(Verse 11.) I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid. He says what I mentioned above: that they have not so distrusted that they would never afterwards believe; that is, they have not been so blinded for their wickedness that they could not be cured — as we read that the devil fell, the prophet Isaiah saying, How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer! (Isaiah 14:12), signifying a fall and an apostasy. He says, then, that these have not so stumbled as to fall, but that because of their stumbling they have been dulled for a time. But through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. This is what he said: that because of their sin salvation was given to the Gentiles. For since the Jews refused the gift of God, it was transferred to the Gentiles; so that the Jews, kindled by the rivalry of jealousy, might be converted to Christ, being jealous for the promise of the fathers.

(Verse 12.) Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? It is plain: if their fall profited the world, since through their loss it has more good men — for the Gentiles are far more numerous than the Jews — and their diminishing, which is the loss of the promise, is the riches of the Gentiles, by the fact that these have gained eternal life, how much more their fulness! It is plain that the world will be richer in good men if those also who have been blinded are converted; for the world will be saved in great part. By “the world” he means men, as was said of the Saviour: Behold, the whole world is gone after him (John 12:19).

(Verses 13–14.) For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will honour my ministry: if by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. He shows the Gentiles with what affection he loves the Jews: for he honours his ministry, by which he is the apostle of the Gentiles, if, because of his affection for his own race, he takes pains to win the Jews too for the faith. For it would be done with more honour if he gained for life those also to whom he was not sent: for it will be to his greatest praise with the fathers if he finds the brothers who were lost.

(Verse 15.) For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? He says this: if, while the Jews did not believe, the Gentiles were reconciled to God, to the increase of the world in the faith of Christ, what will there be in this respect, and how great a fulness of salvation, if the Jews are taken up into the faith of Christ, but that the world is brought to life from the dead in its men? Since, then, it is an advance, he says that pains must be taken that they believe; since from the blinded the dullness is removed when the time has made amends for their offence, so that they may recover the free choice of their will.

(Verse 16.) For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy. It is plain that what is of one substance is one; and for this reason the firstfruit cannot be holy and the lump unclean, for the firstfruit is taken from the lump. And so he shows that those whose fathers have already attained the faith cannot be said to be unworthy of the faith: for if part of the Jews has believed, why should not the other part too be said to be able to believe?

(Verses 16–17.) And if the root be holy, so are the branches. He repeats the same thing in other words, to commend the sense by two examples. And if some of the branches be broken off: that is, if some of them did not believe, they were cut off from the promise. 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. This signifies that, since many of the Jews did not believe, the Gentiles were grafted in through faith into the hope of the promise, so as to grieve the Jews. But it is not according to the law of husbandry, for men graft a good shoot into a tree that is not good; whereas these, being of a bad root, were grafted into a good tree. That is why he says the wild olive was grafted in: so that the shoot, made its partner, might bear the root’s fruit.

(Verse 18.) Boast not against the branches: that is, do not rejoice in their unbelief; for it displeases God if anyone exults in another’s misfortunes, as Solomon says (Proverbs 24:17). For they were not cast off for the Gentiles’ sake, that the Gentiles might rejoice; but, because they did not believe, they gave occasion for the preaching to the Gentiles. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. That is, if you exalt yourself above those into whose root you have been grafted, you insult the race which received you, so that from bad you became good; nor will you stand if you destroy that through which you stand.

(Verse 19.) Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. He speaks in the person of a believing Gentile, who thinks he should exult in the fall of the distrustful Jews, saying: “Their rejection has made room for the Gentiles.” But they were not rejected by God so that the Gentiles might come in; they made themselves reprobate by spurning the gift of God, and so gave the Gentiles an occasion of salvation. This haughtiness he wishes to be checked, so that men may rather rejoice together in salvation than insult a sickness; for he who rejoices in another’s ills is easily deceived.

(Verse 20.) Well — that is, rightly you say that you were grafted in when the branches were broken off — because of unbelief they were broken off: that is, not on your account, but by their own fault; because, when they distrusted, you were called to salvation to provoke them to jealousy. Therefore you ought to give thanks for the gift of God through Christ, not to insult them; and also to pray — since their misfortune has brought you to salvation — that they too may return to their origin. Then you will please God, who has had mercy on you; for He called you for this reason, that through jealousy of you He might bring them too back to grace. And thou standest by faith. Since the Jews have fallen through distrust, he says that these stand by faith: for whereas before they lay prostrate because of their faithlessness, by believing they began to stand. Be not highminded, but fear. That is, do not be proud, but take care lest you too stumble.

