Romans 11:7-28

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ¹  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ² 

11:9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

and make their backs bend continually.” ³ 

11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, ⁴  did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel ⁵  jealous. 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 ⁶  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 ⁷  of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ⁸ 

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 ⁹  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! ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ¹²  otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ¹³  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ¹⁴  until the full number ¹⁵  of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so ¹⁶  all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;

he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

11:27 And this is my covenant with them, ¹⁷ 

when I take away their sins.” ¹⁸ 

11:28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.

[11:7]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ² sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ³ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.

[11:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “that they might fall.”

[11:11]  ⁵ tn Grk “them”; the referent (Israel, cf. 11:7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ⁶ tn Or “full inclusion”; Grk “their fullness.”

[11:16]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Grk “became a participant of.”

[11:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

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

[11:22]  ¹² tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”

[11:25]  ¹³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “fullness.”

[11:26]  ¹⁶ tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).

[11:27]  ¹⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.

[11:27]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.