-" - for. Here best left untranslated, as NIV, as it is probably just an argumentative link.
      peritomh (h) "circumcision" - Obviously here physical circumcision as a sign of covenant status.
      ean + subj. "if [you observe the law]" - Conditional clause, 3rd class, where the condition has only a possibility of being true.
      ean + subj. "if [you break]" - if [you are a transgressor]. Conditional clause, 3rd class, although one would expect 1st class.
      nomou (oV) gen. "the law" - law. Objective genitive, ie., the action is applied to the law; the law is the object of the action.
      akrobustia (a) "not ... circumcised" - uncircumcision. A failure, by those under the law, to obey the law, placed the circumcised with the uncircumcised.

v26
      fulassh/ (fulassw) "keep [the law's requirements]" - guard, protect / of the law = observe, keep. Again we have the interesting description of the "not circumcised" (obviously a believing Gentile) who "habitually guards the righteous requirements of the law", Wuest. Paul is probably speaking of a believers walk in the Spirit apart from the law, which Christ-like walk is "relatively" righteous, in that those under the law are prompted toward rebellion while those under grace are prompted toward Christ-likeness - the forgiven forgive, while those told to forgive, forgive in name only. On the other hand, he may be speaking of a believers standing in Christ under Christ's obedience; theologically true, but unlikely to the Paul's point in this context. Then again, as a conditional clause, 3rd class, the notion may be only theoretically possible; unlikely. Of course, Paul may be thinking of "the obedience [that consists] of faith", although "the law's requirements" = the LXX technical term "the righteous requirements of the law", so the actual doing of the law does seem to be in Paul's mind.
      ouc .... logisqhsetai (logizomai) fut. pas. "will they not be regarded" - will not [his uncircumcision] be reckoned, accounted [for circumcision]. The Christ-like life of a believer serves as the sign of their covenant inclusion and as such is as good as the sign of circumcision.

v27
      A tricky verse to translate. Note the numerous translations, particularly as either a statement or question. Note also the emphatic position of "condemn" at the head of the Gk. sentence.
      fusewV (iV ewV) "physically" - naturally, of nature. "Have never been circumcised", CEV. See v14.
      telousa (telew) pres. part. "[and yet] obeys [the law]" - completing, finishing, keeping, fulfilling. The participle is possibly temporal, "while keeping the law." As Barrett notes, Paul does not use this word in the sense of "obeying" the law and so suggests "give full effect to" although "fulfilling" the law is surely what Paul means.
      krinei (krinw) fut. "will condemn" - will judge. As Cranfield notes, the "uncircumcised" [believer] "will not assume the role of judge, but rather that he will be a witness for the prosecution", having lived without the law as the circumcised should have lived under the law.
      dia + gen. "even though" - through, by means of. The second half of the sentence is controlled by this preposition. It naturally takes an instrumental sense which would mean "those who keep the law will condemn you who, through / by means of the law and circumcision, break the law." Indeed, the law does make sin more sinful, in a sense, promotes rebellion and Paul certainly does argue the case that when we place ourselves under the law to promote holiness, we end up promoting sin. Grace, on the other hand, promotes righteous living. On the other hand, most commentators find this approach a little raw and so suggest that the preposition here introduces an attendant circumstance; the righteous believers have the law and circumcision, and they break the law; "the uncircumcised ...... will judge you who, for all your observance of the letter, and your circumcision, are a transgressor of the law", Barrett.

v28
      en tw/ fanerw/ "outwardly" - in the open. A messy verse, but the sense is clear. Covenant membership is a matter of the heart and not outward form.
      en sarki "physical" - in the flesh.