Evocations of the Calf?: Romans 1:18-2:11 and the Substructure of Psalm 106(105)

Scholars often ask how Paul’s polemic against Gentile idolatry and immorality in Romans 1:18–32 prepares for indicting a Jewish interlocutor in 2:1–11. This study proposes that Paul’s argumentation draws on the portrayal of Jewish identity in Psalm 106 and that in drawing on this portrayal Paul was participating in a larger discussion, one that included the Wisdom of Solomon and one in which evocations of the golden calf figured prominently.