Romans 2:17-24
Section 4 of 5
Meaning in context
Addressing people who claim Jewish identity and boast in the law, Paul accuses them of teaching others but failing themselves—stealing, adultery, idolatry—and warns that such misconduct brings shame on God’s name among Gentiles (vv.17–24); some readers place this in Rome’s specific Jewish–Gentile tensions, while others see it as rhetorical exposure of any privileged hypocrisy.