state this explicitly, so that it could in theory refer to anyone.4 It is clear that already by 2:9–10 he has both Jews and Gentiles in mind and that in 2:17 he directly addresses a Jew, using the same argument that judging those who do wrong and then doing it oneself makes one equally culpable. For his hearers the case for Gentiles needing the gospel would hardly have been in dispute; the focus is on showing that Jews needed it just as much.5 It is clear however that Paul’s depiction of depravity