A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
Parallel translations
- WEB For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
- KJV For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
- NKJV For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh;
- NASB For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
- NLT For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision.
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
A true Jew is not merely one outwardly, nor is true circumcision merely external in the flesh. God's people are defined inwardly, not just by outward marks.
Overview
Paul redefines what it means to belong to God's people. Mere outward Jewish identity and physical circumcision do not constitute the real thing. This challenges any reliance on ethnicity or ritual and points to a deeper, spiritual reality. It prepares for the climactic statement of v.29 about the circumcision of the heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Gal 6:15For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation.
- Matt 3:9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
- Rom 9:6–8It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
- Rev 2:9I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
- Isa 48:1–2“Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, who have descended from the line of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, who invoke the God of Israel—but not in truth or righteousness—
- Rom 4:10–12In what context was it credited? Was it after his circumcision, or before? It was not after, but before.
- Hos 1:6–9Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them.
- John 1:47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit.”
- Rom 2:17Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God;
- Ps 73:1A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
- John 8:37–39I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you.
- 1 Pet 3:21And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- Jer 9:26Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and all the inhabitants of the desert who clip the hair of their temples. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
- Isa 1:9–15Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
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 2:28 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.