Romans 2:20

A corrector of the foolish (paideuthn apronwn). Old word (from paideuw) for instructor, in Plato, and probably so here, though corrector or chastiser in Hebrews 12:9 (the only N.T. instances). See Luke 23:16 . Late inscriptions give it as instructor (Preisigke). Apronwn is a hard word for Gentiles, but it is the Jewish standpoint that Paul gives. Each termed the other "dogs." Of babes (nhpiwn). Novitiates or proselytes to Judaism just as in Galatians 4:1 . Paul used it of those not of legal age. The form (thn morpwsin). Rare word only in Theophrastus and Paul (here and 2 Timothy 3:5 ). Pallis regards it as a Stoical term for education. Lightfoot considers the morpwsi as "the rough-sketch, the pencilling of the morph," the outline or framework, and in 2 Timothy 3:5 "the outline without the substance." This is Paul's picture of the Jew as he sees himself drawn with consummate skill and subtle irony.