ACC ~ Romans 11 v11 - 24

OVERVIEW:

The Jews have stumbled, but they have not fallen away completely. Moreover, God has used their tragedy for good, in that because of it the gateway of salvation has been opened to the Gentiles. The Gentiles have been shown mercy because of the stumbling of the Jews, but they must be careful not to boast. The Jews belonged to the divine olive tree by nature, but because of their unbelief they have been broken off. The Gentiles have been grafted in from a wild olive tree, but it follows that if they turn away from Christ, they too will be cast off, and all the more readily because they did not belong in the first place. The Fathers recognized that Paul was humbling both Jews and Gentiles in their different ways, and warned against presumption on the goodness of God.

11:11 | Salvation for Gentiles Comes Through the Jews’ Stumbling

THEY HAVE NOT STUMBLED SO AS TO FALL. ORIGEN: Note that Paul distinguishes between stumbling and sinning on the one hand and falling on the other. For he envisages a cure for stumbling and sinning but not for falling. … This is why he denies that Israel has fallen. … For the Israelites, although they rejected their redeemer and stoned and persecuted those who were sent to them, nevertheless still contain a remnant within them. For they have the witness of the law even if they do not believe or understand it. They also have the imitation of God even if it is not according to knowledge. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THROUGH THEIR TRESPASSES. CHRYSOSTOM: After showing that the Jews were guilty of evils without number, Paul devises something in mitigation. Note that he accuses them on the basis of the prophets but modifies the condemnation by his own words. For nobody will deny that they have sinned greatly. But let us see if the fall is of such a kind as to be incurable. … No, it is not! HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

AMBROSIASTER: Paul says here what I have recorded above, that these people have not fallen into unbelief in such a way as to make their ultimate conversion impossible. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SALVATION HAS COME TO THE GENTILES. AUGUSTINE: Paul says that the Jews have not fallen but rather that their fall was not pointless, since it led to the salvation of the Gentiles. The Jews did not sin only to fall as a punishment but so that their fall might serve the salvation of the Gentiles. Paul even begins to praise the Jewish people for this fall of unbelief, in order that the Gentiles should not become proud, seeing that the fall of the Jews was so important for their own salvation. On the contrary, the Gentiles ought to be all the more careful, lest they too should grow proud and fall also. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 70.

PELAGIUS: Once more, Paul explains the position of the Jews. They have not fallen away completely and beyond hope. God loved them so much that the Gentiles were called for their salvation, so that when the Jews saw that the Gentiles were being allowed into the kingdom of God, they might perhaps repent more easily. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: I marvel at your kindness, Paul, and the way in which you so artfully craft the words of the divine dispensation. You assert that the Gentiles were called not because the Israelites had lost all hope of salvation after they had stumbled on Christ the stumbling stone but rather that they would imitate those who were so unexpectedly accepted by God, that they would recognize their wickedness, that they would want to understand better than before and that they would accept the redeemer. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

11:12 | Riches for the Gentiles and the World

THEIR FAILURE MEANS RICHES FOR THE GENTILES. ORIGEN: Consider the wisdom of God in this. For with him not even sins and lapses are wasted, but whenever someone rejects freedom of his own accord, the dispensation of divine wisdom makes others rich by using the very failing by which they have become poor. . . .

Now indeed, until all the Gentiles come to salvation the riches of God are concentrated in the multitude of believers, but as long as Israel remains in its unbelief it will not be possible to say that the fullness of the Lord’s portion has been attained. The people of Israel are still missing from the complete picture. But when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and Israel comes to salvation at the end of time, then it will be the people which, although it existed long ago, will come at the last and complete the fullness of the Lord’s portion and inheritance. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THEIR FULL INCLUSION. AMBROSIASTER: It is clear that the world will be even richer in good people if those who have been blinded are converted. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CONSOLATION IN DISTRESS. CHRYSOSTOM: Even if the Jews had fallen a thousand times, the Gentiles would not have been saved unless they had shown faith. Likewise, the Jews would not have perished unless they had been unbelieving and disputatious. Here Paul is consoling the Jews in their distress, giving them reason to be confident of their salvation if they were to change. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

