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 

If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

If the first piece of dough is holy, the lump is also; and if the root is holy, the branches are too.

And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their children will also be holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.

Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there's bound to be some holy fruit.

And if the first-fruit is holy, so is the mass: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy.

For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy ; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

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 

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.