(Verse 21.) For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. It is true: if He blinded for their unbelief those who were worthy by the prerogative of the fathers, to whom also the promise was made that they should be adopted as sons of God, what will He do to these, if they doubt or exalt themselves — who have been raised up by no recommendation, since, being of no dignity, they have been honoured?

(Verse 22.) Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. He testifies that God is good to the Gentiles: for when they were following idols, and were certainly worthy of death, He waited for them in His patience, and, while they did not yet seek Him, called them of His own accord and forgave them their sins. But to the Jews He is severe; for He blinded them, because they spurned the gift of God. Here, however, he means those Jews who, because of their malice, have been blinded for ever; which is why he says that they have fallen. But those whom he mentioned above he says have stumbled, yet not fallen, because he shows that they have been blinded for a time. And for this reason God was severe towards these, so that, as apostates, they should be blinded for ever.

(Verse 23.) And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. He shows that God’s justice does not remain in severity towards those whom He blinded for a time; for He did not so cut them off that He could not graft them in again if they are converted — He who said through the prophet, Those that return to me I will plant again (Jeremiah 24:6); so that the Gentile Christians, knowing this, should not insult the Jews, being sure that the mercy of God is kept for them as for those who have slipped.

(Verse 24.) For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? Let us take the olive tree as the faith by which Abraham was justified, and the wild olive, because its nature is rustic and unfruitful, as signifying faithlessness. And so, if those who were always enemies of God, being converted, have been grafted into the faith of Abraham, from whose stock they do not come, how much more are the Jews, if they believe after their distrust, to be restored to their fathers’ nature, grafted again into their own promise!

(Verses 25–26.) For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that a certain blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in: and so all Israel should be saved. It is not obscure that a dullness of blindness was given for a time to those Jews who, being zealous for the Law, did not see that the gift promised by God, which was preached by Christ, had come. For they were blinded by zeal, thinking that the law of deeds ought never to cease; hence they were zealous for the sabbath. By this stumbling they were dulled in part, so that they should be tormented for their unbelief, seeing the Gentiles confess with joy that they had obtained the promise to Abraham; yet, once the full number of the Gentiles had been admitted, the mist should be wiped from the eyes of their mind, so that they could believe; so that He, keeping from their hearts the spirit of stupor which causes their blindness, might give them back the free choice of their will: for since their unbelief came not from malice but from error, they would be amended, so as afterwards to be saved. As it is written. To prove that the gift has been kept for them by God, he sets down the example of the prophet Isaiah in what follows, to teach that by this grace, by which the Jews who believed were set free, we too can be set free; for it had not been emptied, but always abounds. He says, then:

(Verses 26–27.) There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins (Isaiah 59:20). The reason of this example remains for ever, as long as there are those who believe. For this Lord Jesus, who was promised to come from heaven for the deliverance of the human race, Himself daily forgives the sins of those who turn to Him; nor does He condemn unbelievers at once, but waits, knowing that they can advance to the knowledge of God.

(Verse 28.) As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. Because of their unbelief they are enemies of the Gospel, so that their error and offence should open to the Gentiles a way of entering into the faith before the time, as I mentioned above. For first it had to be preached everywhere to all the Jews, and only then was the word of God to be believed by the Gentiles as well. But because they did not believe, the kingdom taken from them was given to the Gentiles. So he urges that those whose offence profited the Gentiles are not to be insulted; for he is to be insulted whose sin has harmed others. For one should not rejoice in their faithlessness, but grieve if they are slow to be converted; so that, as the Gentiles rejoiced at their sin, because they were saved, so they may be glad at their conversion; for it was through them that they received the grace of God sooner. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. Though the Jews sinned grievously in rejecting the gift of God, and are worthy of death, yet, because they are the sons of good men, by whose prerogative and merit they received very many benefits from God, when they have returned to the faith they will be received with joy; for the love of God towards them is roused by the memory of the fathers.

