Romans 2:18

You know what God desires. Because you have been taught { people have taught you} God’s laws, you are able to know which things are right and to choose to do them.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;

In Context

17Now I have something to say to any one of you Jews to whom I am writing: You (sg) boast about yourself saying, “I am a Jew.” You (sg) trust that God will save you because you possess the laws that he gave to Moses. You boast that you belong to God.

19You are certain that you are able to show God’s truth to non-Jews, as guides show the road to those who are blind [MET]. You are certain that by what you say you can show God’s way to the non-Jews who do not understand it, as a light shows the way to those who walk in the darkness [MET, DOU].

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Cross References

Deuteronomy 4:8And there is no [RHQ] other nation, even if it is a great nation, that has laws that are as just/fair as the laws that I am telling to you today.

Psalms 19:8Yahweh’s laws are fair/just; when we obey them, we become joyful. The commands of Yahweh are clear, and by reading them [PRS] we start to understand how God wants us to behave.

Psalms 119:104Because I have learned ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►, I am able to understand many things; therefore, I hate all evil things that some people do.

Psalms 147:19He sent his message to the descendants of Jacob; he tells to his Israeli people the laws and regulations that he had decreed.

Luke 12:47Every servant who knows what his master wants him to do but who does not get himself ready and does not do what his master desires will be beaten severely { The master will beat severely every servant who knows what his master wants him to do but who does not get himself ready and does not do what his master desires}.

Romans 15:4And you need to remember that what was written previously {what God’s servants previously wrote} in the Scriptures, was written { they wrote} to teach us in order that we would be patient and be encouraged by reading/believing what they wrote. If we do that, we can confidently expect God to do for us all he has promised.

Matthew Henry on Romans 2:18-29

The Pretensions of the Jews; The Depravity of the Jews. ( a. d. 58.) 17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, 18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, 20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. 21 Thou therefore which teachest… Read the whole commentary →

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