Romans 11:15

Rom 11:15. For — As if he had said, Their general conversion ought to be desired, because of the admirable benefit which will come to mankind thereby: for if the casting away of them — Their rejection, as signified above; be the reconciling of the world — An occasion of sending the gospel to the Gentiles in all parts of the world, and so bringing them to faith in Christ, whereby they obtain the pardon of their sins, and reconciliation with God; what shall the receiving of them into God’s favour and into his church be, but life from the dead — A miraculous work, and productive of the greatest joy to the converted Gentiles; a joy like that which one would feel on receiving a beloved friend back from the dead. As, in the following verse, the apostle speaks of God’s church under the emblem of a tree, Dr. Macknight thinks, in using the words η αποβολη, the casting away, “he may perhaps allude to the practice of gardeners, who cut off from vines and olive-trees such branches as are barren or withered, and cast them away. According to this notion of casting away, the reconciling of the world, or Gentiles, is the same thing with the ingrafting of them, mentioned Rom 11:17. In this passage the unbelief and rejection of the Jews is justly represented as the means of the reception of the Gentiles. For, although the unbelief of the Jews may seem to have been an obstacle to the conversion of the Gentiles, it hath greatly contributed to that event. Besides the reason mentioned in a preceding note, it is to be considered, that the rejection of the Jews was the punishment of their unbelief, and that both events were foretold by Moses and by Christ. Wherefore these events, as the fulfilment of prophecy, have strengthened the evidences of the gospel, and thereby contributed to the conversion of the Gentiles.” Add to this, there are many other predictions in the Old Testament, which demonstrate the truth of the gospel, but which derive their strength from their being in the possession of the Jews, in whose hands they have continued from the beginning, and who have preserved them with the greatest care, carrying them with them in all their dispersions, wherever they go. In all countries, therefore, the Jews are living witnesses to the antiquity and genuineness of the whole of the prophecies by which the gospel is confirmed. And their testimony, which is always at hand, cannot be called in question; because, having shown themselves from the beginning bitter enemies of Christ and of his gospel, no suspicion can be entertained that they have either forged these prophecies, or altered them to favour us. As little can it be suspected that we have forged or altered these prophecies. For if any of us had been disposed so to do, it would have served no purpose while our enemies, the Jews, maintained the integrity of their copies.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:15 The context emphasizes God’s role in hardening many Jews (11:7-10), so the phrase their rejection likely means God’s rejection of the unbelieving Jews. • Their acceptance then refers to God’s acceptance of Jews into his Kingdom (see also 14:3 and 15:7). • While the phrase life for those who were dead could refer to the new spiritual life that comes to the Jews as a result of their conversion to Christ (see 6:13), the language more naturally suggests the physical resurrection from the dead that occurs when Christ returns in glory (see, e.g., 1 Thes 4:13-18).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rom 11:15. Γὰρ, for) The particle connecting the discussion with the proposition.—ἀποβολὴ, the casting away) an antithesis to receiving, but in this sense, that God is said to receive by grace, men to be cast away [to suffer casting away] by their own fault. Upon the casting away of the Jews, the Gentiles were received, and obtained grace, Rom 11:30.—πρόσληψις) αὐτῶν, Hesychius: πρόσληψις, γνῶσις, comp. προσελάβετο, ch. Rom 14:3. Τίς, concludes from the less to the greater: ἀποβολὴ, casting away, and πρόσληψις, receiving, are contrary to each other; therefore, καταλλαγὴ, reconciliation [of the world, in the former clause], precedes τῆ ζωῇ ἐκ νεκρῶν, [of the Israelites, in the latter clause] life from the dead, which implies much more [than καταλλαγή].—ζωὴ, life) of the world, Rom 11:12.—ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν, life from the dead) a thing much greater, and more desirable. The meaning is: the life of those who had been dead, Eze 37:3, etc., so ἐκ, from, ch. Rom 6:13; 2Co 4:6. He is speaking of bringing the whole to life, that there may be no dead mass remaining. The conversion of the whole human race or the world will accompany the conversion of Israel.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_11:15. By way of inference, like Rom_11:12; γάρ assigns a motive for Rom_11:13-14.

