Romans 2:21 BSB — MannaFest

Romans 2:21

you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

KJV

Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

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Commentary

2 voices

Tertullian

Against Marcion Book V (220)

Hence his invective against the transgressors of the law, who teach that men should not steal, and yet practise theft themselves. (This invective he utters) in perfect homage to the law of God, not as if he meant to ten sure the Creator Himself with having commanded a fraud to be practised against the Egyptians to get their gold and silver at the very time when He was forbidding men to steal, -adopting such methods as they are apt (shamelessly) to charge upon Him in other particulars also.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS (253)

"But if you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and glory in God, and know his will, and approve the more useful things, being instructed by the law, and are confident that you are a guide of the blind, a light of those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, having the form of knowledge and of truth in the law. You then who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

He now inverts the order: for sins against God are the most glaring in an heathen, but not in a Jew. Thou that abhorrest idols - Which all the Jews did, from the time of the Babylonish captivity. Thou committest sacrilege - Doest what is worse, robbing Him "who is God over all" of the glory which is due to him.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

The greatest obstructors of the success of the word are those whose bad lives contradict their good doctrine, who in the pulpit preach so well that it is a pity they should ever come out, and out of the pulpit live so ill that it is a pity they should ever come in. He specifies three particular sins that abound among the Jews:-- (1.) Stealing.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Behold--"But if" is, beyond doubt, the true reading here. (It differs but in a single letter from the received reading, and the sense is the same).

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ὁ	ho	You who [are]	G3588 →
οὖν	oun	then	G3767 →
διδάσκων	didaskōn	teaching	G1321 →
ἕτερον	heteron	another	G2087 →
σεαυτὸν	seauton	yourself	G4771 →
οὐ	ou	not	G3756 →
διδάσκεις;	didaskeis	do you teach?	G1321 →
ὁ	ho	You who [are]	G3588 →
κηρύσσων	kērussōn	preaching	G2784 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
κλέπτειν	kleptein	to steal	G2813 →
κλέπτεις;	klepteis	do you steal?	G2813 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 9:27
No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
leads to
- Romans 8:13
  For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
- 1 Corinthians 9:25
  Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.
- Colossians 3:5
  Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- 2 Corinthians 13:5–6
  Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you actually fail the test?
- 1 Peter 2:11
  Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
Through
Luke 12:47
That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.
leads to
- James 4:17
  Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- John 9:41
  “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
- John 15:22–24
  If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

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About Romans

The Crucifixion — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Romans: the study guide →Read chapter 2 →The featured study →

Continue: Romans 2 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Romans

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Romans