For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
Parallel translations
- KJV For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
- BSB A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical.
- 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 in Christ Jesus neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
- Matt 3:9Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
- Rom 9:6–8But it is not as though the word of God has come to nothing. For they are not all Israel, that are of Israel.
- Rev 2:9“I know your works, oppression, and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
- Isa 48:1–2“Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah. You swear by Yahweh’s name, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
- Rom 4:10–12How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
- Hos 1:6–9She conceived again, and bore a daughter. Then he said to him, “Call her name Lo-Ruhamah; for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, that I should in any way pardon them.
- John 1:47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
- Rom 2:17Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
- Ps 73:1A Psalm by Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
- John 8:37–39I know that you are Abraham’s offspring, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you.
- 1 Pet 3:21This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you — not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
- Jer 9:26Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”
- Isa 1:9–15Unless Yahweh of Armies had left to us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have been like 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.