The Significance of Paul's Diatribe in Romans 2

In Rom 2 Paul is not primarily concerned to establish the equality of Jews and Gentiles as sinners, but to challenge the covenantal exclusivism of the Judaizers by opening up the door of Jewish privilege to Gentiles. Paul engages his Jewish opponents in a virtual way through the use of diatribe, which involves him taking on the persona of a debater conducting an argument against an opponent. It is clear from Rom 2:17–20 that Paul was conducting this diatribe with a Jew of orthodox views regarding the chosen status of Israel under the Mosaic covenant. Paul’s diatribal opponent calls himself a Jew, builds his life on the law of Moses, and boasts in God (v. 17). He reckons that he knows God’s will and what is morally right, because he possesses the law of Moses (v. 18). He considers himself to be “a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth” (vv. 19–20).

Versus 19–20 are significant in suggesting that Paul’s Jewish opponents viewed the law of Moses as having an educational purpose, bringing the knowledge of God’s truth to the blind and those living in darkness, i.e., to the Gentiles. Of course, in the historical context of Paul’s day, this attitude resulted in a significant number of Christian Jews denying the saved status of Gentile Christians unless the latter came under the framework of the Mosaic covenant by undergoing circumcision (if male) and by living in accordance with the teaching of the law of Moses. This issue is clearly portrayed in Acts 15:1–5, and this issue (which led to the calling of the Jerusalem Council) was being replayed among the Christian churches in Rome after the Jews were allowed back into the imperial capital following Nero’s ascension to the throne in A.D. 54.

The rhetorical form of diatribe in Rom 2 means that to understand clearly Paul’s argument in Rom 2 we need to approach it via an orthodox Jewish mindset. This can be done by studying first century Judaism, but in my opinion a familiarity with Old Testament theology is just as sufficient to illuminate the situation. Such a familiarity will help us to see the key allusions to the Old Testament that Paul makes in this chapter.

For example, one of the key eschatological prophecies of the Old Testament is the promise concerning the new covenant in Jer 31:31–24. This passage of Scripture prophesies that God would eventually write his law in the hearts of the people of Israel in a comprehensive way. So when Paul writes in Rom 2:14–15 that “when Gentiles, who by nature do not have the law, do what the law requires, they are the law to themselves, even though they do not have the law, in that they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts,” a Jewish mindset would see a clear allusion to Jer 31:33: “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” They would also understand the import of Paul’s argument: Are you saying, Paul, that Gentiles can participate in the blessing of Jer 31:33? Are you saying that Gentiles can keep the law, without having the law? “Then what advantage has the Jew?” (Rom 3:1). You are giving to the Gentiles the privileges that have exclusively been given to us. You are going against the teaching of Moses.

Another key example is the eschatological prophecy of Deut 30:1–14, and Deut 30:6 in particular. Moses prophesied that after Israel’s covenantal failure, symbolized by exile (Deut 30:1, 3–4), God would circumcise the hearts of the people of Israel, so that they might be able to “love the Lord [their] God with all [their] heart and with all [their] soul, that [they] might live” (Deut 30:6). So when Paul writes in Rom 2:26 of a law-keeping Gentile’s uncircumcision being regarded as circumcision, and in Rom 2:29 that true circumcision “is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter,” a Jewish mindset would understand Paul as clearly alluding to Deut 30:6. They would also understand the import of Paul’s argument: Are you saying, Paul, that Gentiles can participate in the blessing of the circumcision of the heart promised in Deut 30:6, without undergoing physical circumcision? “What [then] is the value of circumcision?” (Rom 3:1).

To explain Rom 2 as simply condemning Jews of sin by comparing them to hypothetical law-keeping Gentiles, or the noble pagan, is to fail to understand what Paul is doing in this chapter. Such interpretations go against the Jewish nature of Paul’s diatribe in Rom 2. They fail to see the clear allusions to Jer 31:33 and Deut 30:6 in the chapter, and they do not make sense of the riposte of Paul’s diatribal opponent in Rom 3:1, which only makes sense if Paul’s Jewish opponent has understood him as calling into question the natural Jewish covenantal advantage and the value of physical circumcision. Paul’s diatribal opponent has assumed that this must be case on the basis of Paul’s argument in Rom 1:18‒2:29 that (through the gospel) the possibility of keeping the law has been opened up to the Gentiles, and that Gentiles can participate in the blessing of the Spiritual circumcision of the heart.

The Significance of Romans 1–2: When Jews Are Gentiles, and Gentiles Are Jews

There is a popular understanding of Rom 1–2 which says that in Rom 1:18–32 Paul convicts Gentiles of sin, and in Rom 2 he convicts Jews of sin. But this view is too simplistic.

