You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?
Parallel translations
- WEB You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?
- KJV Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
- BSB you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?
- NASB you, therefore, who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one is not to steal, do you steal?
- NLT Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal?
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
You who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? Teaching others is hollow without practicing it oneself.
Overview
Paul turns the indictment into pointed questions. The one who instructs others fails to apply the law to himself. The example of stealing shows that knowing and proclaiming the law does not equal keeping it. This exposes the hypocrisy of religious privilege divorced from obedience, leaving the self-righteous Jew as guilty as the pagan of chapter 1.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Cor 9:27but I beat my body and bring it into submission, lest by any means, after I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.
- Matt 23:3–28All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do.
- Luke 12:47That servant, who knew his lord’s will, and didn’t prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,
- Mic 3:11Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”
- Titus 2:1–7But say the things which fit sound doctrine,
- Luke 11:46He said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
- Ps 50:16–21But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
- Matt 21:13He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”
- Ezek 22:27Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
- Amos 8:4–6Hear this, you who desire to swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail,
- Luke 19:22“He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth will I judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down, and reaping that which I didn’t sow.
- Luke 4:23He said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this parable, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done at Capernaum, do also here in your hometown.’”
- Ezek 22:12–13In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Isa 56:11Yes, the dogs are greedy. They can never have enough. They are shepherds who can’t understand. They have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.
- Gal 6:13For even they who receive circumcision don’t keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 2:21 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.