Discovery BoxRomans 2:14-16 
Context2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, 1 who do not have the law, do by nature 2 the things required by the law, 3 these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They 4 show that the work of the law is written 5 in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend 6 them, 7 2:16 on the day when God will judge 8 the secrets of human hearts, 9 according to my gospel 10 through Christ Jesus.
1 sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew.
2 tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish.
3 tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.”
4 tn Grk “who.” The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
5 tn Grk “show the work of the law [to be] written,” with the words in brackets implied by the Greek construction.
6 tn Or “excuse.”
7 tn Grk “their conscience bearing witness and between the thoughts accusing or also defending one another.”
8 tn The form of the Greek word is either present or future, but it is best to translate in future because of the context of future judgment.
9 tn Grk “of people.”
