Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 11:19
Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
19. then ] therefore; i.e. in order to meet my reasoning.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thou wilt say then – Thou who art a Gentile.
The branches were broken off … – The Jews were rejected in order that the gospel might be preached to the Gentiles. This would seem to follow from what the apostle had said in Rom 11:11-12. Perhaps it might be said that there was some ground of exultation from the fact that God had rejected his ancient people for the sake of making a way open to admit the Gentiles to the church. The objection is, that the branches were broken off in order that others might be grafted in. To this Paul replies in the next verse, that this was not the reason why they were rejected, but their unbelief was the cause.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. Thou wilt say then, c.] You may think that you have reason to exult over them because it is a fact that God has been displeased with them, and therefore has broken them off; has cast them out of the Church, and taken you into it in their place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ver. 19,20. Here he brings in the Gentiles, alleging a reason for their insulting over the Jews; because the Jews were broken off, that they might give place, or make way, for them; and the less worthy do always give place to the more worthy. To this he answers, first, by way of concession: Well, (saith he), it is true, and I do not deny it, that the Jews
were broken off, that the Gentiles might be grafted in. But then he further adds, by way of correction or negation, that the worthiness of the Gentiles was not the cause why the Jews were broken off; but it was because of their own unbelief; they would not accept of Christ, Joh 1:11; they went about to establish their own righteousness, and would not submit themselves to the righteousness of God, as it is in Rom 10:3. Therefore, if you Gentiles shall reason after this manner, you plainly put a fallacy upon yourselves, and take that for a cause which is none: you do not distinguish between the cause and the event; it fell out, indeed, that the Jews, being cast off, the Gentiles were received in, but this was not the cause of that.
And thou standest by faith: q.d. Neither is thy worthiness the cause of thy present standing in the room of the Jews, or of having thy station in the church of Christ; but it is thy believing in that Christ whom the Jews rejected. By faith thou wast first ingrafted, and still continuest in the good olive tree.
Be not high-minded, but fear: q.d. Be advised, and take heed of being self-conceited and secure; if thou fall into their fault, thou mayst expect the same fate. Therefore stand in awe, and sin not; thou art subject to unbelief and apostacy, as well as they.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19-21. Thou wilt say thenas aplea for boasting.
The branches were broken off,that I might be grafted in.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou wilt say then,…. This is an objection which the apostle foresaw the Gentiles would make against what he had said, and in favour of their boasting;
the branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. The sense of which is, that the Jews were rejected and left out of the Gospel church, on purpose to make way for the Gentiles, that they might be put in their room; and consequently the Jews must be more vile and unworthy, and the Gentiles more deserving of such favours and privileges, or God would never have taken such a step, to leave out one to make room for the other.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Thou wilt say then ( ). A presumptuous Gentile speaks.
That I might be grafted in ( ). Purpose clause with and first aorist passive subjunctive. He shows contempt for the cast-off Jews.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “Thou wilt say then”, (ereis oun) “Thou wilt therefore say,” or conclude then –concerning the matter or proposition that — Isa 55:8-9. But wait, don’t draw hasty, proud conclusions, Paul would warn, for man’s thoughts are not God’s thoughts.
2) “The branches were broken off”; (ekseklasthesan kladoi) “Branches were broken off, set aside, removed, because of a prefixed decree of God? This is still the hasty and unwarranted conclusion of too many in this age too.
