You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?
Parallel translations
- WEB You who glory in the law, through your disobedience of the law do you dishonor God?
- KJV Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
- BSB You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?
- NKJV You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?
- NLT You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonor God by breaking it.
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 boast in the law dishonor God by breaking it. Disobedience turns one's boast into shame.
Overview
Paul names the heart of the problem: boasting in the law while breaking it actually dishonors the God who gave it. The very privilege that should lead to glorifying God becomes, through disobedience, a cause of His dishonor. This summarizes the indictment of the religious person and prepares for the Scripture citation that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jas 4:16–17But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil.
- Rom 2:17Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
- John 5:45“Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
- Rom 3:2Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.
- Rom 9:4who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service, and the promises;
- Jer 8:8–9“‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has worked falsely.
- Jas 1:22–27But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
- John 9:28–29They insulted him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.
- Luke 10:26–29He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?”
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood and prayed to himself like this: ‘God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortionists, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
- Matt 19:17–20He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 2:23 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.