Romans 2:5
But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses a person who has witnessed God's kindness, tolerance, and patience (v. 4) yet remains in a state of deliberate resistance, moving now from that observation to its consequence.
The words — ἀμετανόητον (ametanoēton) is "a-" (without) + "metanoeō" (to change one's mind); it is not mere slowness but an active refusal of the mental reorientation that repentance requires. Paired with σκληρότης (sklērotētas, "hardness"), it describes a heart that has calcified rather than simply hesitated.
The thread — The "day of wrath" and "righteous judgment" echo Romans 1:18 (wrath revealed against wickedness) and Romans 2:6 (repayment according to deeds); Ecclesiastes 12:14 extends the scope to every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Why it lands — The verse removes the option of treating God's patience as absence of accounting; it asks the reader to name whether their continued hardness is a passive state or a choice they are actively making.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 12:14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
- Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
- Romans 2:2 And we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.
- Hebrews 3:15 As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
- 2 Peter 3:7 And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
- Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
- Deuteronomy 32:34 “Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?
- Romans 9:22 What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?
- 1 Samuel 6:6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, did they not send the people out so they could go on their way?
- 2 Chronicles 30:8 Now do not stiffen your necks as your fathers did. Submit to the LORD and come to His sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you.