Romans 2:13

Romans 2:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
• New International Version (NIV)For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
• New King James Version (NKJV)(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified;

Context of Romans 2:13

11For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another]. 12For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law. For it is not those who merely hear the Law [as it is read aloud] who are just or righteous before God, but it is those who [actually] obey the Law who will be justified [pronounced free of the guilt of sin and declared acceptable to Him]. 14When Gentiles, who do not have the Law [since it was given only to Jews], do instinctively the things the Law requires [guided only by their conscience], they are a law to themselves, though they do not have the Law. 15They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts; and their conscience [their sense of right and wrong, their moral choices] bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or perhaps defending them

Romans 2:13 word by word

οὐ γὰρ οἱ ἀκροαταὶ νόμου δίκαιοι παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, ἀλλ᾽ οἱ ποιηταὶ νόμου δικαιωθήσονται.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• notοὐou · noG3756
• the hearersὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the hearersἀκροατήςakroatēs · hearerG202
• of the lawνόμοςnomos · lawG3551
• justδίκαιοςdikaios · justG1342
• beforeπαράpara · from/with/besideG3844
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• butἀλλάalla · butG235
• the doersποιητήςpoiētēs · doerG4163
• shall be justifiedδικαιόωdikaioō · to justifyG1344

Cross-references for Romans 2:13

• Romans 2:25Circumcision [the sign of the covenant of Abraham] is indeed of value if you practice the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision [it is meaningless in God’s sight].
• Deuteronomy 4:1“Now, O Israel, listen and pay attention to the statutes and the judgments (God’s legal decisions) which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
• Deuteronomy 5:1Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments (legal decisions) which I am speaking today in your hearing, so that you may learn them and observe them carefully.
• Deuteronomy 6:3Therefore listen, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly [in numbers], as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
• Deuteronomy 30:12It is not [a secret hidden] in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’
• Ezekiel 20:11I gave them My statutes and explained My ordinances to them, which, if a man keeps, he will live.
• Ezekiel 33:30“But as for you, son of man, your people who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses say one to another, every one to his brother, ‘Come now and hear what the message is that comes from the Lord.’
• Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.
• Luke 8:21But He answered, “My mother and My brothers are these who listen to the word of God and do it!”
• James 1:22But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God’s precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth].
• 1 John 2:29If you know that He is absolutely righteous, you know [for certain] that everyone who practices righteousness [doing what is right and conforming to God’s will] has been born of Him.
• 1 John 3:7Little children (believers, dear ones), do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who practices righteousness [the one who strives to live a consistently honorable life—in private as well as in public—and to conform to God’s precepts] is righteous, just as He is righteous.
• Romans 3:20For no person will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin].
• Romans 10:5For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law [with all its intricate demands] shall live by it.
• Luke 10:25And a certain lawyer [an expert in Mosaic Law] stood up to test Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
• Galatians 3:11Now it is clear that no one is justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing] before God by the Law, for “The righteous (the just, the upright) shall live by faith.”

Commentaries on Romans 2:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13For not the hearers of the law, etc. - It does not follow, because one people are favored with a Divine revelation, that therefore they shall be saved; while the others who have not had that revelation, shall finally perish: this is not God's procedure; where he has given a law - a Divine revelation, he requires obedience to that law; and only those who have been doers of that law - who have lived according to the light and privileges granted in that…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13For not the hearers … - The same sentiment is implied in James 1:22; Matthew 7:21, Matthew 7:24; Luke 6:47. The apostle here doubtless designed to meet an objection of the Jews; to wit, that they had the Law, that they manifested great deference for it, that they heard it read with attention, and professed a willingness to yield themselves to it. To meet this, he states a very plain and obvious principle, that this was insufficient to justify them before…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13the doers of the law who will be declared righteous: Regarding the promise of righteousness through obedience, see 2:7 and James 1:22.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1513-15. For not the hearers, &c.--As touching the Jews, in whose ears the written law is continually resounding, the condemnation of as many of them as are found sinners at the last involves no difficulty; but even as respects the heathen, who are strangers to the law in its positive and written form--since they show how deeply it is engraven on their moral nature, which witnesses within them for righteousness and against iniquity, accusing or condemning…Read the comment

Topics related to Romans 2:13

• Doer
• Gentiles
• God Continued...
• Hearers
• Judgment
• Justification
• Works

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Accuse
• Boast
• Continuance
• Doer
• Excuse
• Fall of man
• Forbearance
• Judgment, The final

Commentaries on Romans 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings