Is he really a Jew who is one inwardly?

In Romans 1-2, Paul presents a series of arguments that show both the Jews and the Nations in the same predicament – suffering the effects of sin in their same broken world. In Romans 2, he confronts the believers in Rome who were judgmental of their Jewish (weaker) brethren who had come to believe in the Jewish Christ, as they themselves had (2:1-4).

Paul spares no words or emotions to show how the wrong behavior of some anti-Jewish Christ-followers in Rome would be visited by the judgment of God. God’s justice, like everything else, applies to both Jews and Greeks alike. Here is how Paul put it in Romans 2:5-11:

“Because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there is no partiality with God.”

Paul continues his Pharisaic Shema-centered argument that the same God of both Israel and the Nations not only visits wrath and judgment upon the wickedness of covenant-breaking Jews but would also surely do the same to those from the Nations. We read Paul’s argument in 2:12-16:

“For all who have sinned without the Torah will also perish without the Torah, and all who have sinned under the Torah will be judged by the Torah; for not the hearers of the Torah are just before God, but the doers of the Torah will be justified. For when Nations, who do not have the Torah, do instinctively the things of the Torah, these, not having the Torah, are a Torah to themselves, in that they show the work of the Torah written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus”.

The Apostle Paul, using his powerful rhetorical arguments, seeks to convince the Romans of this simple fact – not everyone who claims to be a Jew is truly so before God. He will repeat the same argument later in Romans 9, stating that not all descendants of Israel constitute the true Israel. Paul’s argument is quite the opposite of how most Christians today understand it – i.e. “The real Jews today are the Christians,” and “Jews are no longer truly Jews”. Instead, he argues for the enduring validity of Jewish Jewishness, because he sees (much like the prophets did) that Israel has always consisted of “the faithful remnant” and “the rest”. Not all those who claimed to be Jews were good Jews, neither were all who claimed to be Israel, truly such. (I will deal with the issue of “inward” vs. “outward” Jew a little later in more detail.)

He exhorts the Roman believers in the Jewish Christ to think this matter through with him. “Think about it,” says the great Apostle in Romans 2:17-25:

“But if you bear the name ‘Jew’ and rely upon the Torah and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Torah, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Torah the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Torah, through your breaking the Torah, do you dishonor God? For ‘the name of God is blasphemed among the Nations because of you,’ just as it is written.”

His point is that Jews who disobey the Torah should not be viewed by Roman Christ-followers as real/good Jews. The argument is simple – don’t take the “bad apples” and build your anti-Jewish theology on them, rather, look at the other kinds of Jews, especially the Christ-following and Torah-obedient Jews.

Paul will continue to argue that if a Jew does not walk orderly according to the Torah, he is no different than one who is uncircumcised. Although centuries separate the Apostle Paul and Mark Twain, and the two did not write about the same thing, a great quote by the famous American writer comes to mind: “The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man that can’t read them”. This, in essence, is Paul’s point: A Jew that does not live according to the spirit and letter of the Torah is simply not a (good) Jew:

“…indeed [your] circumcision is of value if you practice the Torah; but if you are a transgressor of the Torah, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. So, if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Torah, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Torah, will he not judge you who though having the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the Torah? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:25-29).

The intent of this quote (Rom. 2:25-29) is quite simple: A true/good Jew, according to the Apostle Paul, is one who has both the circumcision of the flesh and the circumcision of the heart! A member of the Nations, if obedient to all the Torah requirements for non-Israelites, is considered as righteous before God. Why then is it important not to claim that in Christ, “Gentiles become spiritual Jews?”

Simply because this is not what takes place. The Nations in Christ become circumcised in the heart. They become spiritual Nations who worship Israel’s God along with the Jews! This is indeed a high calling. There is none that can be higher. Paul is very serious about the Nations and Israel worshiping God together without changing their identity. The Shema is at stake. The Torah must be proven right, God is not the God of the Jews only, but he is the God of the entire world.