3) “That I might be graffed in”, (hina ego egkentristho) “In order that I might be graffed in”; In egotism the Gentile also may look to his moral goodness for position of being graffed into the plan, purpose, and work of God. There is no superiority in person of being in Gentiles over Jews that merits their being graffed in. They have what they have solely by the mercy and grace of God, Act 3:19; Act 10:43; Act 17:30-31; Rom 1:14-16, Tit 2:11-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19. Thou wilt then say, etc. In the person of the Gentiles he brings forward what they might have pleaded for themselves; but that was of such a nature as ought not to have filled them with pride, but, on the contrary, to have made them humble. For if the cutting off of the Jews was through unbelief, and if the ingrafting of the Gentiles was by faith, what was their duty but to acknowledge the favor of God, and also to cherish modesty and humbleness of mind? For it is the nature of faith, and what properly belongs to it, to generate humility and fear. (357) But by fear understand that which is in no way inconsistent with the assurance of faith; for Paul would not have our faith to vacillate or to alternate with doubt, much less would he have us to be frightened or to quake with fear. (358)
Of what kind then is this fear? As the Lord bids us to take into our consideration two things, so two kinds of feeling must thereby be produced. For he would have us ever to bear in mind the miserable condition of our nature; and this can produce nothing but dread, weariness, anxiety, and despair; and it is indeed expedient that we should thus be thoroughly laid prostrate and broken down, that we may at length groan to him; but this dread, derived from the knowledge of ourselves, keeps not our minds while relying on his goodness, from continuing calm; this weariness hinders us not from enjoying full consolation in him; this anxiety, this despair, does not prevent us from obtaining in him real joy and hope. Hence the fear, of which he speaks, is set up as an antidote to proud contempt; for as every one claims for himself more than what is right, and becomes too secure and at length insolent towards others, we ought then so far to fear, that our heart may not swell with pride and elate itself.
But it seems that he throws in a doubt as to salvation, since he reminds them to beware lest they also should not be spared. To this I answer, — that as this exhortation refers to the subduing of the flesh, which is ever insolent even in the children of God, he derogates nothing from the certainty of faith. And we must especially notice and remember what I have before said, — that Paul’s address is not so much to individuals as to the whole body of the Gentiles, among whom there might have been many, who were vainly inflated, professing rather than having faith. On account of these Paul threatens the Gentiles, not without reason, with excision, as we shall hereafter find again.
(357) “Be not elated in mind — ne animo efferaris;” μὴ ὑψηλοφρόνει; “be not high-minded,” as in our version, is the literal rendering. — Ed.
(358) Some have deduced from what Paul says here the uncertainty of faith, and its possible failure. This has been done through an entire misapprehension of the subject handled by the Apostle. He speaks not of individuals, but of the Gentile world, not of living faith but of professed faith, not the inward change, but of outward privileges, not of the union of the soul to Christ, but of union with his Church. The two things are wholly different; and to draw an argument from the one to the other is altogether illegitimate; that is to say, that as professed faith may be lost, therefore living faith may be lost.
[ Augustine ], in commenting on Jer 32:40, says, “God promised perseverance when he said, ‘I will put fear in their heart, that they may not depart from me.’ What else does it mean but this, ‘such and so great will my fear be, which I shall put in their heart, that they shall perseveringly cleave to me.’”
“
As those,” says [ Pareus ], “who believe for a time never had true faith, though they seem to have had it, and hence fall away and do not persevere: so they who possess true faith never fail, but continue steadfast, for God infallibly sustains them and secures their perseverance.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19, 20) It might be possible for the Gentile to claim a special providence in his substitution for the Jew. He should rather be reminded that there is a conditionfaithwhich is attached to this substitution; this he must be careful to observe, or else he will lose all that he has gained.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.” ’
He then forestalls an objection which he sees as possibly arising (and which he may have heard said among certain carnal Gentile Christians), and that is, said rather gloatingly, that the branches were broken off so that they as Gentiles might be grafted in. Said without gloating that would be perfectly true. But it is a sad reflection that we can admit that the gloating might well have been true, although it must be recognised in mitigation that it might have been in retaliation to the gloating of certain Jews over them as Gentiles. The fact is that carnal Christians can have a tendency to gloat over the benefits that God has given them, rather than simply receiving them with heartfelt gratitude and praise. Compare Rom 3:27; Rom 4:2. And this just as the Jews tended to gloat over the Gentiles. What we must always remember is that anything that we have received has been by the unmerited favour of God. While we may glory in it in the sense of having gratitude to God for the wonders that we have received, we should not gloat over it. Thus they (and we) are to beware of gloating over their privileges.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 11:19 . ] therefore; since this reason ( . . .) forbids thee , thou wilt have something else to allege.
. . . .] branches were broken off (see critical notes), in order that I , etc. This has the stress of arrogant self-esteem, which, however, is not to be extended also to forming the simple subject, and not even standing in the first place (Hofmann: “ branches which were so are broken off”).
