circumcision (the rite · noun — nominative singular feminine
verily
μὲνmen
G3303
properly · particle
profiteth
ὠφελεῖōphelei
G5623
to be useful · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
if
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
keep
πράσσῃς·prassēs
G4238
to "practise" · verb — present active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
law
νόμονnomon
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — accusative singular masculine
but
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
if
ἐὰνean
G1437
a conditional particle · conditional particle
be
ᾖς,ēs
G1510
I exist (used only when emphatic) · verb — present active subjunctive, 2nd person singular
breaker
παραβάτηςparabatēs
G3848
a violator · noun — nominative singular masculine
law
νόμουnomou
G3551
law (through the idea of prescriptive usage) · noun — genitive singular masculine
thy
σοῦsoû
G4675
of thee
circumcision
περιτομήperitomē
G4061
circumcision (the rite · noun — nominative singular feminine
made
γέγονεν.gegonen
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
uncircumcision
ἀκροβυστίαakrobustia
G203
the prepuce · noun — nominative singular feminine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury com…
Galatians 5:3-6 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Galatians 6:15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Deuteronomy 30:6 And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy…
Jeremiah 9:25-26 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised;
Romans 2:23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
Romans 2:28-3:2 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Romans 2:17–end
In the latter part of the chapter the apostle directs his discourse more closely to the Jews, and shows what sins they were guilty of, notwithstanding their profession and vain pretensions. He had said (Rom 2:13) that not the hearers but the doers of the law are justified; and he here applies that great truth to the Jews. Observe,
I. He allows their profession (Rom 2:17-20) and specifies their particular pretensions and privileges in which they prided themselves, that they might see he did not condemn them out of ignorance of what they had to say for themselves; no, he knew the best of their cause.
1. They were a peculiar people, separated and distinguished from all others by their having th…
For circumcision--that is, One's being within the covenant of which circumcision was the outward sign and seal.
verily profiteth, if thou keep the law--if the inward reality correspond to the outward sign.
but if, &c.--that is, "Otherwise, thou art no better than the uncircumcised heathen."
Adam Clarke on Romans 2:25
For circumcision verily profiteth - It is a blessing to belong to the Church of God and wear the sign of the covenant, provided the terms of the covenant are complied with.
But if thou be a breaker of the law - If thou do not observe the conditions of the covenant, the outward sign is both without meaning and without effect. This was a maxim of the rabbins themselves; for they allowed that an apostate or ungodly Israelite must go to hell, notwithstanding his circumcision.
John Gill on Romans 2:25
For circumcision verily profiteth,.... The plea from circumcision in favour of the Jews, and their acceptance with God, and justification before him, is here, and in the following verses, considered. The apostle allows that circumcision was profitable; which must be understood whilst it was in force, before the abrogation of it, for since, it is not profitable but pernicious; and then it was only profitable, in case the law was kept:
if thou keepest the law; that is, perfectly; for circumcision obliged persons to keep the whole law. Now the circumcised Jews did not keep it in such sense; wherefore circumcision was of no use to them, but, on the contrary, was an handwriting against them.
Bu…
The Church Fathers
The apostle did not say this as if he favored forcing either the Gentiles to remain uncircumcised or the Jews not to adhere to the traditions of their fathers. Rather, he urged that neither group should be forced into the practice of the other but that each person should have the right, not the obligation, to adhere to his own custom.
Circumcision is of value as a sign if righteousness accompanies it; without righteousness the rest is useless. Or this [verse] may mean that circumcision enabled the Jew to live and escape condemnation in childhood before reaching the age of understanding. Or perhaps, because he set it in the context of the law, it is that … when the circumcision of the flesh ends, the true circumcision of the heart will come. A man breaks the law when he does not follow what is foretold in it.
An opponent might say: "If circumcision is of value, why was it stopped?" It is only of value if you keep the law. Circumcision may be retained therefore, but if it is to be of any value the law must be observed. So why did Paul prohibit what he shows to be of value if the law is observed?Paul answers by saying that if the law is not kept, the Jew effectively becomes a Gentile.… But to keep the law is to believe in Christ, who was promised to Abraham. Those who are justified by faith have their own merit and are included in the honor shown to the patriarchs. For every mention of salvation in the law refers to Christ. Therefore the man who believes in Christ is the man who keeps the law. But if he does not believe then he is a transgressor of the law because he has not accepted Christ … and it is no advantage for him to be called a son of Abraham.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Fall of man — An expression probably borrowed from the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom, to express the fact of the revolt of our first parents from God, and the consequent sin and misery in which they and all their…
Circumcision · A seal of righteousness — A seal of righteousness
Formalism · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Romans 2:25-29
25. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
25. Nam circumcisio quidem prodest, si Legem observes; quod si transgressor Legis fueris, circumcisio tua in pr?putium versa est.
26. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
26. Si ergo pr?putium justitias Legis servaverit, nonne pr?putium ejus pro circumcisione consebitur?
27. And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
27. Et judicabit quod ex natura e…
God instituted the Jewish ceremony of circumcision as a sign of his covenant with Abraham; it was to be performed on every male Israelite child (Gen 17:9-13; see Rom 4:11). Circumcision therefore represents God’s covenant with his people Israel. The rite took on greater significance during the intertestamental period when the pagan king Antiochus IV Epiphanes tried to stamp out the Jewish faith by forbidding circumcision and other Jewish practices. The Jews resisted in the famous Maccabean Revolt (166–160 BC). After they restored the worship of the Lord in Israel, the Jews regarded circumcision as a highly prized mark of Jewish loyalty in the midst of a pagan culture.
