ISB ~ Romans 11 v17 - 24

Paul pictures the messianic people as an olive tree that is partly natural (believing Israel), partly engrafted (believing Gentiles), and partly dismembered (unbelieving Israel). The horticultural procedure of grafting wild shoots onto a cultivated trunk was meant to reinvigorate an old, exhausted tree that was yielding less and less fruit each season. The analogy shows that Israel is not being demoted from its favored-nation status so much as the Gentiles are being promoted to share in its blessings (15:27).

• The picture of Israel as an olive tree comes from Jer 11:16-17.