Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 2:24

"For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written." — Romans 2:24 (ASV)

Through you.—Because of you.

As it is written.—From the Septuagint version of Isaiah 52:5. The sense of the original is that the name of God is dishonored by the enslavement and oppression of His people. A nearer parallel in sense, though more remote in words, may be found in 2 Samuel 12:14; Ezekiel 36:22–23.

The Apostle is not careful regarding the particular context from which he draws. He knew that he was giving the substance of Scripture, and he takes the most suitable words that occur to him at the moment. Translated into our modern modes of thought, the formula “as it is written” at the end of the verse amounts to little more than “in the language of Scripture.” The intention, as so frequently with St. Paul, seems, so to speak, to be divided between proof and illustration.