Romans 1:18–32 should actually be viewed as forming a section with 2:1–29. This is evident from the fact that the language of Rom 2:1–3 refers back to the content of Rom 1:18–32. The word therefore in 2:1 links the beginning of the chapter in very closely with what has gone before. The phrases the very same things (2:1) and such things (2:2–3) do likewise.

So, Rom 1:18–2:29 should be treated as a common section, in which Paul is concerned to develop his first line of argument against his diatribal opponent. Paul's line of argument is developed over two stages, which then corresponds to the two main sub-sections of this section: 1:18–32 and 2:1–29.

In 1:18–32, Paul paints a picture of God’s wrath revealed from heaven against all instances of sin. This wrath is a pre-eschatological expression of God’s wrath that is pan-ethnic in nature. Even though the content of this sub-section is often thought of as being a description of God’s wrath directed against Gentiles, this is to misunderstand the nature of Paul’s argument. Even though some of the major sins enumerated here (such as idolatry and homosexual sin) were particularly associated in the Jewish mind with Gentiles rather than Jews, it should be noted that Paul does not use ethnic labels in 1:18–32. Instead, he employs the universal language of humanity (1:18). Then in 2:1 he applies this divine wrath to the unbelieving Jew of his day. The argument in 1:18–32 is, therefore, preparatory to that found in 2:1–29.

It is almost as if Paul has set his Jewish opponents a trap. In 1:18–32 he draws them in. "Yes, what else would you expect from Gentile sinners!" you can almost hear his Jewish opponents saying. But then in 2:1–5, 17-24 he turns the tables on his Jewish opponents, accusing them of the very same sins for which they had despised the Gentiles. "Got you!" says Paul. So, Rom 1:18–32 is actually preparatory to the main part of the first-line of his argument, which is given in 2:1–29.

In the second sub-section (2:1–29), Paul applies God’s wrath particularly to his non-Christian Jewish opponents, and in doing so he asserts the principle of a universal judgment according to works (2:6). The main function of the argument in this sub-section is to apply the principle of a universal judgment according to works to both Jew and Gentile in an attempt to destroy the fence of covenant righteousness that the Jewish covenantal exclusivists had built around themselves. On the one hand, he assumes that his Jewish opponents are sinners in need of repentance (2:4–5); and on the other hand, he asserts the possibility of Gentiles keeping the law (2:14–15, 26–27).

Paul engages his Jewish opponents in a virtual way through the use of diatribe. The rhetorical device of diatribe involves a writer or speaker taking on the persona of a debater conducting an argument against an opponent. It is characterized by direct address of one's opponent and the use of second person pronouns (e.g., 2:1–5, 17–19, 21–25), and by the extensive use of questions that embody the argument of one's opponents, which the rhetorician then bounces off to argue his case further (e.g., 3:1, 5, 9, 27, 31).

It is clear from 2:17–20 that Paul was conducting this diatribe with an orthodox Jew who is an advocate of traditional Jewish covenant theology. Paul applies the pre-eschatological revelation of God’s wrath mentioned in 1:18–32 to his Jewish opponents, and extends it by speaking of the wrath of God in its eschatological form, which unrepentant Jews will also have to face (2:1–5). In fact, on the day of judgment, the law-keeping Gentile will judge the law-breaking Jew (2:26–27).

In Rom 2 Paul is concerned to destroy the fence of Jewish covenantal particularism by asserting the principle of a universal judgment according to works (2:6–11) and by opening up the possibility of law-keeping and covenant righteousness on the part of the Gentiles (2:14–16, 26–27). Through the work of God’s Spirit writing the law and circumcising Gentile hearts (2:14–15, 29), Gentiles can now (i.e., in the new covenant age) participate on an equal footing with Jews in covenant righteousness (2:14, 26) and receive eternal life (2:7), glory and honor and peace (2:10), and even praise from God (2:29), as a result. Paul is not talking about the noble pagan in chapter 2. He is talking about Gentile Christians.

Paul's Jewish opponents believed that righteousness and salvation could only be attained by means of physical circumcision and a commitment to doing the law of Moses. But Paul had come to understand that the new covenant truths of Deut 30:6, 11–14; Jer 31:33; and Ezek 36:26-27 also applied to Gentiles through faith in Christ. That is to say, Paul had come to see how justification by faith in Christ had effectively opened up justification by the works of the law to Gentiles (as per the logic of 2:13) through the grace of the Spiritual circumcision of the heart that Christ had come to achieve as a key element of the new covenant!