“For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;”
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. The law (nomos) functions as the standard by which people are judged, yet it operates differently for different communities. Those without the law (choris nomou) who sin will perish without reference to Levitical statute, yet they will still face judgment. Those under the law (en nomōi) will be specifically judged according to its requirements. This verse anticipates Paul's argument that possessing the law does not convey automatic justification.
Church Fathers on Romans 2:12
“For as many,” he says, “as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.” For here, as I said before, he shows not only the equality of the Jew and the Gentile, but that the Jew was even much burdened by the gift of the Law. For the Gentile is judged without law. But this “without law” (Gr. lawlessly) here expresses not the worse plight but the easier, that is, he has not the Law to accuse him. For…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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