Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 2:22
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
22. commit sacrilege ] Lit. plunder sacred things, or plunder from sacred places. The Gr. word is the same as that translated “robbers of churches,” Act 19:37. The idea of plunder is not necessary in the word, however; other forms of sacrilege may be included. Thus the reference may be to such profanations as that of the traders in the Temple (Joh 2:14, &c.), and the appeal will be, “Thou, who art so jealous for God against idolaters, dost thou worship self and mammon in His presence?” But if the special thought of robbery is kept (as is certainly more natural, with the derivation and usage of the Greek word in view), the reference probably is to Jewish thefts from pagan temples, where meanwhile the strict Jew professed not to dare to set his foot for fear of pollution. Scruple broke down before thievish avarice.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Dost thou commit adultery? – There is no doubt that this was a crime very common among the Jews; see the Mat 12:39 note; Joh 8:1-11 notes. The Jewish Talmud accuses some of the most celebrated of their Rabbies, by name, of this vice. (Grotius.) Josephus also gives the same account of the nation.
Thou that abhorrest idols – It was one of the doctrines of their religion to abhor idolatry. This they were everywhere taught in the Old Testament; and this they doubtless inculcated in their teaching. It was impossible that they could recommend idolatry.
Dost thou commit sacrilege? – Sacrilege is the crime of violating or profaning sacred things; or of appropriating to common purposes what has been devoted to the service of religion. In this question, the apostle shows remarkable tact and skill. He could not accuse them of idolatry, for the Jews, after the Babylonish captivity, had never fallen into it. But then, though they had not the form, they might have the spirit of idolatry. That spirit consisted in withholding from the true God what was his due, and bestowing the affections upon something else. This the Jews did by perverting from their proper use the offerings which were designed for his honor; by withholding what he demanded of tithes and offerings; and by devoting to other uses what was devoted to him, and which properly belonged to his service. That this was a common crime among them is apparent from Mal 1:8, Mal 1:12-14; Mal 3:8-9. It is also evident from the New Testament that the temple was in many ways desecrated and profaned in the time of our Saviour; notes, Mat 21:12-13.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Dost thou commit adultery? to this sin also the Jews were greatly addicted: see Psa 50:18; Jer 5:8.
Dost thou commit sacrilege? Here he varies the crime; he does not say: Dost thou commit idolatry, but sacrilege. The Jews, after their return out of captivity, kept themselves free from idolatry; but it seems they were guilty of a sin that was near akin to it. Here it may be questioned, what the sacrilege was that the Jews were guilty of. Some think, their covetousness is here taxed, which is a kind of idolatry. The Jews took those things which were consecrated to idols, and which, by the law of God, should have been destroyed, and turned them to their private advantage. Others think, that their sacrilege consisted in withholding from God that which they should have consecrated and offered up to him; see 1Sa 2:13; Mal 3:8,9; they converted to their own use such things as were dedicated to God. Much to the same purpose is their opinion, that think it consisted in robbing God of his due. By the imperial law in the code, it is declared sacrilege to take from the emperor any thing that is his; it ought to be much more accounted sacrilege to deal so with God. Some think their sacrilege lay in polluting the worship of God, and making his commands of no effect, through their corrupt additions and traditions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. thou that abhorrest idolsasthe Jews did ever after their captivity, though bent on them before.
dost thou commitsacrilege?not, as some excellent interpreters, “dost thourob idol temples?” but more generally, as we take it, “dostthou profane holy things?” (as in Mat 21:12;Mat 21:13, and in other ways).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery,…. Adultery here is to be taken not figuratively for adulterating the word of God, and mixing it with their own inventions; but literally for the sin of adultery, and that not in heart only, but in act:
dost thou commit adultery? an iniquity which greatly prevailed among the Jews at this time of day; hence Christ calls them “an adulterous generation”, Mt 12:39; and that to such a degree, that by the advice of their great Rabbi, R. Jochanan ben Zaccai, they left off the trial of the suspected woman, cases of this nature being so very numerous: and this sin prevailed not only among the common people, but among their principal doctors; as may be learnt from their own writings, and from that conviction of this iniquity which the Scribes and Pharisees were brought under by Christ, when the woman, taken in adultery, was had before him by them, Joh 8:9.
Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? for though at this time they abhorred idolatry, to which their forefathers were so much inclined, and so often fell into, yet they were guilty of sacrilege; by violating the worship of God, and polluting it with their own inventions; by pillaging or withholding, or not offering the sacrifices they ought; and by plundering the temple, and converting the sacred things of it to their own use.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
That abhorrest ( ). Old word to make foul, to stink, to have abhorrence for. In LXX, in N.T. only here and Re 21:8. The very word used by Jesus to express their horror of idols (, see on Acts 7:41; 1Cor 12:2). See Mt 24:15 for “abomination.”
Dost thou rob temples? (?). Old verb from (Ac 19:37) and that from , temple, and , to rob. The town clerk (Ac 19:37) said that these Jews (Paul and his companions) were “not robbers of temples,” proof that the charge was sometimes made against Jews, though expressly forbidden the Jews (Josephus, Ant. IV. 8, 10). Paul refers to the crime of robbing idol temples in spite of the defilement of contact with idolatry.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Sayest [] . The denunciation is not so pronounced. The Talmud charges the crime of adultery upon the three most illustrious Rabbins. Abhorrest [] . The verb means originally to turn away from a thing on account of the stench. See on abomination, Mt 24:15.
Commit sacrilege [] . Rev. renders according to the etymology, iJeron temple, sulaw to despoil; hence rob temples. Some explain, the pillage of idol temples; others, robbing the Jewish temple by embezzlement, withholding the temple tribute, etc. The robbery of temples as practiced by the Jews is inferred from Act 19:37. Compare Josephus, “Antiq.,” 4 8, 10, where he lays down the law not to plunder Gentile temples, nor to seize treasure stored up there in honor of any God. 25
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, (ho legon me moicheuein) The one saying (one is) not to commit adultery;” which was forbidden and condemned by the law, Exo 20:14; Lev 20:10; Jer 7:9.
2) Dost thou commit adultery (moicheveis); Do you commit adultery? Even looking on a woman to or toward lusting with her is to commit adultery, Mat 5:28; Such also comes out of the heart; Do you entertain and involve yourself in such? Paul inquires of the Jews, Mat 15:19.
3) Thou that abhorrest idols, (ho Bdelussomenos ta eidola) The one detesting the idols, forbidden in the law, Exo 20:4-5; Psa 115:1-8. Idols were considered to pollute true worship and obedience to God, a thing to be abhorred, yet Jews were becoming economically involved with them, Act 15:20; 2Co 6:16; 1Jn 5:21; Rev 9:20.
4) Dost thou commit sacrilege? (hierouleis) Do you commit sacrilege, or rob temples? It was a pollution under the law to enter a heathen temple, but it appears that Jews had come prominently forward to public knowledge in stealing images and statues of monetary value from pagan temples, 1Ti 6:10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
22. Thou who abhorrest idols, etc. He fitly compares sacrilege to idolatry, as it is a thing of the same kind; for sacrilege is simply a profanation of the Divine Majesty, a sin not unknown to heathen poets. On this account Ovid (Metamor. 3,) calls Lycurgus sacrilegious for despising the rites of Bacchus; and in his Fasti he calls those sacrilegious hands which violated the majesty of Venus. But as the Gentiles ascribed the majesty of their gods to idols, they only thought it a sacrilege when any one plundered what was dedicated to their temples, in which, as they believed, the whole of religion centered. So at this day, where superstition reigns, and not the word of God, they acknowledge no other kind of sacrilege than the stealing of what belongs to churches, as there is no God but in idols, no religion but in pomp and magnificence. (83)
Now we are here warned, first, not to flatter ourselves and to despise others, when we have performed only some portions of the law, — and, secondly, not to glory in having outward idolatry removed, while we care not to drive away and to eradicate the impiety that lieth hid in our hearts.
