Texts in Conversation
Romans 2:4 describes God’s kindness and patience as intended to lead people to repentance, an idea that may connect to a tradition found in the Aramaic translation of Genesis in Targum Neofiti, where the 120 years given to humans is interpreted as an act of divine patience also intended to bring repentance.
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Romans 2:4
New Testament
2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth against those who practice such things. 3 And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! 6 He will reward each one according to his works:
Date: 55-58 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Neofiti Genesis 6:3
Targum
And the Lord said by His Word, All the generations of the wicked which are to arise shall not be purged after the order of the judgments of the generation of the deluge, which shall be destroyed and exterminated from the midst of the world. Have I not imparted My Holy Spirit to them (or, placed My Holy Spirit in them), that they may work good works? and, behold, their works are wicked. Behold, I will give them a prolongment of a hundred and twenty years, that they may work repentance, and not perish.
Date: 300-600 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... 'Kindness ... leads to repentance': compare Psalm 50.16-23, 73.11, Ecclesiastes 8.11, Isaiah 57.11, Titus 3.4, Wisdom of Solomon 11.23 ... God's 'overlooking' of man's transgressions should lead him to turn from his iniquity and repent ..."
Shulam, Joseph, and Le Cornu, Hilary
A Commentary on the Jewish Roots of Romans
(p. 83) Messianic Jewish Publishers, 1998
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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