Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 2:24
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
24. as it is written ] In Eze 36:20-23. In that passage the special reference is to the evil example of the dispersed Jews of the captivity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The name of God – The name and character of the true God.
Is blasphemed – Note, Mat 9:3. That is, your conduct is such as to lead the pagan world to blaspheme and reproach both your religion and its Author. By your hypocrisy and crimes the pagan world is led to despise a religion which is observed to have no effect in purifying and restraining its professors; and of course the reproach will terminate on the Author of your religion – that is, the true God. A life of purity would tend to honor religion and its Author; a life of impurity does the reverse. There is no doubt that this was actually the effect of the deportment of the Jews. They were scattered everywhere; everywhere they were corrupt and wicked; and everywhere they and their religion were despised.
Among the Gentiles – In the midst of whom many Jews lived.
Through you – By means of you, or as the result of your conduct. It may mean, that you Jews do it, or profane the name of God; but the connection seems rather to require the former sense.
As it is written – To what place the apostle has reference, cannot be certainly determined. There are two passages in the Old Testament; which will bear on the case, and perhaps he had them both in his view; Isa 52:5; Eze 36:22-23. The meaning is not that the passages in the Old Testament, referred to by the phrase, as it is written, had any particular reference to the conduct of the Jews in the time of Paul, but that this had been the character of the people, and the effect of their conduct as a nation, instances of which had been before observed and recorded by the prophets. The same thing has occurred to a most melancholy extentin regard to professed Christian nations. For purposes of commerce, and science, and war, and traffic, people from nations that are nominally Christian have gone into almost every part of the pagan world. But they have not often been real Christians. They have been intent on gain; and have to a melancholy extent been profane, and unprincipled, and profligate people. Yet the pagan have regarded them as Christians; as fair specimens of the effect of the religion of Christ. They have learned therefore, to abuse the name of Christian, and the Author of the Christian religion, as encouraging and promoting profligacy of life. Hence, one reason, among thousands, of the importance of Christian missions to the pagan. It is well to disabuse the pagan world of their erroneous opinions of the tendency of Christianity. It is well to teach them that we do not regard these people as Christians. As we have sent to them the worst part of our population, it is well to send them holy men, who shall exhibit to them the true nature of Christianity, and raise our character in their eyes as a Christian people. And were there no other result of Christian missions, it would be worth all the expense and toil attending them, to raise the national character in the view of the pagan world.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 24. For the name of God is blasphemed, .] In Debarim rabba, sect. 2, fol. 251, it is said:-“The rulers destroy the influence of their own words among the people and this is done when a rabbin, sitting and teaching in the academy, says, Do not take usury, and himself takes it; do not commit rapine, and himself commits it; do not steal, and himself steals.” That they were exceedingly lax in their morals, the following fact proves:- “Rabbi Ilai said, If a man see that his evil propensities are likely to prevail against him, let him go to some place where he is not known, and let him put on black clothes, and cover his head with a black veil; and then let him do whatsoever he pleases, lest the name of God should be publicly profaned.” Moed katon, fol. 17. 1. In Sohar Levit. fol. 31, col. 122, it is said:- “On three accounts the Jews are obliged to remain in captivity –
1. Because they openly reproach the Shechinah –
2. Because they profane themselves before the Shechinah –
3. Because they turn away their faces from the Shechinah.”
But it would be endless to collect from their history the proofs of the charges brought here against them by the apostle. See Whitby, Schoettgen, and others.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Through you; because of your and your forefathers sins.