ἀποβολή, casting away; Plato, Legg. xii. p. 493 E, 944 C; Aq. Pro_28:24. By this is meant their exclusion from the people of God on account of their unbelief, and the opposite of it is their πρόσληψις, reception in addition (Plato, Theaet. p. 210 A), by which they, having become believing, are adopted by God into the fellowship of His people. The view of ἀποβολή as loss (Act_27:22; Plato, Phaed. p. 75 E; Lach. p. 195 E; Plut. Song of Solomon 7) is less suitable to this contrast (in opposition to the Vulg., Luther, Bengel, and others, including Philippi, who understands the loss, which the kingdom of God has suffered in their ease).

καταλλαγὴ κόσμου] in so far, namely, as the converted portion of the Gentiles has attained to δικαιοσύνη through faith, and is no longer subjected to the ὀργή of God; and therewith reconciliation of the Gentile world with God has begun. Comp. Rom_5:11. It is a more precise definition of the notion expressed in Rom_11:12 by πλοῦτος κόσμου.

ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρ.] i.e. life, which proceeds from the dead (namely, when these arise). The πρόσληψις of the still unconverted Jews, Paul concludes, will be of such a kind (τίς, not τί, is his question), will be of so glorious a character (comp. Eph_1:18), that it will bring with it the last most blessed development, namely, the life beginning with the resurrection of the dead in the αἰὼν ὁ μέλλων, the ζωὴ αἰώνιος, which has the awakening from death as its causal premiss. Hence Paul does not say ἀνάστασις ἐκ νεκρῶν (as Philippi objects); for his glance is already passing beyond this event to its blessed consequence. The transformation of the living is included in this last development (1Co_15:51), which is here designated a potiori; comp. Rom_8:11. The conclusion of the apostle does not, however, rest on Mat_24:14 (Reiche after Theodoret), but on the fact of the καταλλαγὴ κόσμου, whose most blissful final development (as it, according to Paul, must necessarily be occasioned by the blissful opposite of the ἀποβολή) can be none other than the blessed resurrection-life which will set in with the Parousia (Col_3:3-4; 1Th_4:14 ff.). The view which takes ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρ. in the proper sense has been held by Origen, Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret, Anselm, Erasmus, Toletus, Semler, Reiche, Glöckler, de Wette, Nielsen, Fritzsche, Rückert, Reithmayr, Bisping, Hofmann, Beyschlag, and others. Approaching it, but taking the resurrection by way of comparison, stands the view of Ewald: The final completion of all history down to the last day, and like the very resurrection itself, which is expected on this day. Luthardt, too, is substantially in the right, taking, however, νεκρῶν in the ethical sense: from the dead Israel the new bodily life of glorification will proceed. A heterogeneous mode of viewing the contrasts, for which the text affords no support. The non-literal interpretation of the futura quasi resurrectio ex mortuis (Melancthon), i.e. of the novitas vitae ex morte peccati (Estius; so in substance Calvin, Hunnius, Calovius, Vorstius, Bengel, Carpzov, Ch. Schmidt, Cramer, Böhme, Baumgarten-Crusius, Maier; also Lechler, apost. u. nachapost. Zeitalt. p. 129; Krummacher, p. 172 f.; and Kahnis, Dogm. I. p. 574), is to be set aside on the ground that then nothing higher than the καταλλαγή (and it must be something far higher) would be expressed, but only its ethical consequence in the activity of life. Olshausen, too, understands it primarily of the spiritual resurrection, yet thinks that the notion plays into the bodily resurrection (?). Umbreit finds spiritual and bodily revival from death conjoined. Others explain the expression metaphorically, as designating summum gaudium (Grotius after Oecumenius) or summa felicitas (Hammond, Koppe, Köllner). Comp. Theophylact (ἄπειρα ἀγαθά), Beza, Flatt, van Hengel, and now, too, Tholuck, who recurs to the general thought of the most important position in the history of the divine kingdom to be occupied by converted Israel. But interpretations of such a non-literal character must be necessitated by the