“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;”
Romans 11:17, KJV
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,”
Romans 11:17, ESV
Table of Contents
Romans 11:17 Meaning – And if some of the branches be broken off
He now touches upon the present dignity of the heathens, which exactly resembles the future honour of branches, that, being taken from another stock, are inserted into some distinguished tree.
The heathens sprang, as it were, from a wild, unfruitful olive-tree, since they found nothing except a curse in their whole race.
All their glory, therefore, arises from their new ingrafting, not their old stock; and the gentiles have no cause for glorying over the Jews on account of any honour which they may possess.
Paul also prudently diminishes the harshness of his expression, by saying certain branches were broken off, not the whole surface of the tree cut away.
God, also, in the same manner, took some from different parts among the gentiles, and ingrafted them into a sacred and blessed trunk.
Calvin, John – Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans tr. Francis Sibson (1834)
Argument 7. Some unbelieving Jews, as branches, are broken off from the olive-tree, (from the Church of the holy Patriarchs) and thou a Gentile, being as a wild olive, far from the covenant of God, art implanted in their stead, and so made partaker of the priviledges of that Church, and holy covenant, as of the fatness of the olive-tree: Therefore thou oughtest not to despise the Jews.
Dickson, David – An Exposition of All St. Paul’s Epistles (1659)
Not contented with stating the general principle, the apostle expands the last of these parallel figures into an allegory, exhibiting the mutual relations and duties of Gentile believers, and Jews, both believers and unbelievers.
The Church of God is here spoken of under the figure of an olive-tree. This tree, rather than any other, is adopted as the emblem of the Church, on account of its being one of the most common trees in Judea, and remarkable for its beauty, fruitfulness, and usefulness.
This mystical olive is represented as growing out of the root of the patriarchs of the Israelitish people, with whom, as believers, the covenant was made, that God would be their God, and the God of their seed.
The Jews are considered as the natural branches. They were the descendants of these patriarchs; and, till Christ came, the true members of the Church of God were to be found almost exclusively among them.
The rejection of a part — of the greater part, of that people, in consequence of their unbelief, is represented as a breaking off of a portion of the natural branches; and the conversion of some of the Gentiles is represented as the graffing in to the mystical olive of a number of branches of a wild olive, so that they become partakers of its root and fatness — so that they are so connected with Abraham as to be his children — heirs with him of the same promise — blessed with faithful Abraham.
With us, the ordinary way of engrafting is to insert a branch of a fruitful tree into a wild stock; but we learn that, among the ancients, it was customary to insert grafts from wild trees into fruit-bearing ones, to increase their fruitfulness.
The unbelieving Jews were cut off from all spiritually advantageous connection with Abraham, and with that Church of which, as the father of all them who believe, he may be reckoned the root; and Gentiles, naturally in a state of spiritual death and barrenness, by believing, were brought into advantageous spiritual connection both with him and with it.
Brown, John – Analytical exposition of the epistle of Paul the apostle to the Romans (1857)