As it is written: the apostle doth not tell them where it was written; he supposeth they were not ignorant of it: see Isa 52:5; Eze 36:20,23.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
24. as it is written(See Isa52:5, Marginal reference).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the name of God is blasphemed,…. The being and perfections of God, such as his holiness, omniscience, and omnipotence, are denied, or evil spoken of; and also the law of God, and the forms of worship instituted by him:
among the Gentiles through you: through their iniquities, who when they observe them, conclude that the God of Israel is not omniscient, or he would know, and take notice of these things; and that he is not holy, or he could not bear them; nor omnipotent, or he would revenge them:
as it is written; the passage or passages referred to are not mentioned, but are perhaps Isa 52:5. In the former of these texts the words are, “they that rule over them make them to howl; saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blasphemed”; which are spoken of the rulers of the people, either of their ecclesiastical or political rulers, or both; and so Aben Ezra interprets them of , “the great men of Israel”; and here by the apostle are applied to their doctors and wise men: and in the latter are these words, “thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the Heathen”; that is, by their unbecoming walk and conversation, and especially by the disagreeable conduct of their principal men: and the Jews own the same things, and complain of them in much the “same language the apostle here does, saying, “they disgrace the law before the people of the earth, (the common people, or else the Gentiles,) how? a wise man sits and expounds in the congregation, saying, thou shalt not lend upon usury, and he lends upon usury; he says, thou shalt not commit a robbery, and he commits a robbery; he says, , “thou shalt not steal, and he steals”: says R. Berechiah, it happened to one man that his cloak was stolen from him, and he went before the judge about it, and he found it spread upon his bed or couch: and, says the same Rabbi, it happened to a certain man that his pot was stolen from him, and he went before the judge about it, and he found it upon his hearth: hence it is said, “as they were increased they sinned against me, therefore will I change their glory into shame”, Ho 4:7 d.
d Debarim Rabba, sect. 2. fol. 236. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Because of you (‘ ). Free quotation from the LXX of Isa 52:5. The Jews were jealous for the Name of God and would not pronounce the Tetragrammaton and yet acted so that the Gentiles blasphemed that Name.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) For the name of God (to gar onoma tou theou) For (because) the name of God, the one true God, 1Co 8:6.
2) Through you, (di humas) because of you, because of your conduct, your manner of life before the Gentiles. Except one at least try to live up to his profession the World will not respect him, 1Co 9:26-27.
3) Is blasphemed among the Gentiles, (Blasphemeitai en tois ethnesin) is blasphemed (spoken against) among the nations. the Gentiles naturally treated with disrespect a 09d whose own chosen people treated his law lightly. Psa 74:9-10; Mar 3:28.
4) As it is written, (kathos gegraptai) As it has been written, referring to Biblical certifications of what he had said, showing that what he had said was not merely by his authority or his mere opinion, Isa 52:5; Eze 36:20; Eze 36:23; 2Sa 12:14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
24. For the name of God, etc. I think this quotation is taken from Eze 36:20, rather than from Isa 52:5; for in Isaiah there are no reproofs given to the people, but that chapter in Ezekiel is full of reproofs. But some think that it is a proof from the less to the greater, according to this import, “Since the Prophet upbraided, not without cause, the Jews of his time, that on account of their captivity, the glory and power of God were ridiculed among the Gentiles, as though he could not have preserved the people, whom he had taken under his protection, much more are ye a disgrace and dishonor to God, whose religion, being judged of by your wicked life, is blasphemed.” This view I do not reject, but I prefer a simpler one, such as the following, — “We see that all the reproaches cast on the people of Israel do fall on the name of God; for as they are counted, and are said to be the people of God, his name is as it were engraven on their foreheads: it must hence be, that God, whose name they assume, is in a manner defamed by men, through their wicked conduct.” It was then a monstrous thing, that they who derived their glory from God should have disgraced his holy name; for it behoved them surely to requite him in a different manner. (84)
(84) On this remarkable passage [ Haldane ] has these very appropriate, just, and striking observations, —
“
The Apostle, in these verses, exhibits the most lively image of hypocrisy. Was there ever a more beautiful veil than that under which the Jew presents himself? He is a man of confession, of praise, of thanksgiving — a man, whose trust is in the Law, whose boast is of God, who knows his will, who approves of things that are excellent, a man who calls himself a conductor of the blind, a light of those who are in darkness, an instructor of the ignorant, a teacher of babes; a man who directs others, who preaches against theft, against adultery, against idolatry, and to sum up the whole, a man who glories in the commandments of the Lord. Who would not say that this is an angel arrayed in human form — a star detached from the firmament, and brought nearer to enlighten the earth? But observe what is concealed under this mask. It is a man who is himself untaught; it is a thief, an adulterer, a sacrilegious person; in one word, a wicked man, who continually dishonors God by the transgression of his law. Is it possible to imagine a contrast more monstrous than between these fair appearances and this awful reality?”
No, certainly; but it is a contrast which still exists, with various modifications, in many instances. — It ought to be observed, that when the author calls the Jew “a man of confession, of praise, of thanksgiving,” he alludes to the import of the word, Jew, in Hebrew, which is derived from a verb, which includes these ideas: and it is supposed by some, that there is an allusion in the last words of this chapter, “whose praise,” etc., to what the name signifies. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(24) Through you.Because of you.
