ROM 2:18 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) and knowing his will and knowing what’s important because of familiarity with the law,

Key: khaki:verbs, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT and know his will and approve of the things that are excellent, being instructed from the law;

UST You know what God wants. Also, since some people have taught you God’s law, you approve of what is superior.

BLB and you know His will and approve the things being superior, being instructed out of the Law,

AICNT and know his will and approve the things that are superior, being instructed from the law,

OEB and, having been carefully instructed from the Law, have learned to appreciate the finer moral distinctions.

WEBBE know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law,

LSV and know the will, and approve the distinctions, being instructed out of the Law,

FBV You know what he wants; you do what's right because you've been taught from the law.

TCNT Yoʋ know his will and approve what is excellent, because yoʋ are instructed from the [fn]law.

2:18 law. And ¦ law; if CT

T4T You know what God desires. Because you have been taught {people have taught you} God’s laws, you are able to know which things are right and to choose to do them.

LEB and know his will and approve the things that are superior, because you[fn] are instructed by the law,

2:18 *Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are instructed”) which is understood as causal

BBE And have knowledge of his desires, and are a judge of the things which are different, having the learning of the law,

Moff understanding his will, and with a sense of what is vital in religion; if you are instructed by the Law

Wymth and know the supreme will, and can test things that differ—being a man who receives instruction from the Law—

ASV and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

DRA And knowest his will, and approvest the more profitable things, being instructed by the law,

YLT and dost know the will, and dost approve the distinctions, being instructed out of the law,

Drby and knowest the will, and discerningly approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;

RV and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
(and knowest/know his will, and approvest the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, )

SLT And knowest the will, and triest things differing, being sounded out of the law;

Wbstr And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law,

KJB-1769 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
(And knowest/know his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; )

KJB-1611 And knowest his will, and [fn]approuest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the Law,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation and footnotes)

2:18 Or, triest the things that differ.

Bshps And knowest his wyll, and alowest the thinges that be excellent, infourmed by the lawe:
(And knowest/know his will, and allowest the things that be excellent, infourmed by the law:)

Gnva And knowest his will, and triest the things that dissent from it, in that thou art instructed by the Lawe:
(And knowest/know his will, and triest the things that dissent from it, in that thou/you art instructed by the Law: )

Cvdl and knowest his will: & for so moch as thou art enfourmed out of ye lawe,
(and knowest/know his will: and for so much as thou/you art informed out of ye/you_all law,)

TNT and knowest his will and hast experience of good and bad in that thou arte informed by the lawe:
(and knowest/know his will and hast experience of good and bad in that thou/you art informed by the law: )

Wycl and hast knowe his wille, and thou lerud bi lawe preuest the more profitable thingis,
(and hast know his will, and thou/you lerud by law preuest the more profitable things,)

Luth und weißt seinen Willen, und weil du aus dem Gesetz unterrichtet bist, prüfest du, was das Beste zu tun sei,
(and you_know his Will, and because you(sg) out_of to_him law taught/informed are, check/examinest you(sg), what/which the Beste to/for do/put be,)

ClVg et nosti voluntatem ejus, et probas utiliora, instructus per legem,
(and you_know will his, and probas utiliora, instructus through the_law, )

UGNT καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα, καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα, κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου,
(kai ginōskeis to thelaʸma, kai dokimazeis ta diaferonta, kataʸⱪoumenos ek tou nomou,)

SBL-GNT καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου,
(kai ginōskeis to thelaʸma kai dokimazeis ta diaferonta kataʸⱪoumenos ek tou nomou,)

RP-GNT καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα, καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα, κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου,
(kai ginōskeis to thelaʸma, kai dokimazeis ta diaferonta, kataʸⱪoumenos ek tou nomou,)

TC-GNT καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα, καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα, κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου,
(kai ginōskeis to thelaʸma, kai dokimazeis ta diaferonta, kataʸⱪoumenos ek tou nomou, )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:17–29: The Jews and the law of Moses

In this section, Paul talked to the Jews about themselves. He continued to use the singular “you,” as in the previous section. This form of teaching is called a “diatribe.” (See Section 2:1–16.)

