Ayub 21:31

21:31 No one denounces his conduct to his face;

no one repays him for what ¹  he has done. ² 

Mazmur 28:4

28:4 Pay them back for their evil deeds!

Pay them back for what they do!

Punish them! ³ 

Matius 16:27

16:27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ⁴ 

Roma 2:6

2:6 He ⁵  will reward ⁶  each one according to his works: ⁷ 

Roma 2:1

The Condemnation of the Moralist

2:1 ⁸ Therefore ⁹  you are without excuse, ¹⁰  whoever you are, ¹¹  when you judge someone else. ¹²  For on whatever grounds ¹³  you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things.

1 Korintus 3:8

3:8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, ¹⁴  but each will receive his reward according to his work.

Kolose 3:25

3:25 For the one who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, ¹⁵  and there are no exceptions. ¹⁶ 

[21:31]  ¹ tn The expression “and he has done” is taken here to mean “what he has done.”

[21:31]  ² tn Heb “Who declares his way to his face? // Who repays him for what he has done?” These rhetorical questions, which expect a negative answer (“No one!”) have been translated as indicative statements to bring out their force clearly.

[28:4]  ³ tn Heb “Give to them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds. According to the work of their hands give to them. Return their due to them.” The highly repetitive style reflects the psalmist’s agitated emotional state and draws attention to his yearning for justice.

[16:27]  ⁴ sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Or “will render,” “will recompense.” In this context Paul is setting up a hypothetical situation, not stating that salvation is by works.

[2:6]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 62:12; Prov 24:12; a close approximation to Matt 16:27.

[2:1]  ⁸ sn Rom 2:1-29 presents unusual difficulties for the interpreter. There have been several major approaches to the chapter and the group(s) it refers to: (1) Rom 2:14 refers to Gentile Christians, not Gentiles who obey the Jewish law. (2) Paul in Rom 2 is presenting a hypothetical viewpoint: If anyone could obey the law, that person would be justified, but no one can. (3) The reference to “the ones who do the law” in 2:13 are those who “do” the law in the right way, on the basis of faith, not according to Jewish legalism. (4) Rom 2:13 only speaks about Christians being judged in the future, along with such texts as Rom 14:10 and 2 Cor 5:10. (5) Paul’s material in Rom 2 is drawn heavily from Diaspora Judaism, so that the treatment of the law presented here cannot be harmonized with other things Paul says about the law elsewhere (E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People, 123); another who sees Rom 2 as an example of Paul’s inconsistency in his treatment of the law is H. Räisänen, Paul and the Law [WUNT], 101-9. (6) The list of blessings and curses in Deut 27–30 provide the background for Rom 2; the Gentiles of 2:14 are Gentile Christians, but the condemnation of Jews in 2:17-24 addresses the failure of Jews as a nation to keep the law as a whole (A. Ito, “Romans 2: A Deuteronomistic Reading,” JSNT 59 [1995]: 21-37).

[2:1]  ⁹ tn Some interpreters (e.g., C. K. Barrett, Romans [HNTC], 43) connect the inferential Διό (dio, “therefore”) with 1:32a, treating 1:32b as a parenthetical comment by Paul.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn That is, “you have nothing to say in your own defense” (so translated by TCNT).

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Grk “O man.”

[2:1]  ¹² tn Grk “Therefore, you are without excuse, O man, everyone [of you] who judges.”

[2:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “in/by (that) which.”

[3:8]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “are one.” The purpose of this phrase is to portray unified action on the part of ministers underneath God’s sovereign control. Although they are in fact individuals, they are used by God with a single purpose to accomplish his will in facilitating growth. This emphasis is brought out in the translation “work as one.”

[3:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “that which he did wrong.”

[3:25]  sn It is a common theme in biblical thought that punishment for sin involves being fully given over to its consequences (cf. Rom 1), and this is also true of believers. Here Paul’s implication is that believers who sin and disobey the Lord whom they serve will receive the consequences of their actions, which is a fitting discipline.

[3:25]  ¹⁶ tn The Greek word used here is προσωπολημψία (proswpolhmyia) and is usually translated “partiality.” It is used to describe unjust or unrighteous favoritism (Rom 2:11, Eph 6:9, Jas 2:1). When it comes to disciplining his children for their sins, God will treat all equally with no partiality.