Romans 2:5 Meaning and Explanation
“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;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →A hard, unrepentant heart stores up judgment for itself against the day God's righteous verdict is revealed.
What Does Romans 2:5 Mean?
Paul turns the image of riches against itself. Instead of receiving the riches of God's goodness, the hard heart is busy storing up a different treasure: wrath, accumulating quietly toward a fixed day.
Hardness here is the refusal to be moved by kindness, the heart that will not bend. Such a heart is not escaping judgment but building toward it. Yet the verse still implies a choice, for what is being treasured up can still be exchanged. The day of reckoning is real, and precisely because it is real, today's softening of heart matters enormously.
Romans 2:5 in the Original Language
sklerotes (σκληρότης), 'hardness' -- a stubborn, unyielding condition of heart that resists being moved.
Frequently Asked Questions About Romans 2:5
What does Romans 2:5 mean?
A hard, unrepentant heart stores up judgment for itself against the day God's righteous verdict is revealed.