Having
described how his Jewish interlocutor identifies himself and his mission, and
having shown the disparity between who the interlocutor professes to be and
what he does, Paul pronounces his verdict: As it is written, “because of
you, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles” (2:24). The verdict
is not Paul’s own but the verdict of the very Scriptures upon which his
interlocutor depends. However, although the text of Isa. 52:5 says that the
Gentiles blasphemed God’s name because they witnessed Israel’s suffering, Paul
makes use of the Septuagint, which adds “because of you” and “among the nations,”
and he rereads the text in the light of his people’s contemporary situation:
the Gentiles are presently blaspheming God’s name because of the Jewish failure
to observe the law (Käsemann 1980, 71).
Lest Paul’s indictment be misunderstood, it is
important to recall that he is not criticizing Judaism as corrupt and
hypocritical. Nor is he saying that this behavior is representative of each and
every Jew. The purpose of his diatribe is to show that Israel has failed to
fulfill its vocation to be a light to the nations (Wright 2002, 447). For
reasons that Paul has yet to explain, Israel has not observed the very law in
which it boasts. (Frank J. Matera, Romans [Paideia Commentaries on the
New Testament; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2010], 74-75)
