Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
Parallel translations
- WEB If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
- BSB If a man who is not circumcised keeps the requirements 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 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 whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
- 1 Cor 7:18–19Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
- Rom 8:4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- Matt 8:11–12And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
- Matt 15:28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
- Rom 3:30Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
- Eph 2:11Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
- Acts 11:3–18Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.
- Acts 10:34–35Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
- Phil 3:3For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
- Acts 10:2–4A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.
- Isa 56:6–7Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of 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.