GENTILES SHOULD NOT LOOK DOWN UPON JEWS. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Writing to the Romans, the apostle warns the Gentiles not to look down on the Jews, because a remnant of them will be saved in the future. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

JEWS CAN BENEFIT GENTILES. PELAGIUS: If the transgression of the Jews benefitted you to the extent that without the works of the law you were made coheirs with them, and if the few Jews who believed called all of you to salvation, how much more could they benefit you with instruction if they all believed! PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

11:13 | Paul’s Ministry

MY MINISTRY. ORIGEN: What is more worthy than to magnify the ministry which one has received by the providence of God? For the man who ministers well magnifies his ministry, while on the other hand the one who has ministered negligently and unworthily dishonors his ministry and draws unfavorable comment on it. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

APOSTLE TO THE GENTILES. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is showing the Gentiles here how much he loves the Jews. For he magnifies his ministry, by which he is the apostle of the Gentiles, if by loving his own people he wins them to the faith as well. For he is more honored still if he wins to eternal life those to whom he has not been sent. For he who finds his lost brothers will have the greatest honor with his parents. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HONORING HIS MINISTRY. PELAGIUS: Paul wants to show that he is especially anxious to save the Jews. As long as he is in the body he will honor his ministry, striving to save many of them by his example. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

11:14 | Seeking to Save Fellow Jews

MY FELLOW JEWS. ORIGEN: By his attentive care and close attention to the teaching of the Gentiles and by making their behavior worthy of eternal life, Paul is inviting and provoking the Jews who see these things and who are his kinsmen according to the flesh to imitate those who are progressing in the faith of God. It is the glory of his ministry that he can use the teaching of the Gentiles to reach some of his own people as well. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

CHRYSOSTOM: Paul appears to be blaming the Gentiles and to be humbling their conceits, but he gives a gentle provocation to the Jews as well. He tries to veil their great ruin, but he cannot do so because the facts are too clear. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

PELAGIUS: Paul will always present himself to the Jews in such a way that they will want to imitate him. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

SO AS TO MAKE ISRAEL JEALOUS. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul evangelized the Gentiles of necessity, addressing himself to them and showing that the prophets had predicted this many centuries before. His aim was to make the Jews jealous and thus encourage some of them to come to salvation also. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

11:15 | Life from the Dead

WHAT WILL THEIR ACCEPTANCE MEAN? AMBROSIASTER: This is why Paul worked so hard for the conversion of the Jews, since the handicap of their blindness will be removed at the time when their sin is paid for, so that they might receive the free exercise of their will. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

OTHERS GAINED FROM THEIR SINS. CHRYSOSTOM: This also condemns the Jews, because although others gained from their sins, they did not profit from the good works of others. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

PELAGIUS: What was the occasion for the reception of the Gentiles but that they came to life because of the death of the Jews? Or it may mean from among the Jews that were dead, Christ and the apostles have become life to the Gentiles. Or perhaps if those whom Christ sets free from death contribute to your life. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: Note how diplomatically Paul phrases his statements. On the one hand he teaches those who already believe not to think too highly of themselves, and on the other hand he extends a hand to those Jews who do not believe, showing them that they could obtain salvation through repentance. In the following [verses] he develops this theme more clearly. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

11:16 | Root and Branch

THE WHOLE LUMP. DIODORE: “First fruits” and “root” both refer here to the patriarchs, the lawgiver and the prophets. “Lump” and “branches” refer to the whole of the Jewish people. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

AMBROSIASTER: It is clear that they are one and the same substance, so it is impossible for the offering to be holy and the lump unclean, given that the offering comes from the lump. Thus Paul shows that those whose ancestors believed cannot be regarded as unworthy to receive the faith, for if some of the Jews have believed, why can it not be said that the others may also believe? COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE ROOT OF FAITH. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Here the “first fruits” refers to Christ and the “whole lump” to the Jewish people, of whom Christ was, according to the flesh. The root refers to Abraham, for he is called the “father of many nations” on account of his faith, and the branches are those who, coming after him, held the same faith as he did. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

