you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul isn't just pointing out hypocrisy; he's showing that the very purpose of teaching is to transform the teacher too. For the proud teacher, the ultimate failure isn't just being caught in sin, but that their actions betray their own words so completely, they're not even learning from what they claim to know.
you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul is directly confronting the Jewish people, particularly their leaders, who pride themselves on possessing the Law and teaching its commands to others. He's pointing out the hypocrisy of those who preach against sin, like stealing, while secretly practicing it themselves, thus dishonoring God through their actions. This accusation sets up the following verses, where Paul will detail other sins the Jews were known for, like adultery and sacrilege, proving their behavior contradicted their claims of righteousness.
You know the rules, you teach the rules, but are you living by them? Paul calls out a dangerous disconnect.
Paul confronts those who position themselves as spiritual guides for others. He uses a pointed question to expose a glaring hypocrisy: If you teach that stealing is wrong, why are you stealing?
This isn't just about literal theft. It's about the profound disconnect between what we say is right and what we do. Teachers of the Law, particularly the Jewish leaders of the time, were expected to embody its principles. Yet, as Paul points out, many fell drastically short. They preached against sin but lived in it.
This highlights a critical spiritual principle: true teaching isn't just about knowledge; it's about lived obedience. A teacher who doesn't practice what they preach fails to truly teach themselves, making their instruction hollow and their example damaging.
When our lives don't match our words, who does it really hurt? It's not just us; it's God's reputation.
Paul isn't just concerned with personal inconsistency; he highlights the public consequence. When teachers or leaders, especially those who boast in God's Law, live in sin, they don't just dishonor themselves – they dishonor God.
The people observing this hypocrisy see God's name being blasphemed or spoken evil of. They think, 'If this is what God's Law produces, or if this is how God's followers behave, then God must be flawed, or His ways are not so holy after all.'
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This reveals the immense weight of responsibility that comes with claiming to follow God and especially with teaching others about Him. Our actions become a public testimony, either drawing people closer to God or pushing them away.
Understand the original words
didaskeis · Greek Verb
The act of instructing or providing guidance, often involving the transmission of moral or religious truth. In a biblical context, it implies the responsibility of the teacher to embody the truth they impart.
kērussōn · Greek Verb
To publicly proclaim or herald a message. In Scripture, it often refers to the proclamation of God's word or moral exhortation.
klepteis · Greek Verb
The act of taking the property of another without permission; in the Mosaic Law, it is explicitly forbidden as a violation of one's neighbor and of God's command.
Paul's sharp critique of hypocrisy, particularly aimed at Jewish teachers, directly reflects the historical reality of widespread religious corruption and legalism that Jesus himself condemned, and which had been a problem since the time of Malachi.
c. 538 BC
Return from Babylonian Exile
Following the Babylonian Exile, the Jewish people began to rebuild their Temple and society. This period saw a renewed commitment to the Law, but also the seeds of hypocrisy and legalism among some leaders.
c. 430 BC
Malachi's Rebuke of Corruption
The prophet Malachi addressed the post-exilic community, condemning corrupt worship, social injustice, and the betrayal of vows, including specific accusations of robbery against God (sacrilege) by priests.
c. 100 BC - AD 100
Period of Pious Pretension
This era saw the rise of many Jewish teachers and scribes who, while outwardly emphasizing adherence to the Law, often practiced hypocrisy, focusing on outward observance while neglecting inner righteousness.
c. AD 25-35
Jesus' Public Ministry
Jesus directly confronted the religious hypocrisy of many Jewish leaders, denouncing their self-righteousness, their burdening of people with rules they themselves did not keep, and their exploitation of others (e.g., Matthew 23).
c. AD 50-55— this verse
Paul's Letter to the Romans
The Apostle Paul writes his letter from Corinth, addressing the spiritual state of both Jews and Gentiles within the Roman Empire and powerfully arguing that righteousness comes through faith in Christ, not by adherence to the Law.
Jesus directly calls out the religious leaders of His day for saying one thing and doing another, highlighting the hypocrisy Paul addresses in Romans 2.
Ezekiel 36:20-23This passage speaks of God's people profaning His name among the nations through their actions, a direct parallel to the shame brought upon God's name by the hypocrisy Paul condemns.
Luke 11:46Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for burdening others with religious requirements they themselves do not keep, mirroring the core accusation in Romans 2:21.
1 Timothy 4:16Paul urges Timothy to pay close attention to his own life and teaching, as this is the way to both save himself and those who listen, emphasizing the importance of self-application.
James 2:14-17James explains that faith without works is dead, directly connecting outward profession with inward reality and the need for actions to align with words.
bensonRomans 2:21: "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?"
Romans 2:21-24 . Thou therefore which teachest another — And valuest thyself upon thy ability to do it, trusting therein for acceptance with God; teachest thou not thyself? — He does not teach himself, who does not practise what he teaches. This, and what follows, is mentioned, to show that the knowledge, which the scribes and doctors pretended to derive…
pulpitRomans 2:21: "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?"
Verse 21. - Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? The οῦν here does not involve an anacoluthon after the reading εἴ δὲ in ver. 17, though St. Paul would not have much cared if it had been so. It serves only to sum up the lengthened protasis, and introduce the apodosis: "If... dost thou then," etc.? In what follows it is not, o…
Paul isn't just pointing out hypocrisy; he's showing that the very purpose of teaching is to transform the teacher too. For the proud teacher, the ultimate failure isn't just being caught in sin, but that their actions betray their own words so completely, they're not even learning from what they claim to know.
Paul is directly confronting the Jewish people, particularly their leaders, who pride themselves on possessing the Law and teaching its commands to others. He's pointing out the hypocrisy of those who preach against sin, like stealing, while secretly practicing it themselves, thus dishonoring God through their actions. This accusation sets up the following verses, where Paul will detail other sins the Jews were known for, like adultery and sacrilege, proving their behavior contradicted their claims of righteousness.
Paul is directly confronting the Jewish people, particularly their leaders, who pride themselves on possessing the Law and teaching its commands to others. He's pointing out the hypocrisy of those who preach against sin, like stealing, while secretly practicing it themselves, thus dishonoring God through their actions. This accusation sets up the following verses, where Paul will detail other sins the Jews were known for, like adultery and sacrilege, proving their behavior contradicted their claims of righteousness.
"you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?" — Paul isn't just pointing out hypocrisy; he's showing that the very purpose of teaching is to transform the teacher too. For the proud teacher, the ultimate failure isn't just being caught in sin, b…
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Last reviewed October 2026