context; whereas the latter by the relation, in accordance with the connection, of ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν to the quite proper καταλλ. κόσμου requires us to abide by the literal sense. Hence we are not to understand, with Philippi, at once both the extensive diffusion of the kingdom of God, and a subjective revivification of Christendom, which had again become dead, and thus a glorious flourishing time for the church on earth. So, again, Auberlen supposes a charismatic life of the church, and depicts it with the colours of the palingenesia of the golden age. No such ideas are here expressed; and it would have been peculiarly necessary to indicate more particularly the dead state into which Christendom was again to fall, especially after the καταλλαγὴ κόσμου already including within itself spiritual revival. And by no means is the supposed flourishing time (the time of worship (!) Auberlen calls it, as opposed to the present time of preaching) compatible with the nearness of the Parousia (Rom_13:14; 1Co_7:29, et al.), with the ἀνάγκη immediately preceding it (1Co_7:26; Mat_24:29), and with the πονηρία of the last period (on Gal_1:4).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 11:15 f. From the personal explanation of Rom 11:13 f., which interrupts the argument, Paul reverts to the ideas of Rom 11:12 . To save any Jew was a great object, even with an apostle of the Gentiles: εἰ γὰρ ἡ ἀποβολὴ αὐτῶν κ . τ . λ . Their ἀποβολὴ is their rejection by God on the ground of unbelief. καταλλαγὴ κόσμου : a world’s reconciliation. In 2Co 5:19 the world’s reconciliation is the act of God in Christ; but it was an act which for the mass of mankind only took effect when Jewish unbelief diverted the Gospel to the Gentiles, ἡ πρόσλημψις : the assumption of the Jews into God’s favour. ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν . Modern expositors almost all find in these words a reference to the resurrection; the restoration of the Jews at once brings on the end; the dead are raised, and the Messiah’s kingdom is set up, glorious and incorruptible. It is quite true that in Jewish apocalyptic literature the resurrection introduces the new era, and that Paul shared in the apocalyptic ideas current in his time; but it does not follow that he was thinking of the resurrection here. ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν would certainly be a singular way to describe it, and it is not enough to say with Weiss that Paul used this expression instead of ἀνάστασις in order to carry the mind beyond the fact of resurrection to the state which it introduced. It seems better to leave it undefined ( cf. ἄπειρα ἀγαθά Theophyl.), and to regard it as an ordinary English reader regards “life from the dead,” as a description of unimaginable blessing. This is more impressive than to bind the original and daring speculation of a passage like this by reference to apocalyptic ideas, with which Paul was no doubt familiar, but which are not suggested here, and could least of all control his thoughts when they were working on a line so entirely his own. “Words fail him, and he employs the strongest he can find, thinking rather of their general force than of their precise signification” (Jowett). εἰ δὲ ἡ ἀπαρχὴ ἁγία , καὶ τὸ φύραμα . This explains Paul’s assurance that Israel has a future. For ἀπ . and φύρ . see Num 15:19-21 . By the offering of the first fruits the whole mass, and the whole produce of the land, were consecrated. Both this figure, and that of the root and the branches, signify the same thing. As the application in Rom 11:28 proves, what is presented in both is the relation of the patriarchs to the people as a whole. As chosen by God, the fathers were ἅγιοι , i.e. , God’s people, and this standing (in spite of the arguments in chap. 9, and in spite of the hard facts of the situation when Paul wrote) belongs inalienably to their children. They are God’s, and it will yet become apparent that they are.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. ἀποβολὴ, Act 27:22 only. Rom 11:15-16 are parenthetic, justifying the statement of purpose in 14 and repeating the idea of 12.

