Romans 2:20
20 An instructor [paideutes] of the foolish [aphron], a
teacher [didaskalos] of babes [nepios], which hast [echo] the form
[morphosis] of knowledge [gnosis] and [kai] of the truth [aletheia] in [en] the law [nomos]. KJV-Interlinear
20 an
instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the
embodiment of knowledge and truth— ESV
Paul continues the descriptions of the advantages that
the Jews possessed, before he drops the hammer of heavy rebuke on their abuse
of those advantages.
They presumed that they are the instructor of the foolish
and yet it was they who were foolish.
They presumed the instruction of babes, and yet it was
they who were the babes.
So Paul turns their arguments, arguments that were
common among the Jews, against them. Their own arguments actually serve to
convict themselves.
The use of the word for foolish, can apply to those
who lack understanding, as well as to those who are actually wicked. And moreover, it serves to identify those who
ae both.
Instructor implies content of instruction. A teacher implies the qualification of the
position.
And yet people who lack doctrine and truth within
their soul, are neither instructor or teacher.
You cannot teach what you do not know. You cannot instruct when you lack the discernments
of instruction.
The form of knowledge, refers to the external form or
appearance, rather than the internal content. The superficial rather than the
substance.
And the reference to the law, distinguishes the
content of the scriptures as the accurate and source of truth, which is from
God.
So, the Jews used superficial references without the
detailed content. They taught ambiguous
concepts without the content to back them up.
And that is exactly what people do today. They say all of the right words, but their
words, the amens, the praise this or that, carry no content, no instruction,
and therefore have no edifying impact on the hearers of those convenient
phrases.
Simple phrases and clichés do not teach, and do not
advance anyone in their spiritual growth.
If you went to school as a child and all you heard was
the teacher praising you for being there, you would not learn the alphabet, not
learn words, not learn anything. Only that
it was good of you to have been there.
And what good is that?
No good at all.
And Paul makes it very clear that even though the Jews
had the right content, namely the scriptures, if they are not taught in detail,
then the teaching is empty. If the
instructors themselves did not know the content, then their teaching was
lacking.
And furthermore, you cannot teach one standard, and
then require two standards, one for yourself and another for others.
