Romans 3.9 – 20 Jews As Well As Gentiles Are Guilty of Sin
So are we Jews better off? Not entirely; for I have already made the charge that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are controlled by sin. As the Tanakh puts it,
"There is no one righteous, not even one! No one understands, no one seeks God, all have turned away and at the same time become useless; there is no one who shows kindness, not a single one! [Psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3]
"Their throats are open graves, they use their tongues to deceive. [Psalm 5:9]
Vipers' venom is under their lips. [Psalm 140:3]
Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness. [Psalm 10:7]
"Their feet rush to shed blood, in their ways are ruin and misery, and the way of shalom they do not know. [Isaiah 59:7f]
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." [Psalm 36:1]
Moreover, we know that whatever the Torah says, it says to those living within the framework of the Torah, in order that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world be shown to deserve God's adverse judgment. For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands, because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are.
- Paul's answer does not contradict his claim in 3:1-2 that Jews have an advantage.
- that advantage has not done them any good
- they have disobeyed God's word
- and incurred God's punishment
- they have disobeyed God's word
- how can Paul conclude that the entire world is guilty before God on the basis of evidence from the OT that Jews are sinful?
- He argues "from the greater to the lesser":
- If the law shows that the Jews, God's own people, are guilty,
- then how much more are the Gentiles, who have not had the benefit of God's instruction, also guilty
- If the law shows that the Jews, God's own people, are guilty,
- Paul's quoting of the OT is purposeful and usually encompasses a far wider passage from which the quote is taken, he cites
- psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3
- psalm 5:9
- psalm 140:3
- psalm 10:7
- isaiah 59:7f
- psalm 36:1
- psalm 14:1-3; 53:1-3
- in each wider passage the charge against the wicked is framed within or followed by God's promise of
- rescue [by His own action] those who are helpless before evil
- and faithfulness to His covenant despite everything else
- rescue [by His own action] those who are helpless before evil
- this is the buildup up to 3:21 and what follows thereafter
- it's a hint for those who know scripture that he's getting ready to talk about the solution
- but he returns once more to talk about Jews and Torah
- an appeal by a Jew to the covenant and Torah – Torah itself tells him "You have broken me."
- Torah brings exacting knowledge of sin – not faithfulness to God's covenant
- an appeal by a Jew to the covenant and Torah – Torah itself tells him "You have broken me."
- V. 20 -- some recent scholars have understood the phrase 'erga nomou', ("works of the law") to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations
- (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155).
- (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155).
- other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (" 'The Works of the Law' in the Epistle to the Romans," JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are:
- The second half of Rom_3:20, "for through the law comes the knowledge of sin," is hard to explain if the phrase "works of the law" is understood in a restricted sense;
- the plural phrase "works of the law" would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase "the work of the law" in Rom_2:15;
- similar phrases involving the law in Romans (Rom_2:13; Rom_2:14; Rom_2:25; Rom_2:26; Rom_2:27; Rom_7:25; Rom_8:4, and Rom_13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase "works of the law" cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in Rom_2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law).
- The second half of Rom_3:20, "for through the law comes the knowledge of sin," is hard to explain if the phrase "works of the law" is understood in a restricted sense;
- interpreters who reject the "narrow" interpretation of "works of the law" understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general
NT Wright says, "appealing to the Torah is like appealing to the policeman who caught you in the act" -- he just knows you're guilty
No comments:
Post a Comment