καταλλαγὴ κόσμου. Cf. Rom 5:10-11; Eph 2:12-16, and 2Co 5:18-19. καταλλ. verb and subst. only in Romans , 1 and 2 Cor. (ἀποκ., Eph., Col.).

ἡ πρόσλημψις. The reception of them (see Hart, Ecclus. p. 302; cf. 1Sa 12:22).

ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν = life after death: the sharpest contrast that human experience affords. In what reference? It must include not merely the recovered Israel but the reconciled world. It seems therefore to point to the final consummation at the second coming, cf. Rom 8:18 f., and esp. Act 3:19 ff., where the repentance of Israel is the necessary preliminary of that coming; cf. 1Co 15:28. So S. H., who point out the same reference in Rom 1:26. It explains then the πόσῳ μᾶλλον of Rom 11:12.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 15. In truth, it will not be till the national conversion of Israel take place, that the work of God shall reach its perfection among the Gentiles themselves, and that the fruit of his labor as their apostle will break forth in all its beauty. Such is the explanation of the words of Rom 11:13 : “inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles.” As a Jew, he certainly desires the conversion of the Jews; but he desires it still more, if possible, as the apostle of the Gentiles, because he knows what this event will be for the entire church. It is clear how closely the for at the beginning of this verse joins it to Rom 11:13-14, and how needful it is to guard against making these two last a parenthesis, and Rom 11:15 a repetition of Rom 11:12. It is also clear how wide of the truth are Bauer and his school, when they find in these verses a clever artifice by which Paul seeks to render his mission among the Gentiles acceptable to the so-called Judeo-Christian church of Rome. According to this interpretation, his meaning would be: “You are wrong in taking offence at my mission to the Gentiles; it is entirely to the profit of the Jews, whom it must end by bringing to the gospel;” an adroit way, if one dared say so, of gilding the pill for them! Not only is such a supposition unworthy of the apostle’s character, but it is just the opposite of his real thought.

Here it is as it results from the three verses combined: “To take it rightly, it is as your apostle, you Gentiles, that I labor in seeking to provoke the Jews to jealousy by your conversion; for it is not till they shall be restored to grace that you yourselves shall be crowned with fulness of life.” This saying is not therefore a captatio benevolentioe indirectly appealing to Judeo-Christian readers; it is a jet of light for the use of Gentile-Christians.

The term ἀποβολή strictly denotes the act of throwing far from oneself (Act 28:22: ἀποβολὴ ψυχῆς, the loss of life). How is the rejection of the Jews the reconciliation of the world? Inasmuch as it brings down that wall of law which kept the Gentiles outside of the divine covenant, and opens wide to them the door of grace by simple faith in the atonement.

Now, if such is the effect of their rejection, what shall be the effect of their readmission? The word πρόσληψις (translated by Osterv. their recall, by Oltram. their restoration, by Segond, their admission) strictly signifies the act of welcoming. When cursed, they have contributed to the restoration of the world; what will they not do when blessed? There seems to be here an allusion to what Christ Himself did for the world by His expiatory death and resurrection. In Christ’s people there is always something of Christ Himself, mutatis mutandis.

A host of commentators, from Origen and Chrysostom down to Meyer and Hofmann (two men who do not often agree, and who unfortunately concur in this case), apply the expression: a life from the dead, to the resurrection of the dead, in the strict sense. But—1st. Why use the expression a life, instead of saying as usual ἀνάστασις, the resurrection? 2d. Why omit the article before the word life, and not say as usual the life, life eternal, instead of a life? And more than all, 3d. What so close relation could there be between the fact of the conversion of the Jews and that of the bodily resurrection? Again, if Paul confined himself to saying that the second event will closely follow the first, this temporal relation would be intelligible, though according to him the signal for the resurrection is the return of the Lord (1Co 15:23), and not at all the conversion of Israel. But he goes the length of identifying the two facts of which he speaks: “What shall their return be but a life?” It is evident, therefore, for all these reasons, that the expression: a life from the dead, must be applied to a powerful spiritual revolution which will be wrought in the heart of Gentile Christendom by the fact of the conversion of the Jews. So it has been understood by Theoph., Mel., Calv., Beza, Philip., etc. The light which converted Jews bring to the church, and the power of life which they have sometimes awakened in it, are the pledge of that spiritual renovation which will be produced in Gentile Christendom by their entrance en masse. Do we not then feel that in our present condition there is something, and that much, wanting to us that the promises of the gospel may be realized in all their fulness; that there is, as it were, a mysterious hindrance to the efficacy of preaching, a debility inherent in our spiritual life, a lack of joy and force which contrasts strangely with the joyful outbursts of prophets and psalmists; that, in fine, the feast in the father’s house is not complete...why? because it cannot be so, so long as the family is not entirely reconstituted by the return of the elder son. Then shall come the Pentecost of the last times, the latter rain. We are little affected by the objection of Meyer, who alleges that, according to St. Paul, the last times will be times of tribulation (those of Antichrist), and not an epoch of spiritual prosperity. We do not know how the apostle conceived the succession of events; it seems to us that, according to the Apocalpyse, the conversion of the Jews (chap. Rom 11:13 and Rom 14:1 et seq.) must precede the coming of the Antichrist, and consequently also Christ’s coming again. Paul does not express himself on this point, because, as always, he only brings out what belongs rigorously to the subject he is treating.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_11:15