(Verse 29.) For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. It is true: for the grace of God in baptism does not seek groaning, or lamenting, or any work, but only profession from the heart. For since they had sinned grievously in not receiving the promise of God, and since grievous sins attain to pardon only by weeping and groaning, lest they should think that these could no longer receive mercy, because they did not see them grieving, he shows that this is not required at the beginnings of faith; for the gift of God freely forgives sins in baptism.

(Verses 30–31.) For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: even so have these also now not believed in your mercy, that they also may obtain mercy. He recalls the unbelief of the Gentiles, so that, by the very shame of it, they should not boast in insulting the Jews who had not believed, but should rather delight in their coming to know the promise of God. “For you,” he says, “Gentiles, when the oracles of God were entrusted to these, were resisting; but now you have received mercy, not by your own merit, but to their reproach. Why should not these rather receive mercy when converted, who before lived in the law of God, and to whom the promise was made?”

(Verse 32.) For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. The Gentiles, moreover, from ancient times had lived in ungodliness and ignorance, as being without God; for which reason the Law was made manifest in writing, by which the headlong might be reined in. And since by the cunning of the adversary sins began to be heaped up, so that through the prohibition man was made more guilty, God, in the clemency of His goodness always caring for man, so that both what had been sin without the law and what had been sin under the Law could be blotted out, decreed this: to appoint faith alone, through which the sins of all should be abolished; so that, since there was no hope for any men through the Law, they should be saved by the mercy of God. This is to have concluded all in unbelief: that the gift decreed by God should come at the time when all were labouring in distrust, so that the grace of the gift should be most welcome. So let no one boast; for it is a wretched thing for one who has been pardoned to be proud.

(Verse 33.) O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! With all the praise of thanksgiving he testifies that God is lofty and immeasurable in the riches of His wisdom and knowledge; for His counsel and judgment are incomprehensible. For, knowing from the beginning the conduct and works of men — that the human race could neither be saved by the severity of justice alone, nor come to the advancement of their minds by mercy alone — He ordered at each time what should be preached; yet first leaving each man to his own judgment, because with nature itself as guide justice is known. And because the authority of natural justice had grown numb through the habit of sinning, the Law was given, so that the human race might be reined in by the terror of the Law made manifest. But because, not restraining themselves, they were held guilty by the Law, mercy was preached, to save those who fled to it, but to blind for a time those who refused it; inviting to their promise the Gentiles, who before had been unwilling to follow the righteousness of God given through Moses; so that, while they envied these men’s salvation, they might by that very jealousy shape themselves again to the origin of the root of the Saviour promised in the Law. This is the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, who by His manifold providence has won both Jews and Gentiles to life.

(Verses 34–35.) For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? (Isaiah 40:13). This is found written in Isaiah. It is plain that God alone is He who knows all counsels, and that He alone needs nothing, because all things are from Him; and for this reason His counsel is neither grasped nor measured by anyone, for the lower cannot know the mind of the higher. Thus to the Jews who believed it seemed impossible that it was the counsel and will of God to redeem the Gentiles; and in like manner to the Gentiles it seemed hard and incredible that the Jews who had not believed could be converted, or, believing, be received so as to be saved. Among other things, this is the counsel of God which lay hidden and could not be grasped.

(Verse 36.) For of him, and through him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory. He has declared for what reason the mind and counsel of God cannot be searched out: For of him, he says, and through him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory. By this saying he opened a meaning which was hidden from the world. For because God is the Creator of all things (for He made the things that were not, that they might be), therefore all things are of him. And since they are from Him, they began to be through His Son, who is certainly of the same substance, whose work is the work of the Father. Since, then, He works through the Son, all things are through him. And since what is of God is through God, after they have been born again in the Holy Spirit all things are in him; for the Holy Spirit too is of God the Father, whence He knows the things that are in God. Therefore the Father is in the Holy Spirit as well; for what is of God the Father cannot be other than what God the Father is. And for this reason to him be glory, because of Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things. So the things which began to be of Him, and through Him, and in Him, cannot know His mind and counsel; but He knows all things, because all things are in Him. He has laid open the mystery of God, which he said above they ought not to be ignorant of.