(83) “Sacrilege,” mentioned here, is by some taken literally as meaning the robbing of God as to the sacrifices he required, and the profanation of sacred rites; “many examples of which,” says [ Turrettin ], “are recorded by the Prophets, and also by [ Josephus ], both before and during the last war.” But some extend its meaning to acts of hypocrisy and ungodliness, by which God’s honor was profaned, and the glory due to him was denied. The highest sacrilege, no doubt, is to deprive God of that sincere service and obedience which he justly requires. “They caused,” says [ Pareus ] , “the name and honor of God to be in various ways blasphemed by their wicked hypocrisy; and hence they were justly said by the Apostle to be guilty of sacrilege.” He then adds, “we must notice, that idolatry is not opposed to sacrilege, but mentioned as a thing closely allied to it. Indeed all idolatry is sacrilegious. How then can the Monks, Priests, and Jesuits clear themselves from the charge of sacrilege? for they not only do not detest idolatry, being in this respect much worse than these hypocrites, but also greedily seek, like them, sacred offerings, and under the pretense of sanctity devour widows’ houses, pillage the coffers of kings, and, what is most heinous, sacrilegiously rob God of his due worship and honor and transfer them to saints.” Yet the world is so blind as not to see the real character of such men! — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(22) Commit sacrilege.Properly, rob templesi.e., idol temples, with a pointed antithesis to that abhorrence of idols on which the Jew prided himself. This is certainly the last offence of which we should have expected the Jews of this date to be guilty, knowing the scrupulousness with which they shunned all contact with idolatry. They may, however, have thought the idol temples fair plunder. At any rate, it is clear that this charge was commonly brought against them. Comp. Act. 19:37, where the town-clerk of Ephesus specially acquits St. Paul and his companions of being robbers of temples. Josephus also (Ant. iv. 8, 10) quotes as a precept of the Mosaic legislation, Let no one blaspheme those gods which other cities esteem such; nor may any one steal what belongs to strange temples; nor take away the gifts that are dedicated to any god.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
22. Commit adultery The most celebrated rabbies, such as R. Akiba, Meir, Eleasar, and others, are accused in the Talmud of adultery.
Commit sacrilege Literally, pillage temples. But as the Jews had but one temple, and their reverence for that was most profound, some difficulty has been felt how to make the charge good. Yet as the temple was frequently enriched with the most splendid gifts of wealthy devotees, such a crime might have been many times committed without being recorded in history. Grotius in fact mentions the notable embezzlement of a large sum of money belonging to the temple by four Jews just before Paul’s writing this epistle.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘You who say that a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?’
Another sin central to the covenant was adultery. Again Paul probably knew that adultery was fairly widespread among Jews, even the most strict. The pull of the flesh is strong.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
‘You who abhor idols, do you act as temple-robbers?’
The point here is that they claimed to abhor idols, and indeed in many cases did so, and yet themselves in some way benefited from heathen temples by illicitly making gains out of temple possessions. It is quite possible that Paul knew of instances where Jews, in areas where they had a strong community, had attacked heathen Temples, seeing them as a kind of sacrilege, possibly in retaliation for what was done to synagogues, and that they had then appropriated for themselves what they found there on the grounds that it was defiled, but could become undefiled in the hands of Jews. Indeed writing to Rome it is just possible that he had in mind the incident in 19 AD when a rich Roman lady converted to Judaism and was persuaded to give gifts to the Temple at Jerusalem, only to have her gifts misappropriated by the Jews concerned (Josephus ‘Antiquities’ 18:81 ff), thus robbing the Temple. It resulted in the expulsion of Jews from Rome. But the parallel with abhorring idols really requires the temples to be heathen ones. However, there may indeed have been incidents where Jewish traders handled goods stolen from temples in the course of business, and did a thriving trade, thus sharing in the guilt. Businessmen are notorious for excusing doubtful behaviour on the grounds that it is ‘good business’ ‘Temple-robbers’ simply suggests that they made illicit gains in some ways out of the temples, but its mention here suggests wide-scale practises. Act 19:37 may indeed suggest that there were Jews who were temple-robbers.
Some, however, do see the temple in mind as the Temple in Jerusalem and relate it to the first part by making it mean that they abhor false religion, seeming to be very holy, but take dishonest advantage of their own Temple, revealing that they are unholy. This could then refer to robbing God by withholding tithes (Mal 3:8) or by dishonest practises in the Temple like the ones that aroused the anger of Jesus (Mar 11:15-17).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
Ver. 22. Thou that sayest ] Hypocrites can talk of religion, as if their tongues did run upon pattens, they are fair professors, but foul sinners; as was that carnal cardinal Cremensis, the pope’s envoy, sent hither, A. D. 1114, to interdict priests’ marriages, and being taken in the act with a common strumpet, he excused it by saying he was no priest himself, but a correcter of them.
