If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
Parallel translations
- WEB If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
- KJV Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
- ESV So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?
- NKJV Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision?
- NASB So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will his uncircumcision not be regarded as circumcision?
- NLT And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
If an uncircumcised person keeps the law's requirements, will not his uncircumcision count as circumcision? God values righteousness over ritual.
Overview
Paul presses the logic further: if a Gentile, though uncircumcised, keeps the righteous requirements of the law, God will regard him as if circumcised. This shows that God looks to the heart and life, not merely the outward mark. It anticipates the New Testament truth that true membership in God's people is by faith, not physical descent or ritual.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Col 2:11In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of your sinful nature, with the circumcision performed by Christ and not by human hands.
- 1 Cor 7:18–19Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.
- Rom 8:4so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
- Matt 8:11–12I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matt 15:28“O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
- Rom 3:30since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
- Eph 2:11Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- Acts 11:3–18and said, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
- Acts 10:34–35Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
- Phil 3:3For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
- Acts 10:2–4He and all his household were devout and God-fearing. He gave generously to the people and prayed to God regularly.
- Isa 56:6–7And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants—all who keep the Sabbath without profaning it and who hold fast to My covenant—
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 2:26 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.