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

11God is always fair when he judges people, whoever they are. 12The Gentiles do not have God's Law that he gave to Moses. If Gentiles do wrong things, God will punish them. But he will not use his Law when he judges the Gentiles. But the Jews do have God's Law. So, if Jews do wrong things, God will use his Law to judge them. The Law will show that they have done wrong things. Who does God accept as right with himself? It is those people who obey his Law. It is not the people who only know his Law but do not obey them. 14The Gentiles do not have God's Law. But they may still do the right things that the Law teaches. They do right things because of what they themselves think is right. In that way they are showing that they have a certain law in their minds, even though they do not know God's Law. 15Those people show that they know what is right. It is as if God has written his Law deep inside them. Their thoughts tell them the difference between what is right and what is wrong. Sometimes their thoughts say: ‘You did something that is wrong.’ And sometimes their thoughts say: ‘You did what is right.’

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 2:25As a Jewish man, you are proud that someone has circumcised you. That is a help to you, if you obey God's Law in your life. But if you do not obey God's Law, then it is worth nothing. You have become like a Gentile that nobody has ever circumcised.
• Deuteronomy 4:1Israel's people, listen to the rules and laws that I will now teach you. If you obey them, you will live. You will go into the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving to you. The land will belong to you, for you to live in.
• Deuteronomy 5:1Moses called all the Israelites to come together. He said to them: Listen, Israelites, to the rules and commands that I am teaching to you today. Learn them. Be careful to obey them.
• Deuteronomy 6:3Listen, Israelites! Be careful to obey God's rules. If you do that, everything will be well for you. You will have many children. You will live in a land where there is plenty of food and drink, enough for everyone. The Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised that this will happen.
• Deuteronomy 30:12God does not keep it in heaven. So you do not have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven to find it and bring it down to us? Who will explain it to us so that we can obey it?’
• Ezekiel 20:11I gave them my laws and my commands. Anyone who obeyed them would enjoy a good life.
• Ezekiel 33:30Son of man, the Israelites who are here with you in Babylon are talking about you. They meet together near the walls of the city and at the doors of their houses. They are saying to each other, “Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.”
• Matthew 7:21Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do.
• Luke 8:21Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers really are. My mother and my brothers are those people who hear God's message and do what he wants.’
• James 1:22But be careful to do what God says in his message. Do not only listen to it. Do not make that mistake!
• 1 John 2:29You know that Christ only does what is right. So you should know this: Everyone who continues to do what is right has become a child of God.
• 1 John 3:7My little children, do not let anyone deceive you about sin. It is people who live in a good way that God accepts as right. In the same way, Jesus did only what is good and right.
• Romans 3:20God's Law shows people clearly that they have done wrong things. Nobody can become right with God because they obey that Law.
• Romans 10:5Moses wrote about how God's Law could help people to be right with God. He said, ‘If a person obeys the rules in God's Law, then he will live by them.’
• Luke 10:25A teacher of God's Law stood up. He wanted to see how Jesus would answer his question. So he asked Jesus, ‘Teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’
• Galatians 3:11We know that the Law can not cause anyone to become right with God. That is clear because the Bible says, ‘The person that God has accepted as right will live because they trust him.’

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