Romans 2:17-23

¹⁷ Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,

¹⁸ and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,

¹⁹ and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,

²⁰ an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.

²¹ You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?

²² You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

²³ You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?

Jew (v.17)  = Israelite in Palestine after the Babylonian captivity. “Hebrew” is the racial name. “Israel” is the national name. “Jew” is the religious name.

Approve (v.18)  — vain compliance based on an idea of the Law’s excellence.

Confident (v.19) = self-complacent.

Blind (v.19) = in darkness, foolish, babes. Gentiles without the Law.

rob temples (v.22)  — commercialism

The Jews knew the law, but did they keep it? They saw it as evidence of God’s favor but not a a guide for conduct or conscience.