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Ver. 19. Thou wilt say ] Carnal reason will have ever somewhat to say, and is not easily set down. (Greg. Moral.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19. ] Thou wilt then ( posito , that thou boastest, and defendest it) say, Branches (it would look as if the art. had been erased, to square this sentence with Rom 11:17 , where . only were broken off. Or we might think, as Matthi has remarked (Thol.), that, ‘Gentilis loquitur arrogantius,’ using . in his pride, to signify that the branches, generically, have now become subject to excision on his account. But the fact, now ascertained by Tischdf., that [107] omits the art., makes nearly the whole manuscript authority against it) were broken off that I (emphatic) might be grafted in.
[107] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle; it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon; nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as ‘Verc’): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are (1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as ‘Blc’); (2) that of Birch (‘Bch’), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798, Apocalypse, 1800, Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (‘Btly’), by the Abbate Mico, published in Ford’s Appendix to Woide’s edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus’ Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentley’s books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (‘Rl’), and are preserved amongst Bentley’s papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20) 1 . The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgon’s “Letters from Rome,” London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 11:19 . : the presumptuous Gentile persists. “It is not to the root I compare myself, but branches were broken off that I might be engrafted: that surely involves some superiority in me.”
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
The. Omit.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
19.] Thou wilt then (posito, that thou boastest, and defendest it) say, Branches (it would look as if the art. had been erased, to square this sentence with Rom 11:17, where . only were broken off. Or we might think, as Matthi has remarked (Thol.), that, Gentilis loquitur arrogantius, using . in his pride, to signify that the branches, generically, have now become subject to excision on his account. But the fact, now ascertained by Tischdf., that [107] omits the art., makes nearly the whole manuscript authority against it) were broken off that I (emphatic) might be grafted in.
[107] The CODEX VATICANUS, No. 1209 in the Vatican Library at Rome; and proved, by the old catalogues, to have been there from the foundation of the library in the 16th century. It was apparently, from internal evidence, copied in Egypt. It is on vellum, and contains the Old and New Testaments. In the latter, it is deficient from Heb 9:14 to the end of the Epistle;-it does not contain the Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon;-nor the Apocalypse. An edition of this celebrated codex, undertaken as long ago as 1828 by Cardinal Angelo Mai, has since his death been published at Rome. The defects of this edition are such, that it can hardly be ranked higher in usefulness than a tolerably complete collation, entirely untrustworthy in those places where it differs from former collations in representing the MS. as agreeing with the received text. An 8vo edition of the N.T. portion, newly revised by Vercellone, was published at Rome in 1859 (referred to as Verc): and of course superseded the English reprint of the 1st edition. Even in this 2nd edition there were imperfections which rendered it necessary to have recourse to the MS. itself, and to the partial collations made in former times. These are-(1) that of Bartolocci (under the name of Giulio de St. Anastasia), once librarian at the Vatican, made in 1669, and preserved in manuscript in the Imperial Library (MSS. Gr. Suppl. 53) at Paris (referred to as Blc); (2) that of Birch (Bch), published in various readings to the Acts and Epistles, Copenhagen, 1798,-Apocalypse, 1800,-Gospels, 1801; (3) that made for the great Bentley (Btly), by the Abbate Mico,-published in Fords Appendix to Woides edition of the Codex Alexandrinus, 1799 (it was made on the margin of a copy of Cephalus Greek Testament, Argentorati, 1524, still amongst Bentleys books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge); (4) notes of alterations by the original scribe and other correctors. These notes were procured for Bentley by the Abb de Stosch, and were till lately supposed to be lost. They were made by the Abbate Rulotta (Rl), and are preserved amongst Bentleys papers in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge (B. 17. 20)1. The Codex has been occasionally consulted for the verification of certain readings by Tregelles, Tischendorf, and others. A list of readings examined at Rome by the present editor (Feb. 1861), and by the Rev. E. C. Cure, Fellow of Merton College, Oxford (April 1862), will be found at the end of these prolegomena. A description, with an engraving from a photograph of a portion of a page, is given in Burgons Letters from Rome, London 1861. This most important MS. was probably written in the fourth century (Hug, Tischendorf, al.).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 11:19. , in order that) This particle expresses the chief force of the boasting [of the Gentiles]; but in opposition to this boasting compare the, for your sakes, Rom 11:28, and , Rom 11:31 [sc. , they disobeyed to the end that through the mercy showed to you they might obtain mercy.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 11:19
Rom 11:19
Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.-This was spoken as a warning against a feeling of boastful pride they were liable to have against the Jews. It is possible that they would say to the Jews: You have shown yourselves unworthy, so were cast off, while we have shown ourselves worthy and have been grafted into the favor of God.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
that: Rom 11:11, Rom 11:12, Rom 11:17, Rom 11:23, Rom 11:24
Reciprocal: Isa 29:17 – the fruitful Rom 11:21 – if God
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
-20
Rom 11:19-20. This is the same argument as in most of the preceding verses. The Gentiles were warned not to feel boastful of their favorable standing with God.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 11:19. Thou wilt say then; despite the last consideration, although we are borne by the root of the patriarchs, yet natural branches have been taken away, and their place is now ours. This has been the presumptuous attitude of too many during all the Christian centuries.
