Romans 11:16

If the first portion ¹  of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ² 

Ge 17:7; Ex 22:29; Ex 23:16,19; Le 23:10; Nu 15:17-21; De 18:4; De 26:10; Ne 10:35-37; Pr 3:9; Jer 2:21; Eze 44:30; Ro 11:17; 1Co 7:14; Jas 1:18; Re 14:4

¹ tn Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.

² sn Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root…the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121-24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17-24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16-19.