The Crypto Jew

One of the key texts bolstering Christian supersessionism, often called replacement theology, appears in Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. Most translations align closely with one of these two examples:

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Rom 2:28-29, ESV)

For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from people, but from God. (Rom 2:28-29, NASB)

Even the less conventional Complete Jewish Bible, in my view, entirely misses the Greek’s intent. It renders these pivotal verses like most Christian translations, suggesting Paul contrasts outward and inward, when his point differs significantly.

For the real Jew is not merely Jewish outwardly: true circumcision is not only external and physical. 29 On the contrary, the real Jew is one inwardly; and true circumcision is of the heart, spiritual not literal; so that his praise comes not from other people but from God. (Rom 2:28-29, CJB)

I will argue that a translation faithful to the original Greek of this vital letter must convey in English what’s evident in Greek: Paul contrasts “visible with secret,” not “outward with inward.” The Greek text reads:

οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ Ἰουδαῖός (visible Jew) ἐστιν οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ περιτομή. ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος (secret Jew) καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ. (Rom 2:28-29)

The first phrase, τῷ φανερῷ Ἰουδαῖός (tu phanero iudaios), typically translated as “outward Jew” or “Jew outwardly,” could bear that rendering, though “visible Jew” or “Jew visibly” aligns more closely with a direct translation. Yet, the second phrase, τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος (tu krupto iudaios), cannot reasonably become “Jew inwardly” if it aims to reflect Paul’s original juxtaposition accurately.

The word κρυπτός (kruptos) should ring familiar in the 21st century—it’s the root of “cryptocurrency.” Cryptocurrency’s core concept is being hidden or secret from prying eyes in some manner.

Thus, kruptos fundamentally means secret or hidden. While it encompasses “inward,” that’s not its primary sense. Central to this idea, especially here, is remaining unseen by human eyes. Note how Paul concludes his argument: “his praise is not from men but from God.” (Rom 2:29) This final sentence unequivocally shows his critique mirrors Christ’s teaching in Matthew 6:1-6:

Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your charitable giving will be in secret (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ); and your Father who sees what is done in secret (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ) will reward you. And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ‘But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret (ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ); and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matt 6:1-6)

Like Jesus, Paul, a Jew, sharply critiques not all Jewish practice with its many external rituals, but specific Jews acting hypocritically, defying the Torah’s teachings. Notably, they’re not alone—Rabbinic Jewish writings echo this condemnation of visibly religious yet Torah-disobedient Jews. The Talmud denounces hypocrisy in various places. For instance, Pesachim 113b lists three people God hates, starting with one who speaks one thing but thinks another. Likewise, Yoma 72b states a Torah scholar whose inside doesn’t match his outside isn’t a true scholar. Such references permeate Jewish texts.

These examples critique not Judaism or its practitioners broadly, but hypocrisy among certain Jews. Paul targets this hypothetical hypocritical religious Jew for a clear reason. Using a diatribe style common in his era, he addresses a fictional figure, much like his earlier critique of a hypothetical Gentile in Romans 1:18-32 and 2:1-16. To Gentile Christians, Paul’s message is straightforward: while a Jew’s visible markings are good, they’re insufficient. Faith and deeds must align with the Torah beyond mere signs of Jewish identity. Circumcision means little if one leads a hypocritical life disobeying Israel’s God and His Torah. What of heart circumcision? This concept isn’t novel—it stems directly from the Law of Moses in the New Testament:

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul… So circumcise your heart, and do not stiffen your neck any longer. (Deut 10:12-16)

Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live (Deut 30:6-10)

Prophets like Jeremiah reinforce this idea:

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of your hearts, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, or else My wrath will spread like fire and burn with no one to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds. (Jer. 4:4)

Christians overlooking this misread Paul as critiquing Judaism itself as a practice. Yet, his point diverges sharply. God summons both Jews and Nations to live free of hypocrisy, with a clear conscience before Him and others.