As it is written.From the LXX. version of Isa. 52:5. The sense of the original is that the name of God is dishonoured by the enslavement and oppression of His people. A nearer parallel in sense, though more remote in words, may be found in 2Sa. 12:14; Eze. 36:22-23. The Apostle is not careful as to the particular context from which he draws. He knew that he was giving the substance of Scripture, and he takes the aptest words that occur to him at the moment. Translated into our modern modes of thought, the formula as it is written at the end of the verse amounts to little more than in the language of Scripture. The intention, as so frequently with St. Paul, seems, as it were, to be divided between proof and illustration.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. God is blasphemed So that the people who were selected as God’s peculiar people to spread the honour of his name had reversed their mission and spread its dishonour.
As it is written Unwelcome charges the apostle in self-defence clothes in Scripture language, language which, though not intended for the present case, is capable of such application.
His mind seems to have blended the thought of Eze 36:22, with the phraseology of Isa 52:5.
In approaching his offensive conclusion Paul takes great care not to disparage the divine ritual, nor lower the divine mission of Israel. But he avails himself of the very superiority of the ritual and the mission to show the failure of the race.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written.’
Indeed he declares that as a result of their activity the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles, and claims Scriptural support, without citing it. It may be that he had in mind Isa 52:5, ‘those who rule over them howl, says the Lord, and my Name is continually blasphemed all the day’. The Scripture might be seen as not applying directly for it has in mind that what causes the Lord’s name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles is that His people are ruled there by foreign rulers who intimidate them, but Paul’s point was probably simply that it was an instance of how His people could cause His name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles. He could also have argued that they were actually where they were under foreign rulers because of their sins. The lack of direct parallel would explain why he does not cite it directly.
Because of the difficulty with the parallel some have suggested that Paul had in mind Eze 36:20, ‘ and when they came to the nations to which they went they profaned my holy Name in that men said of them, “These are the people of the LORD and they are gone forth from the land”.’ But that falls at a similar hurdle of not being directly appropriate, and the Isaiah reference is much closer linguistically.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 2:24 . For confirmation of his Paul subjoins a Scripture quotation , namely Isa 52:5 , in substance after the LXX., not the far more dissimilar passage Eze 36:22 f. (Calvin, Ewald and others), which, according to Hofmann, he is supposed to express according to the Greek translation of Is. l.c [704] “more convenient” for him. But he applies the quotation in such a way that he makes it his own by the not found in the original or the LXX.; only indicating by at the close, that he has thus appropriated a passage of Scripture . Hence . is placed at the end , as is never done in the case of express quotations of Scripture. The historical sense [705] of the passage is not here concerned, since Paul has not quoted it as a fulfilled prophecy, though otherwise with propriety in the sense of Rom 3:19 .
] i.e. on account of your wicked conduct .
] among the Gentiles , inasmuch, namely, as these infer from the immoral conduct of the Jews that they have an unholy God and Lawgiver, and are thereby moved to blaspheme His holy name. Comp Clement, Cor. I. 47.
[704] .c. loco citato or laudato .
[705] It refers to God’s name being dishonoured through the enslaving of the Jews by their tyrants.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
Ver. 24. For the name of God, &c. ] Heretics and hypocrites do still with Judas deliver up the Lord Christ to the scoffs and buffetings of his enemies. Augustine (De Civ. Dei, i. 52) complains of the ancient heretics, that in them many evil-minded men found matter of blaspheming the name of Christ because they also pretended to the Christian religion. Epiphanius addeth, that for the looseness of such men’s lives, and the baseness of their tenets, many of the heathens shunned the company of Christians, and would not be drawn to hear their sermons. Origen before them both cries out, Nunc male audiunt, castiganturque vulgo Christiani, quod aliter quam sapientibus convenit vivant, et vitia sub obtentu nominis celent, &c. There is an ill report goes of Christians for their unchristian conversation, &c. Ammianus Marcellinus, a heathen historian, deeply taxeth the pride, luxury, contentions, covetousness of the bishops in his time, and the deadly hatreds of common Christians. Nullae infestae hominibus bestiae sunt, ut sibi ferales plerique Christiani, saith he. A sad thing that a heathen should see and detest such hellish miscarriages among Christians. Bellarmine telleth us of certain hereties anciently called Christianocategori, that is, accusers of Christians, because for their sakes Christians were accused as worshippers of idols. a Papists give the same offence to Jews, who call scandal Chillul Hesham, a profaning of God’s name, which they hold the greatest of sins.
