Romans 11:12-22

11:12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration ¹  bring?

11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 11:14 if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the first portion ²  of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ³ 

11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in ⁴  the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! ⁵  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but ⁶  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ⁷  otherwise you also will be cut off.

[11:12]  ¹ tn Or “full inclusion”; Grk “their fullness.”

[11:16]  ² tn Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.

[11:16]  ³ sn Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root…the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121-24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17-24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16-19.

[11:17]  ⁴ tn Grk “became a participant of.”

[11:20]  ⁵ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

[11:22]  ⁶ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[11:22]  ⁷ tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”