What Does Romans 2:2 Mean?
We know that the judgment of God is according to truth upon those who practice such things.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.THE KEY
God’s judgment reaches the truth of what is done, beyond how anyone presents it.
THE MEANING
God’s judgment meets each deed according to what is true about it. The measure is not appearance or a person’s confidence in their verdict, but the reality God sees. That truth reaches the reader now, too.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that judgment can be separated from reality: God’s verdict corresponds to what is true about the deeds.
THE ROOT
κρῖμα
krima
GROWS FROM
κρίνω
krinō
To distinguish, decide, or judge; κρῖμα is a decision or verdict.
“judgment” in this verse is krima. This word belongs to a family of making a distinction and reaching a decision, not simply a feeling of condemnation. Here that verdict is κατὰ ἀλήθειαν (kata alētheian, “according to truth”), so its measure is the reality of what is done.
ALSO GROWS
krinō: To distinguish, decide, or judge.
κρίνω
The verb behind “judge” shows the action that gives rise to the verdict named here.
krisis: A decision, judgment, or process of judging.
κρίσις
This branch makes clear that judgment is a decision brought to bear on what is being examined.
kritēs: A judge; one who decides.
κριτής
The same word family links the verdict to the one who makes the distinction.
ἀλήθεια
alētheia
GROWS FROM
ἀ- + λανθάνω (a- + lanthanō)
Traditionally connected with λανθάνω, “to escape notice” or “be hidden,” joined with ἀ-, “not”; the word is linked with what is not concealed.
This traditional word-family connection gives truth the sense of what does not remain hidden. In this verse, God’s judgment “according to truth” meets the real deed beneath its presentation.
ALSO GROWS
lanthanō: To escape notice or remain hidden.
λανθάνω
This is the hiding or going unnoticed that truth, in the traditional word-family connection, stands against.
lēthē: Forgetfulness or oblivion.
λήθη
Its association with forgetting shows the contrast between what slips from view and what truth brings into the open.
alēthēs: True or genuine.
ἀληθής
This related word carries truth into the description of what is real rather than merely apparent.
THE PATTERN
God’s judgment follows what is true about a person’s deeds, rather than outward appearance.
But the LORD said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have pushed him away. The LORD does not see as the human sees. The human sees what is outside, but the LORD sees the heart.Do not judge by what the eye sees, but judge the judgment of alignment.Who will give back to each one according to his works.THE THREAD
Do you reckon this, O human, you who judge those who practice such things and do them, that you will flee out from the judgment of God?The words “judgest” and “judgment” in this verse come from κρίνω (krinō, “to decide or judge”), the same word family as κρῖμα (krima, “verdict”) here. The next verse turns that judgment toward the reader: the truth that names another’s deeds also reaches one’s own.
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