a De Eccles. Triumph. lib. ii. 11.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
24. ] ‘For what is written in the prophet Isaiah [also in Eze 36:20 ; Eze 36:23 ], is no less true now of you:’ ‘the fact is so, as it is written.’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 2:24 . And this is only what Scripture bids us expect. The Scripture quoted is Isa 52:5 , LXX. The LXX interpret the Hebrew by inserting and . Both insertions are in the line of the original meaning. It was owing to the misery and helplessness of the people of God, in exile among the nations, that the heathen scoffed at the Divine name. “The God of Israel is not able to deliver His people: He is no God.” Paul here gives the words quite another turn. God, he says, is now blasphemed among the nations because of the inconsistency between the pretensions of the Jews and their behaviour. As if the heathen were saying: “Like God, like people; what a Divinity the patron of this odious race must be”. It is surely not right to argue (with Sanday and Headlam) that the throwing of the formula of quotation to the end shows that Paul is conscious of quoting freely: “it is almost as if it were an after-thought that the language he has just used is a quotation at all”. The quotation is as relevant as most that the Apostle uses. He never cares for the context or the original application. When he can express himself in Scripture language he feels that he has the Word of God on his side, and all through this epistle he nails his arguments so, and insists on the confirmation they thus obtain. What the closing of the sentence with suggests is not that it occurred to Paul after he had finished that he had almost unconsciously been using Scripture: it is rather that there is a challenge in the words, as if he had said, Let him impugn this who dare contest the Word of God.
In Rom 2:25-29 another Jewish plea for preferential treatment in the judgment is considered. The in Rom 2:25 ( ) implies that this plea has no doubt something in it, but it suggests that there are considerations on the other side which in point of fact make it inapplicable or invalid here. It is these considerations which the Apostle proceeds to explain, with a view to clenching the argument that the wrath of God revealed from heaven impends over Jew and Gentile alike.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
blasphemed. Compare Act 13:45.
among. Greek. en. App-104.
it is written. Compare Eze 36:20, Eze 23:23
keep = practice, as in Rom 2:1.
breaker. Greek. parabates. App-128.
is made = has become.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
24.] For what is written in the prophet Isaiah [also in Eze 36:20; Eze 36:23], is no less true now of you: the fact is so, as it is written.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 2:24. ) Isa 52:5, in the LXX., , through you My name is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles.-Comp. Eze 36:20, etc.- , as it is written) This short clause is fittingly placed at the end, as it refers to a thing evident of itself, but it is set down for the sake of the Jews, ch. Rom 3:19.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 2:24
Rom 2:24
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,-So that Gods name was reproached and blasphemed among the Gentiles through the violation of the law by the Jews. Their course of sin was such that it caused the Gentiles to despise and blaspheme the name of God.
even as it is written.-[The allusion is to Isa 52:5; Eze 36:18-24. The dishonor done to God arose from their greed of gain, their deceit, and their hypocrisy, which were fully known to the Gentiles, among whom they lived. Paul weaves the prophetic rebuke into the tissue of his own language, but by the as it is written he reminds his readers that he is adapting it from their own inspired Scriptures. Thus far Paul has shown that the Jew is a sinner like the Gentile. The next step will be to drive him from his refuge in the rite of circumcision. This was the outward mark which distinguished him from his heathen neighbor and showed him to be a descendant of Abraham.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the name: Isa 52:5, Lam 2:15, Lam 2:16, Eze 36:20-23, Mat 18:7, 1Ti 5:14, 1Ti 6:1, Tit 2:5, Tit 2:8
as it is written: 2Sa 12:14
Reciprocal: Lev 18:21 – profane Lev 24:11 – blasphemed Neh 5:9 – reproach Psa 39:8 – make Isa 48:11 – for how Eze 20:27 – Yet Eze 22:26 – I am profaned Amo 2:7 – to profane Mal 1:12 – ye have 2Pe 2:2 – pernicious ways
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:24
Rom 2:24. The Gentiles could see the disorderly conduct of the Jews, and it led them to speak against the God whom they professed to serve. As it is written. “My name continually every day is blasphemed” Isa 52:5.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 2:24. For. This word is not found in Isa 52:5, the passage here quoted (from the LXX.). Paul inserts it to show that he has applied it in his own way. That he does not cite it as a fulfilled prophecy appears further from the unusual position of as it is written, after the Old Testament words. This verse confirms the statement of Rom 2:23, that God was dishonored through the transgression of the law by the Jews, and is appropriate, whatever view be taken of the construction of that verse.