CHRIST AS FIRST FRUITS. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: By “first fruits” Paul means Christ, because he was selected out of the entire race of the Jews; by “root” he means Abraham, from whom the race descended. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THEODORET OF CYR: The “first fruits” refers to Christ in his human nature, the root is Abraham the patriarch and the branches of the olive tree are the Jews who descended from the root. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: Paul calls the Lord Christ the “first fruits,” because he was one of them according to the flesh, and through his resurrection he became the first to claim the inheritance. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

11:17 | A Wild Branch Grafted to a Good Tree

A WILD OLIVE SHOOT. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: The graft uses as soil the tree in which it is engrafted. Now all the plants sprouted forth simultaneously in consequence of the divine order. Wherefore also, though the wild olive is wild, it crowns the Olympic victors. … Now we see that the wild trees attract more nutriment because they cannot ripen. The wild trees therefore have less power of secretion than those that are cultivated. And the cause of their wildness is the absence of the power of secretion. The engrafted olive accordingly receives more nutriment from its growing in the cultivated one, and it gets accustomed, as it were, to secrete the nutriment, becoming thus assimilated to the fatness of the cultivated tree. STROMATA 6.15.

PROGRESS BY FAITH. IRENAEUS: If the wild olive takes kindly to the graft … it becomes a fruit bearing olive. … So likewise men shall be spiritual if they progress by faith to better things and receive the Spirit of God and bring forth the fruit. AGAINST HERESIES 5.10.1.

THE BAD ROOT GRAFTED INTO A GOOD TREE. AMBROSIASTER: If some Jews have not believed, then they have been cut out of the promise. … The Gentiles, who were from a bad root, were grafted into a good tree, which is the opposite of what happens in agriculture, where it is the good branch which is grafted onto a bad root. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SHARING THE RICHNESS OF THE OLIVE TREE. PELAGIUS: The branches were not broken off for your sake, but you were grafted in because they were broken off. You were an olive shoot, to be sure, but a wild and uncultivated one. “The richness of the olive tree” is the root of their fathers, the richness of Christ. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: “The riches of the olive tree” means the teaching of righteousness. IN-TERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

11:18 | The Root Supports the Branches

THE ENGRAFTED BRANCH NEED NOT STRUGGLE AGAINST ITS ROOT. JEROME: Whenever I see a synagogue, the thought of the apostle always comes to me—that we should not boast against the olive tree whose branches have been broken off but rather fear. For if the natural branches have been cut off, how much more we who have been grafted on the wild olive should fear, lest we become like them. HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 11.

DO NOT REJOICE AT THE MISFORTUNE OF OTHERS. AMBROSIASTER: It displeases God if someone rejoices at the misfortune of others, as Solomon says. In any case, the Jews were not rejected for the sake of the Gentiles. Rather, it was because they were rejected that they gave an opportunity for the gospel to be preached to the Gentiles. If you boast against those onto whose root you have been grafted, you insult the people who have accepted you so that you might be converted from bad to good. You will not continue like that if you destroy the thing on which you stand. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

PELAGIUS: Do not rejoice in the fall of the Jews, or else you will hear that they do not abide through you but you through them and that you do not supply them with life, but they supply you. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

11:19 | Grafted into the Good Tree

GRAFTED INTO THE GOOD OLIVE TREE. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: When you were stripped you were anointed with exorcised olive oil, from the topmost hairs of your head to the soles of your feet, and became partakers of the good olive tree, Jesus Christ. Cuttings from the wild olive tree, you were grafted into the good olive tree and became partakers of the richness of the true olive tree. THE MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 2.3.

DO NOT BOAST. AMBROSIASTER: A believing Gentile says that he can rejoice that the Jews did not believe, saying that their condemnation made room for the Gentiles. But the Jews were not condemned by God in order to let the Gentiles in. They condemned themselves by rejecting God’s gift, and by doing that they gave the Gentiles an opportunity to be saved. Paul wants to stop this boasting, so that we might rejoice in our salvation rather than insult the weak. For the man who insults a sinner is easily deceived. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

