# Romans 11 📖: The Remnant and the Olive Tree [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Romans Overview]] | [[Romans 10]] | [[Romans 12]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ^e3f160 ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final **Principle**: Israel is shown mercy but they have to choose it. [[#Verse 01.]] So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. [[#Verse 02.]] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?  [[#Verse 03.]] “Lord, **_they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!_**” [[1 Kings 19]] [[#Verse 04.]] But what was the divine response to him? “**_I have kept_** for myself **_7,000 people_** **_who have not bent the knee to Baal_**.” [[1 Kings 19]] [[#Verse 05.]] So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace.  [[#Verse 06.]] And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace.  [[#Verse 07.]] What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The rest were hardened,  [[#Verse 08.]] as it is written, “_**God gave them a spirit of stupor**,_ **_eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear_**, **_to this very day_.**” [[Deuteronomy 29]] | [[Isaiah 29]] [[#Verse 09.]] And David says, “_**Let their table become a snare and trap**,_ _**a stumbling block and a retribution for them**;_ [[#Verse 10.]] ” [[#Verse 11.]] I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous. [[# Verse 10]] **_let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,_** **_and make their backs bend continually_.**” [[Psalm 69#Verse 22.]] ### Israel’s Rejection Not Final **Principle**: Don’t despise Jews- rejoice that they have been chosen to carry the Law and prepare the way for us. [[# Verse 11]] I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous.  [[#Verse 12.]] Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring? [[#Verse 13.]] Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, [[#Verse 13]] Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,  [[#Verse 14.]] if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them.  [[#Verse 15.]] For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? [[#Verse 16.]] If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. [[# Verse 15]] For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?  [[# Verse 16]] If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. [[#Verse 17.]] Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root,  [[#Verse 18.]] do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.  [[#Verse 19.]] Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”  [[#Verse 20.]] Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! [[# Verse 20]] Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear!  [[#Verse 21.]] For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.  [[#Verse 22.]] Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.  [[#Verse 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.  [[#Verse 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? [[#Verse 25.]] For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. [[# Verse 25]] For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israeluntil the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  [[#Verse 26.]] And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “**_The Deliverer will come out of Zion;_** **_he will remove ungodliness from Jacob_**. [[Isaiah 59]] [[#Verse 27.]] , ” [[# Verse 27]] _**And this is my covenant with them**,_ **_when I take away their sins_.**” [[Jeremiah 31]] [[#Verse 28.]] In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers.  [[#Verse 29.]] For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.  [[#Verse 30.]] Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience,  [[#Verse 31.]] so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.  [[#Verse 32.]] For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. ### A Hymn of Praise **Principle**: Praise Break [[#Verse 33.]] Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways! [[#Verse 34.]] _**For who has known the mind of the Lord**,_ **_or who has been his counselor?_** [[#Verse 35.]] _**Or who has first given to God**,_ **_that God_** **_needs to repay him?_** [[Job 41]] | [[Isaiah 40]] | [[Jeremiah 23]] [[#Verse 36.]] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen. [[# Verse 36]]  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Paul was from the tribe of Benjamin (11:1; Philippians 3:5), the tribe of Israel's first king, Saul, whose name Paul also carried. 2. In 11:2-4 Paul cites 1 Kings 19, where God told Elijah He had kept seven thousand who had not bowed to Baal. 3. Olive trees were among Israel's most important crops, and Jeremiah 11:16 pictures Israel as a green olive tree. 4. Grafting a wild branch onto a cultivated tree reverses normal practice, and Paul admits it is "contrary to nature" (11:24). 5. The Roman farming writer Columella does mention grafting wild olive shoots into an old tree to revive it. 6. In Paul's letters, a "mystery" (11:25) is something once hidden but now revealed by God. 7. "All Israel will be saved" (11:26) has been read as a future turning of the Jewish people to Christ or as the full people of God, Jew and Gentile. Faithful interpreters differ. 8. In 11:26-27 Paul quotes Isaiah 59:20-21 and Isaiah 27:9. 9. In 11:34-35 Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 and echoes Job 41:11. 10. The doxology in 11:36 closes the teaching section of Romans (chapters 1 to 11) before the practical section begins in chapter 12. ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the Deliverer who will come out of Zion and remove ungodliness from Jacob (11:26). Through Him, Gentile branches are grafted into God's people by faith (Ephesians 2:13-16). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Paul says God has not rejected His people and points to a remnant chosen by grace (11:1-5). How does Elijah's story encourage you when you feel alone in your faith? 2. Gentile believers are warned not to boast over the broken branches (11:18-20). How can pride creep into our faith? 3. Paul ends with a burst of praise for God's wisdom (11:33-36). How should learning about God lead us to worship? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: God has not rejected His people; Paul himself is an Israelite. - 📖 verse 5: There is a remnant chosen by grace. - 📖 verses 17-18: Wild branches are grafted in, and they are supported by the root, not the other way around. - 📖 verse 29: God's gifts and calling are irrevocable. - 📖 verses 33-36: Paul praises the depth of God's riches, wisdom, and knowledge; from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Numbers 23#Verse 19.|Numbers 23:19]] - God is not a man that He should lie or change His mind. - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 29#Verse 04.|Deuteronomy 29:4]] - The Lord has not given you eyes to see (echoed in 11:8). - 🔗 [[1 Kings 19#Verse 10.|1 Kings 19:10-18]] - Elijah and the seven thousand who did not bow to Baal. - 🔗 [[Job 41#Verse 11.|Job 41:11]] - Who has given to God that He should repay him? (echoed in 11:35). - 🔗 [[Psalm 69#Verse 22.|Psalm 69:22-23]] - Let their table become a snare (quoted in 11:9-10). - 🔗 [[Isaiah 40#Verse 13.|Isaiah 40:13]] - Who has known the mind of the Lord? (quoted in 11:34). - 🔗 [[Isaiah 59#Verse 20.|Isaiah 59:20-21]] - The Redeemer will come to Zion (quoted in 11:26-27). - 🔗 [[Jeremiah 11#Verse 16.|Jeremiah 11:16]] - Israel pictured as a green olive tree. - 🔗 [[Zechariah 12#Verse 10.|Zechariah 12:10]] - They will look on the one they pierced and mourn. - 🔗 [[Ephesians 02#Verse 11.|Ephesians 2:11-22]] - Jew and Gentile made one new people in Christ. - 🔗 [[Ephesians 03#Verse 06.|Ephesians 3:6]] - Gentiles are fellow heirs and members of the same body. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Romans 11 - SOAP|This is God’s Show]] ## 📂 Internal Notes [[SeriesOverview- The Mission (Romans)]]