The name of God, etc. The original passage is: and my name continually every day is blasphemed. The reference was to the dishonor put upon Gods name by the enslaving of the Jews; but, as already indicated, Paul applies the words to different circumstances.
Among the Gentiles because of you. (Through you is incorrect.) The LXX. has these words, though the order is different from that of the Apostles language. The sense of the verse is plain: The Gentiles judged the religion of the Jews by the scandalous conduct of the Jews themselves, and thus were led to blaspheme their God, Jehovah. The Jews boasted of the law, and reflected disgrace on the lawgiver (Lange). For the Jews were the Gentiles Bible. It was as true then as now, that the greatest obstructors of the success of the Word, are those whose bad lives contradict their good doctrine (Henry).
As it is written. He had quoted the language of the Old Testament, but not in its historical application. But Eze 36:23 expresses Pauls thought: I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written. [Isa 52:5; Eze 36:20-23 . By their conduct the Jews had fulfilled the words of Isaiah and the meaning of Ezekiel. The Gentiles, judging by the principle that a god may be known by his worshipers, had, by reason of the Jews, judged Jehovah to be of such a character that their judgment became a blasphemy. (See also Eze 16:51-59) Thus Paul took from the Jew a confidence of divine favor, which he had because he possessed the law. But the law was not the sole confidence of the Jew, for he had circumcision also, and he regarded this rite as a seal or conclusive evidence that he belonged to the people of God, being thereby separated by an infinite distance from all other people. He looked with scorn and contempt on the uncircumcised, even using the term as an odious epithet (Gen 34:14; Exo 12:48; 1Sa 17:26; 2Sa 1:20; Isa 52:1; Eze 28:10) The apostle, therefore, turns his fire so as to dislodge the Jew from this deceptive stronghold. He drives him from his hope and trust in circumcision.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
24. For the name of God is blasphemed on account of you among the heathens, as has been written. The unworthy lives of professors have always been the greatest impediment to religion, not only among the heathens, but in Christian lands. This arises from the fact that carnal people can not see spirituality (1Co 2:14-15). Satan is always showing his counterfeits and passing them for true saints. In Asia and Africa all people dressed in European and American costumes are recognized as Christians; even those who are there to sell whisky, and perpetrate the blackest crimes. The heathens find them worse rascals than themselves and are utterly disgusted with the name Christian, regarding it as synonymous with the crimes they see the people whom they call Christians commit. Years ago a Hindu priest that got hold of a New Testament, and was perfectly charmed with the character of Jesus Christ. As he read on he found He had gone away from Mt. Olivet up to heaven. So he concluded that he could never reach Him. Then he fell on the plan of finding some of His disciples, and receiving light and help from them. Upon inquiry, he was introduced to a number of English merchants in Bombay as disciples of Christ. When he found them bigger rascals than the heathens, he turned away with disgust, giving up the Christian altogether and serving the Hindu gods more faithfully than ever. Finally Bishop Taylor arrived there about twenty five years ago; preached four years, and built up the South India Conference. This priest happened to attend his meetings. Among many at the altar, seeking earnestly, he discovered these identical English merchants who had been introduced to him as disciples of Christ, and with whom he had become so disgusted. Then he said to himself, I will watch and give them another chance; perhaps there was a mistake in the matter some way. He saw them weep and mourn and seek long and earnestly at the altar. Then they rose with bright faces, testifying that they had found Jesus Christ and He had saved them. Then he said to himself, Now I will watch them and give them another chance. This time he found them all right, exemplifying the same beautiful characters he had read about in the New Testament. Consequently he sought and found the Lord Jesus Christ, became a witness to His wonderful salvation, turned preacher, and is now standing at the front of Immanuels army in India.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 24
The name of God, &c.; that is, Your notorious depravity makes Jehovah, whom you profess to serve, the object of reproach and contumely among the Gentiles.