Romans 11:19-27

11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! ¹  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 ²  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ³  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, ⁴  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ⁵  until the full number ⁶  of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so ⁷  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, ⁸ 

when I take away their sins.” ⁹ 

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¹ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

² tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

³ tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”

⁴ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

⁵ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

⁶ tn Grk “fullness.”

⁷ 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).

⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.

⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.