Dost thou commit sacrilege? ] The chronicler noteth of Queen Mary, that she restored again all ecclesiastical livings assumed to the crown, saying that she set more by the salvation of her own soul than she did by ten kingdoms. Shall not she that abhorred not idols rise up and condemn those that do, and yet commit sacrilege? (Speed’s Chron.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
22. . . ] The contrast here must be maintained; which it will not be if we understand of robbing the temple of God of offerings destined for him (Jos. Antt. xviii. 3, Antt. xviii.4). And leads into the kind of robbery which is meant. Thou who abhorrest idols, dost thou rob their temples ? That it was necessary to vindicate Jews from such a charge, appears from Act 19:37 ; and Jos.Antt. iv. 8.10 gives as a law, , .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 2:22 . properly expresses physical repulsion: thou that shrinkest in horror from idols. Cf. Dan 9:27 , Mar 13:14 . : dost thou rob temples, and so, for the sake of gain, come in contact with abominations without misgiving? This is the meaning, and not, Dost thou rob the temple, by keeping back the temple dues? as has been suggested. The crime of is referred to in Act 19:37 , and according to Josephus, Ant. , iv., 8, 10, it was expressly forbidden to the Jews: , .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
a man, &c. Literally not to commit.
abhorrest. Greek. bdelussomai. Only. here and Rev 21:8.
commit sacrilege = rob temples. Greek. hierosuleo. Only here. Compare Act 19:37.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
22. . . ] The contrast here must be maintained; which it will not be if we understand of robbing the temple of God of offerings destined for him (Jos. Antt. xviii. 3, Antt. xviii.4). And leads into the kind of robbery which is meant. Thou who abhorrest idols, dost thou rob their temples? That it was necessary to vindicate Jews from such a charge, appears from Act 19:37; and Jos.Antt. iv. 8.10 gives as a law, , .
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 2:22
Rom 2:22
thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery?-There is no doubt that this was a very common practice among the Jews, showing itself in the corrupt practice of permitting divorce without reasonable or righteous cause. Moses, on account of the hardness of their hearts, had allowed them to put away their wives for any cause and to take others if they so desired. This was adultery in the sight of God. They had not taken the true spirit of the law into their hearts, which was to have one wife. The twain became one.
thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples?-They were horror-stricken at the very mention of idols, but they themselves in various ways committed sacrilege, profaned the law of God by setting it aside and substituting human traditions for it. [Anything devoted to God and then used for some other purpose is sacrilege.] We rob God when we withhold from him the honor which is due him, and this is robbing him in a higher sense than to keep or misuse the gold or silver that was sanctified to him. To substitute anything else for God as the object of our devotion and affections is sacrilege in a spiritual sense. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Mat 4:10).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
commit sacrilege
Or, rob temples.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
adultery: Jer 5:7, Jer 7:9, Jer 7:10, Jer 9:2, Eze 22:11, Mat 12:39, Mat 16:4, Jam 4:4
sacrilege: Mal 1:8, Mal 1:14, Mal 3:8, Mar 11:17
Reciprocal: Lev 18:20 – General Lev 26:1 – Ye shall Deu 7:26 – but thou shalt Luk 4:23 – Physician Joh 8:9 – being Act 5:3 – to keep Act 19:34 – they knew
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:22
Rom 2:22. An adulterer would be condemning himself when he told another not to commit that wrong. Commit sacrilege means to rob a temple. The Jews would profess a horror for idols, yet would not hesitate to enter the idols’ temple to steal the metals.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 2:22. Commit adultery. The loose practices in regard to divorce (Mat 19:8-9; Jos 4:4), amounted to this sin, and the Talmud charges adultery upon some of the most celebrated Rabbins.
Abhorrest idols. The noun corresponding to the verb here used is abomination(Mat 24:15, etc.), a term applied to idols.
Dost thou rob temples; or, as in the E. V., commit sacrilege. The passage has occasioned much discussion. Commit sacrilege seems to stand in no necessary connection with abhorring idols, whereas the robbing of heathen temples, thus making personal gain of the abominations, would be a grievous sin. The objection that the Jews, not regarding the idol temples as sacred, would not deem it a special sin to rob them, does not seem valid; nor can the crime be deemed so singular that it would not be mentioned here. In Deu 7:25 the destruction of graven images is commanded, but the robbery of the gold and silver on them is strictly forbidden. The words used in the prohibition (in the LXX.) being similar to abhor here. Various less literal interpretations have been suggested: Embezzlement of their own temple taxes, etc.; avarice; even robbing God by seeking salvation by works (Luther). The sense we advocate makes the Jew partaker in idolatry by making gain of heathen idol worship: there is a climax, theft, adultery, idolatry,three sins so often associated in the Scriptures and in practice.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples?
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 22
Sacrilege; spiritual sacrilege, committed by withholding from God the spiritual worship which is his due.