Romans 2:9

Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; TRIBULATION AND ANGUISH. The first of these pairs, 'wrath and indignation,' are in the bosom of a sin-avenging God-the former expressing God's 'settled displeasure' against evil-doers, the latter, the uprising of this; the next pair, "Tribulation and anguish," are the effects of those awful affections of the Divine Mind on and in the sinner himself. UPON EVERY SOUL OF MAN THAT DOETH EVIL, OF THE JEW FIRST - first in perdition, if unfaithful; but, if obedient to the truth, first in salvation; as in the next verse is expressed....

9._To the Jew first, etc. _He simply places, I have no doubt, the Jew in opposition to the Gentile; for those whom he calls Greeks he will presently call Gentiles. But the Jews take the precedence in this case, for they had, in preference to others, both the promises and the threatenings of the law; as though he had said, “This is the universal rule of the divine judgment; it shall begin with the Jews, and it shall include the whole world.”...

1-16 The Jews thought themselves a holy people, entitled to their privileges by right, while they were unthankful, rebellious, and unrighteous. But all who act thus, of every nation, age, and description, must be reminded that the judgment of God will be according to their real character. The case is so plain, that we may appeal to the sinner's own thoughts. In every wilful sin, there is contempt of the goodness of God. And though the branches of man's disobedience are very various, all spring from the same root. But in true repentance, there must be hatred of former sinfulness, from a change wrought in the state of the mind, which disposes it to choose the good and to refuse the evil. It shows also a sense of inward wretchedness. Such is the great change wrought in repentance, it is conversion, and is needed by every human being. The ruin of sinners is their walking after a hard and im...

Verse Romans 2:9. _TRIBULATION AND ANGUISH_] Misery of all descriptions, without the possibility of escape, will this righteous Judge inflict upon every impenitent sinner. The _Jew first_, as possessing greater privileges, and having abused greater mercies; and also on the _Gentile_, who, though he had not the same advantages, had what God saw was sufficient for his state; and, having sinned against them, shall have punishment proportioned to his demerit....

TRIBULATION - This word commonly denotes affliction, or the situation of being pressed down by a burden, as of trials, calamities, etc.; and hence, to be pressed down by punishment or pain inflicted for sins. As applied to future punishment, it denotes the pressure of the calamities that will come upon the soul as the just reward of sin. AND ANGUISH - στενοχωρία stenochōria. This noun is used in but three other places in the New Testament; Romans 8:35; 2 Corinthians 6:4; 2 Corinthians 12:10. The verb is used in 2Co 4:8;...

EXPOSITION ROMANS 2:1 (_b_) _Those who judge others, not excepting the Jews. _Here a new stage of the argument, in proof of the position propounded in Romans 1:18, begins, and is continued to the end of the chapter. The position to be proved is that all mankind is guilty before God (see note on Romans 1:18). So far this has been shown with regard to the mass of the heathen world; its general moral corruption, prevalent and condoned, having been pointed out finally as a glaring proof; the main point of the argument having been to trace this state of things to man's own fault, in that he had refused to retain and act on a knowledge of God originally imparted to him through nature a

TRIBULATION AND ANGUISH,.... These, with the foregoing words, are expressive of the second death, the torments of hell, the worm that never dies, and the fire that is not quenched: which will fall UPON EVERY SOUL OF MAN THAT DOTH EVIL; whose course of life and conversation is evil; for "the soul that sins shall die", Ezekiel 18:4, unless satisfaction is made for his sins by the blood of Christ: OF THE JEW FIRST, AND ALSO OF THE GENTILE; regard being had to what nation they belong....

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The Gentile Moralist and Reformer and His Condemnation. (Romans 2:1 .)_ 2. The Two Classes. (Romans 2:7 .) 3. The State of the Jew. (Romans 2:17 .) Romans 2:1 But in the heathen world there were such who gave witness against the immoral condition, the different vices. There were Moralists, Reformers and Philosophers like Socrates, Seneca and others. They judged and condemned certain evils. But God declares that they were not a whit better than the rest. The very things they condemned they were guilty of themselves. One of their own writers declared, “I see the good and approve of it and follow the ev

Some one interjects: I do not approve, I condemn the sins you describe. Then you condemn yourself, Paul retorts, for you _commit_ them! THE MORALIST UNDER CONDEMNATION, with the flagitious sinner. Thrice Paul repeats, Thou doest the same (or such-like) things. ROMANS 2:1 ; _cf._ Romans 2:6; Romans 2:9 f., Romans 2:13: not Jews specifically are addressedO man, everyone that judges! Romans 2:4 f. Whoso thinks to cloak unrighteous doings by his moral creed, is trifling with God's forbearance and laying up a store of wrath....

So, then, O man, everyone of you who judges others, you yourself have no defence. While you judge others, you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do exactly the same things. We know that God's judgment is directed against all who do such things, and that it is based on reality. Are you counting on this, O man, you who set yourself up as a judge upon people who do such things and who do them yourself--that you will escape the condemnation of God? Or, are you treating with contempt the wealth of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? In your obtuseness, and in your impenitent heart, you are storing up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, the day when there will be revealed the righteous judgment of God, who will settle accounts with each man according to his deeds. To those who sought glory an...