Branches were broken off, etc. The article is omitted by the best authorities; the reference is to some of the branches (Rom 11:17).
I is emphatic.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Rom 11:19-21. Thou wilt say Thou wilt object; The branches were broken off For their infidelity and rejection of Jesus and his gospel; that I might be graffed in And therefore we may glory over them as they once did over us. Well; take this thought at least along with thee, Because of unbelief they were broken off It was not undeservedly, by an act of absolute sovereignty and prerogative, but because of unbelief: by which it appears, it is possible for whole churches, as well as individuals, that have long stood by faith, to fall into such a state of infidelity as may prove their ruin. Now thou art liable to the same infirmity and corruption that they fell by. For thou standest Hast a place in Gods favour and family; by faith A grace which, in the very nature of it, implies dependance on God, and is itself the free, undeserved gift of God. Thou dost not stand in or by any strength of thy own, of which thou mightest be confident: thou art only what the free grace of God makes thee; and his grace is his own, which he gives or withholds at pleasure. Therefore be not high-minded, but fear Be not too confident of thy own strength. A holy fear is an excellent preservative against high-mindedness; happy is the man that thus feareth always. We need not fear lest God should not be true to his word; all the danger is, lest we should be false to our own: let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left, to persevering believers, of entering into his rest, we should come short of it, through not continuing in the faith, grounded and settled; but being moved therefrom, and from the hope of the gospel, Col 1:23. If God spared not the natural branches Of the good olive-tree, namely, the Jews, so called because they sprang from Abraham, the root of that tree, and consequently by their descent from him were naturally members of the Jewish Church; if God proceeded with so much severity against them, take heed lest he spare not thee Or, as the Syriac translates the clause, perhaps neither will he spare thee. They, observe, were natural branches, and as such had a peculiar interest in Abrahams covenant, and in the promises, being descended from his loins; and yet, when they sunk into unbelief, neither prescription, nor long usage, nor the faithfulness of their ancestors, could secure them, but God cast them off. Take heed, therefore, lest thy unbelief and barrenness expose thee, who art not a natural branch, but a scion from a foreign stock, to the punishment of excision, after all the great obligations which he hath laid thee under by his unparalleled goodness.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 19-21. Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well! because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith; be not high-minded, but fear! For if God spared not the natural branches, [it may be] that neither will He spare thee.
The objection Paul puts in the mouth of his reader is taken from the very answer which he had just made to him in Rom 11:18; hence the then: Since branches have been cut off the stem to make place for me, who was foreign to it by nature, the preference of God for me appears thereby still more striking than if God had confined Himself to engrafting me on the same stem with them.
The article , the, before the word branches, is to be rejected, according to the majority of the documents. Paul means, in reality: beings who had the character of branches. The particular emphasis resting on the should be remarked; literally: that I on my part should be grafted in. To make place for me, even me, God rejected branches!
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. [The apostle here puts in the mouth of a representative Gentile the cause or justification of the pride. Was it not ground for self-esteem and self-gratulation when God cast off his covenanted people to receive strangers? — Eph 2:19]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
It is true that one of the reasons Gentiles have become partakers of the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant is that many of the Jews have not believed. Of course, it was always God’s purpose to bless Gentiles (Gen 12:1-3). However the Gentile believer who may feel superior to the unbelieving Jew needs to remember something. The only reason he is where he is (partaking of blessing from the Abrahamic Covenant) is because he has simply believed God. He is not there because he has done some meritorious work that would be a ground for boasting (cf. Rom 5:2).