Using this diatribe, Paul rebuked the Jews because they had the law of Moses but they disobeyed it.

Paul showed them that an outward sign of religion is of no use to people if they did not do what is right. He told them that God praises those whose heart is right with God.

Here are other possible headings for this section:

God praises a changed heart

Truly following God comes from the heart

2:18a

if you know His will

and know what God wants to happen
and if you know what he desires to see happen,

if: The if from 2:17a affects this verse as well. So the BSB repeats the word here. Consider how to make that connection clear in your language. See the note on if at 2:17a.

know His will: This clause indicates that the Jews know what God wants to do and what he wants them and other people to do. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

know what he wants (NLT)

know what he wants you to do (NCV)

know the Lord’s desireUma Back Translation on TW.

2:18b

and approve of what is superior

and approve the things/ideas that are best
and call the great deeds best to do,

approve: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the BSB translates as approve:

It means approve here. Here the Greek word means “judge as good or genuine based on examination or testing.” (BSB, ESV, RSV, NIV, NET, NASB, KJV)
It means evaluate. Here the Greek word means “examine” or “test.” For example:
determine (NRSV) (NRSV, GNT, NJB, NABRE, NLT, GW)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because that fits the context best.Schreiner (page 130) says, “The two benefits in verse 18 are doubtless both to be construed positively.” Moo and Morris also support interpretation (1).

what is superior: There are two ways to interpret the Greek word that the BSB translates as superior:

It means something better. For example:
excellent (NIV) (BSB, ESV, RSV, NIV, NET, NCV, REB, KJV)
It means right (versus wrong). For example:
what is right (GNT) (GNT, NJB, NLT, CEV, GW)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because that fits the context best.Moo (on TW) translates this phrase as “those things that are best.” Morris and Schreiner also support interpretation (1).

General Comment on 2:18b

Following both first interpretations above, the clause indicates that the Jews call as good those deeds that God calls good. Here are other ways to translate this clause:

approve of what is excellent (ESV)

call important deeds good

2:18c

because you are instructed by the law;

because someone/others has/have taught the laws of Moses to you,

because: This word introduces the reason for the previous statement. Some languages need to put the reason first. If that is true in your language, reorder 2:18b–c to use “therefore.” For example:

^18cyou are instructed from the law, therefore ^18byou approve what is excellent

you are instructed by the law: There are several ways to translate the Greek word that the BSB translates as by. Here are the two main ones:

It means from here. The law is the source of the instruction. (GNT, NABRE, ESV, NET, NASB, KJV)
It means by here. This word indicates that the law itself is doing the instructing. For example:
you are instructed by the law (NIV) (BSB, NIV, NJB, REB)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1), because it seems likely that Paul would have used a different Greek word if he wanted to clearly indicate by.Paul used the Greek word ek (“out of, from”), although “by” (“impersonal means,” Wallace, page 432) is possible. But typically in a passive clause the Greek word hupo (“by”) or dia (“through”) to indicate, in this case, who is doing the instructing. Dunn, Witherington, and Lenski translate the Greek word as “from,” and Cranfield, Jewett, Alford, and Nicoll translate it as “out of.”

This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause here. For example:

others have instructed you from the law

someone has instructed you from the law

the law: This refers to the first five books of the Bible, but implies the rest of the Old Testament.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

καὶ γινώσκεις τὸ θέλημα, καὶ δοκιμάζεις τὰ διαφέροντα, κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου,

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί γινώσκεις τό θέλημα καί δοκιμάζεις τά διαφέροντα κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου)

If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the reason for the result that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: [and because you are instructed from the law, you know his will and approve of what is excellent]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

τὸ θέλημα

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί γινώσκεις τό θέλημα καί δοκιμάζεις τά διαφέροντα κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου)

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of will, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [what God wills]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

κατηχούμενος ἐκ τοῦ νόμου

˓being˒_instructed out_of the law

If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [others having instructed you from the law]

Parallel ROM 2:18

Section 2:17–29: The Jews and the law of Moses

2:18a

2:18b

General Comment on 2:18b

2:18c