Romans 11:17–24

Context

Chapters 9–11 of Romans address the problem that most of Israel had not accepted the gospel. Paul wrote this letter to the church in Rome. In 11:13 Paul states, "I speak to you Gentiles," and then introduces the image of the olive tree. In this image, the "natural branches" of the cultivated olive tree represent unbelieving Israel. The branches of the "wild olive tree" grafted in their place represent Gentile believers.

Paul presents faith, not lineage, as the basis on which branches are broken off or grafted in (v. 20). He goes on to say that God is able to graft the natural branches in again (vv. 23–24), a statement that leads into the discussion of Israel's salvation in 11:25–26.

Interpretation

• Readings of the root: Interpreters differ on the identity of the "root" that supplies the sap. Some identify it with the patriarchs, beginning with Abraham; others with the promises given to them; and still others with Christ.
• Covenant theology reading: Covenant theology in the Reformed tradition emphasizes that there is only one tree. It reads this as evidence that Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church form one continuous people of God.
• Dispensationalist reading: Dispensationalism distinguishes between Israel and the church. It reads verses 23–24 as anticipating a future restoration of national Israel.
• Readings emphasizing the relationship with the Jewish people: Since the late twentieth century, a number of scholars have focused on the command in verse 18, "Boast not against the branches." They read this warning as guarding against "replacement theology"—the view that the church has entirely replaced Israel—and against anti-Judaism.

Debates and Issues

• Verse 22 and the security of salvation: Interpretations divide over the warning "thou also shalt be cut off." The Arminian and Wesleyan traditions read it to mean that an individual believer can also be cut off if he or she does not continue in faith. The Calvinist tradition maintains the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, which holds that true believers are preserved to the end. It therefore takes the warning as addressed to the Gentiles as a collective body or to those who profess faith only outwardly, or regards it as a means by which God keeps believers.
• Translation: In verse 22, the Korean phrase 인자와 엄위 ("goodness and severity" in the KJV) is rendered 인자하심과 준엄하심 in the New Korean Revised Version.
• Manuscripts: In verse 17, some manuscripts read "the root and fatness," producing a slight difference in wording.
• "Contrary to nature": Ordinary grafting attaches a cultivated branch to a wild tree. Some hold that Paul deliberately used the reverse image for paradoxical effect; others hold that a similar practice existed in antiquity.

Related Passages

• Romans 11:28–29
• Jeremiah 11:16
• Ephesians 2:14–17
• Galatians 3:6–9
• John 15:1–8