OET interlinear ROM 2:21

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

ὁ οὖν διδάσκων ἕτερον, σεαυτὸν οὐ διδάσκεις? ὁ κηρύσσων μὴ κλέπτειν, κλέπτεις?

you therefore teaching another yourself not /are/_teaching you proclaiming not /to_be/_stealing ˱you˲_/are/_stealing

In 2:21–23 Paul transitions from his description of the Jews in 2:17–20 to a series of rhetorical questions. These questions emphasize the hypocrisy of the Jews, who thought they were superior to non-Jews because they knew the law of Moses. If you would not use rhetorical questions for this purpose in your language, you could translate Paul’s words as statements or exclamations and communicate the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [then you, who teach another, do not teach yourself! You, who preach not to steal, actually steal!]

Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

οὖν

therefore

Here, then indicates that what follows is the second half of the factual conditional statement that Paul began with “if you name yourself a Jew” in 2:17. Paul wants to show that what the Jews believe and how they live are in contrast. If you divided 2:17–21 into separate sentences, then you may need to include a short form of the “if” statement here. Alternate translation: [if all this is really true, then] or [since all this is really true, then]

Note 3 topic: grammar-collectivenouns

ἕτερον

another

Here, another is a singular pronoun that refers to a group of people. If your language does not use singular pronouns in that way, you can use a different expression. Alternate translation: [other people]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

σεαυτὸν οὐ διδάσκεις

yourself not /are/_teaching

Here Paul implies that the Jews need to teach themselves, because they do not actually obey the laws that they teach. They live their lives as if they do not know the law of Moses. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: [since you yourself don’t obey the law, do you not teach yourself]