11:20 | Broken Off by Unbelief

ORIGEN: Who is the one from whom they have been broken off but he in whom they have not believed? COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THAT THEY TOO MIGHT RETURN TO THEIR ROOTS. AMBROSIASTER: You ought to thank God for his gift in Christ and not insult them but rather pray that, if their wickedness has led to your salvation, they too might return to their roots. Then you will please God who has shown you mercy, for he called you so that by making them jealous of you he might bring them to grace as well. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THEY IN EFFECT BROKE THEMSELVES OFF. CHRYSOSTOM: It was not God who cut them off but rather they broke themselves off and fell. … You see what a great thing man’s free choice is, how great the working of the mind is. For none of these things is immutable, neither your good nor their evil. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

THE PURSUIT OF WISDOM NOT BROKEN OFF. PELAGIUS: Some interpreters, who do not understand this passage and do not consider the reason for which or the people to whom the apostle is speaking, think that the pursuit of wisdom is forbidden by this text. But if this is so Paul will seem to contradict himself in the eyes of these interpreters, since here he is forbidding what elsewhere he asks of the Lord, that the Ephesians and others may receive. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

11:21 | Judgment and Grace

BASIL: Judgment will be in accordance with grace, and the Judge will make examination of how you have used the graces bestowed upon you. HOMILY 20.

PELAGIUS: If God did not spare those who sprang from the holy root because of their unbelief, how much less will he spare you if you sin! PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

11:22 | God’s Kindness and Severity

FORGIVENESS AND REJECTION. AMBROSIASTER: Paul testifies that God is good to the Gentiles because, although they followed idols and deserved to die, he waited for them in his patience, and even though they did not seek him, he called them and forgave their sins. But God is severe toward the Jews and has even blinded them because they rejected God’s gift. Here Paul is referring to those Jews who because of their wickedness have been permanently blinded. For this reason he says that they have fallen, whereas the others whom I mentioned above have not fallen, even though they have sinned, because Paul shows that they have been blinded for a time. But God has been severe to these, because they have become eternally blind and apostate. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SALVATION COMES FROM GRACE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul does not point to human works but to the goodness of God as a reminder to us that our salvation comes from God’s grace and to make us tremble. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

MERCIFULLY GRAFTED IN. PELAGIUS: “Severity” is shown against those who assert that there are two Gods, one righteous and another good; and against those who deny that God punishes sinners. … But you were mercifully grafted in, through faith which has been bestowed upon you by the kindness of God. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

COUNTED WORTHY THROUGH FAITH. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul is telling us that we ought to learn from both these things and consider how great God’s love for us is, that we should have been counted worthy through faith. We ought to become ever more eager to live a godly life bearing in mind how God rejected them because of their unbelief and do everything in our power not to fall in the same way. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

11:23 | God’s Power

WITH GOD ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. PELAGIUS: If either of you changes you will experience severity and they will receive kindness. Humanly speaking, it is impossible to restore withered cuttings, but with God all things are possible and even easy. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: Paul shows what an easy matter this would be for God to accomplish. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

11:24 | God Is Able to Recover His Own

THE TWO TREES. AMBROSIASTER: The olive tree represents faith, whereas the wild olive refers to wickedness. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

WHAT FAITH CAN ACCOMPLISH. CHRYSOSTOM: If faith could do what was contrary to nature, how much more will it be able to accomplish that which is according to nature. For if the Gentile, who was cut off from his natural fathers and came, contrary to nature, to Abraham, how much more will God be able to recover his own! HOMILIES ON ROMANS 19.

FOLLOW THE GOODNESS OF THE ROOT. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: In this passage Paul says that the Gentiles have been grafted against nature onto the root, that is, onto the faith of the patriarchs, and that being grafted on in this way they do not bear fruit of their own kind, according to the nature of the tree, but they follow the goodness of the root onto which they have been grafted. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

GRAFTED AGAINST NATURE. PELAGIUS: Their fathers had fallen away from nature because they had forgotten the law of nature, and when their habits had become fixed through repeated sinning, they came to be bitter and unproductive, as it were, by nature.

“And grafted, contrary to nature.” … It is against nature to graft a wild olive tree into a cultivated olive tree, because the branch usually alters the effectiveness of the root. The root does not change the effectiveness of the branches to conform to its character. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.