an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
Parallel translations
- WEB a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.
- KJV An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
- NKJV an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.
- NASB a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, possessing in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—
- NLT You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They consider themselves instructors of the foolish and teachers of the immature, possessing in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth. Their confidence rests on having God's revealed truth.
Overview
Paul completes the portrait: the Jew sees himself as a corrector and teacher, holding in the law the very form of knowledge and truth. This is a high estimate of one's position. Yet Paul lists these confident claims precisely to set up his stinging question: do those who teach others actually obey what they teach? The answer will expose hypocrisy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 2 Tim 3:5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
- Titus 1:16They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- 2 Tim 1:13Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
- Rom 6:17But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.
- 1 Cor 3:1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ.
- 1 Pet 2:2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
- Matt 11:25At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Heb 5:13For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 2:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.