“Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?”
The full verse · Romans 2:23 · KJV
that makest thy the , the dishonourest ?
Asked to
Jews: here the individual Jew Paul addresses as "thou," who rests in the law, makes his boast of God, and teaches others (Romans 2:17-21)
The Scene
Paul ends his string of questions to the Jew who teaches the law, after asking about stealing, adultery, and sacrilege (Romans 2:21-22).
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThis question gathers up the ones before it. The Jew made his "boast of God" and of the law (Romans 2:17); now Paul asks whether, by breaking that law, he dishonors the God who gave it. Barnes explains: "By boasting of the Law, they proclaimed their conviction that it was from God. By breaking it, they denied it." The question presses the boaster to see that his disobedience does not only fail a rule. It brings shame on the Lawgiver.
The Response
What Scripture recordsPaul answers in the next verse with Scripture: "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written" (Romans 2:24). Barnes says the passage meant "cannot be certainly determined," but suggests Paul perhaps had both Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel 36:20, 23 in view. The ESV even renders Romans 2:23 as a statement rather than a question: "You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law."
Historical Context
The world behind the words"Breaking the law" translates parabasis, transgression; Gill notes that the word signifies a passing over. "Dishonourest" is atimazo, to dishonor. "Boast" is kauchaomai, the same verb behind "makest thy boast of God" in Romans 2:17.
The Scripture Paul echoes in Romans 2:24 comes from Israel's exile. In Isaiah 52:5 God says, "my name continually every day is blasphemed," and in Ezekiel 36:22 He speaks of "mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went."
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyGod's name, His reputation among the nations, was bound up with His people. Through Ezekiel God said He would act "for mine holy name's sake" (Ezekiel 36:22). Paul applies that old charge to his own day: the way God's people live tells the watching world something about God. Barnes writes that a life of purity "would tend to honor religion and its Author; a life of impurity does the reverse."
This question also prepares for one of Paul's turning points. A people who boast in the law yet break it have nothing left to boast in. Later Paul asks, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith" (Romans 3:27).
Look Closer
What did the person in Romans 2:23 boast about?
Carry the question into prayer and conversation.
Lord, how is the way I live shaping what the people around me believe about You?
A prayer to carry into the day.
- Why do you think people often judge God by the behavior of those who claim to follow Him?
- Tell about someone whose life made you think better of God. What did they do?
For you, a small group, a friend, or the dinner table.
Your life speaks about God. When people who claim His word ignore it, those outside the faith notice, and God's name is spoken of with contempt (Romans 2:24).
This is not a call to perform for an audience or to fear every mistake. It is a reminder that obeying God honors Him, and that humility, not boasting, fits people who have received His word. Paul says boasting is "excluded" by "the law of faith" (Romans 3:27).
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
“Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?”
“Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?”
“Where is boasting then? By what law? Of works?”