As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
- KJV For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
- NKJV For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
- NASB For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
- NLT No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.”
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
As Scripture says, God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of such hypocrisy. Inconsistent lives cause others to disrespect God.
Overview
Paul quotes Isaiah 52:5 (and echoes Ezekiel 36) to show that Israel's sin caused God's name to be dishonored among the nations. Rather than being a light to the Gentiles, the disobedient become a reason for the nations to blaspheme God. This drives home that privilege misused brings reproach on God Himself, intensifying the indictment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 36:20–23And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’
- Isa 52:5And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.
- 2 Pet 2:2Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.
- Lam 2:15–16All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
- 2 Sam 12:14Nevertheless, because by this deed you have shown utter contempt for the word of the LORD, the son born to you will surely die.”
- Titus 2:8and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.
- Titus 2:5to be self-controlled, pure, managers of their households, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be discredited.
- 1 Tim 6:1All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.
- Matt 18:7Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
- 1 Tim 5:14So I advise the younger widows to marry, have children, and manage their households, denying the adversary occasion for slander.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 2:24 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.