What Does Romans 2:5 Mean in the King James?
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
A hardened, unturned heart is pictured as filling a treasury of wrath for itself.
THE MEANING
Your hardness and unturned heart are not inert: they store wrath for you. The verse joins that present accumulation to a coming day when God’s just judgment is revealed. You are pictured both as the one filling the treasury and as the one who meets what has been stored.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that refusing to turn keeps the consequences away: the verse pictures refusal as the very act of storing them up for yourself.
THE ROOT
θησαυρίζεις
thēsaurizeis
GROWS FROM
θησαυρ-
thēsaur-
A treasury or store; the verb means to store up or accumulate.
“treasurest up” in this verse is thēsaurizeis. The verb comes from the word for a treasure or storehouse. Here, what is being laid up is wrath, turning the image of a treasury into a picture of accumulating judgment for oneself.
ALSO GROWS
thēsauros: treasure; storehouse
θησαυρός
The verb in Romans is built from this treasury word, so wrath is pictured as what the heart is laying up.
thēsaurizō: to store up; accumulate
θησαυρίζω
This is the verb used here: the action is presented as ongoing and directed “unto thyself.”
ἀμετανόητον
ametanoēton
GROWS FROM
μετανοέω
metanoeō
Turn or change one’s mind; with the privative prefix ἀ- (a-), the word means unturned.
“impenitent” in this verse is ametanoēton. The Greek describes a heart that has not turned. Paired with “hardness,” it names a settled inner posture that the verse connects with the ongoing accumulation of wrath.
ALSO GROWS
metanoia: turning; change of mind
μετάνοια
This cognate names the turning absent from the “impenitent” heart.
metanoeō: to turn; change one’s mind
μετανοέω
This verb is the base of the adjective and makes its “unturned” sense visible.
σκληρότητα
sklērotēta
GROWS FROM
σκληρ-
sklēr-
Hard; resistant to pressure or yielding.
The word names more than a passing feeling: it points to a resistant condition of the heart. Beside “unturned,” it shows the verse describing both hardness and the absence of turning.
ALSO GROWS
sklēros: hard; harsh
σκληρός
This adjective carries the same basic quality named by “hardness.”
sklērynō: to harden
σκληρύνω
This related verb expresses the movement into the resistant state the verse names.
THE PATTERN
What is held within or chosen in the present bears fruit that returns to the person who formed it.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.THE THREAD
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;Romans calls the heart ἀμετανόητον (ametanoēton, unturned); 2 Timothy uses μετάνοια (metanoia, turning), from the same Greek word family. The two verses place the unturned heart beside the possibility of turning toward truth.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us