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? Although Paul here returns to the sentiment of the 12th verse, this passage is logically connected with the preceding. The apostle had said, that even in laboring for the Gentiles, he had in view the salvation of the Jews; for if their rejection had occasioned so much good, how desirable must be their restoration. If the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world. The reconciliation here spoken of is that which Paul so fully, describes in Eph_2:11-22. A reconciliation by which those who were aliens and strangers have been brought nigh; reconciled at once to the church, the commonwealth of Israel, and to God himself, by the blood of Christ. This event has been facilitated, as remarked above, by the rejection of the Jews; what will the restoration of the Jews then be, but life from the dead? That is, it will be a most glorious event; as though a new world had risen, not only glorious in itself, but in the highest degree beneficial to the Gentiles. De Brais and many others suppose that the apostle refers to the future declension of the Gentile church, from which the restoration of the Jews shall be the means of arousing them. Of such an allusion, however, there is no intimation in the text. The most common and natural interpretation is that which considers the latter clause as merely a figurative expression of a joyful and desirable event. The conversion of the Jews will be attended with the most glorious consequences for the whole world.

Not only in the Scriptures, but also in profane literature, the transition from a state of depression and misery to one of prosperity, is expressed by the natural figure of passing from death to life. The Old Testament prophets represented the glorious condition of the theocracy, consequent on the coming of Christ, in contrast with its previous condition, as a rising from the dead. This interpretation of the passage before us, is adopted by many of the best commentators, ancient and modern. There are, however, two other views presented. According to some, the life here spoken of is strictly spiritual life, and the dead from which it springs are the spiritually dead. The meaning would then be, that the conversion of the Jews would be the occasion, or the means, of awakening many of the Gentiles to spiritual life. This idea, however, is included in the former interpretation, because the summa felicitas, the state of great prosperity which the church is to enjoy when the Jews are restored, is a religious prosperity. It supposes the conversion of great multitudes of men, and the general spread and power of the gospel. But this does not justify us in confining the words to this spiritual sense. The latter clause, according to this view, expresses no more than the former clause. The reconciliation of the world, implies, of course, the conversion of multitudes of men, and the prevalence of true religion. The life from the dead, is more than this. It is not only a greater measure of the former blessing, but a glorious and happy condition therewith connected, and consequent thereon. The other view of the passage is that given by Chrysostom, and adopted by many of the best modern commentators, as Tholuck (in his second edition), De Wette, Meyer, and others. It assumes that ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν (life from the dead), refers to the resurrection of the dead. The idea is, that the conversion of the Jews is the condition precedent of that great event. When the Jews are converted, then comes the resurrection and the consummation of Christs kingdom. But nowhere else in Scripture is the literal resurrection expressed by the words ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν. Had Paul intended a reference to the resurrection, no reason can be assigned why he did not employ the established and familiar words ἀνάστασις ἐκ νεκρῶν. If he meant the resurrection, why did he not say so? Why use a general phrase, which is elsewhere used to express another idea? Besides this, it is not according to the analogy of Scripture that the resurrection of the dead, and the change in those who shall be then alive (1Co_15:51; 1Th_4:14-18), are to be immediate, consequent on the conversion of the Jews. The resurrection is not to occur until the end. A new state of things, a new mode of existence, is to be then introduced. Flesh and blood, i.e. our bodies as now organized (the σῶμα ψυχικόν,) cannot inherit the kingdom of God. They are not suited for the state of being which is to follow the resurrection. If, therefore, the world is to continue after the conversion of the Jews, that event will not inaugurate the resurrection.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It shall come to pass that when the Jews come to the Gospel, the world shall as it were come quicken again, and rise up from death to life.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

For if the casting away of them--The apostle had denied that they were east away (Rom 11:1); here he affirms it. But both are true; they were cast away, though neither totally nor finally, and it is of this partial and temporary rejection that the apostle here speaks.

be the reconciling of the--Gentile

world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?--The reception of the whole family of Israel, scattered as they are among all nations under heaven, and the most inveterate enemies of the Lord Jesus, will be such a stupendous manifestation of the power of God upon the spirits of men, and of His glorious presence with the heralds of the Cross, as will not only kindle devout astonishment far and wide, but so change the dominant mode of thinking and feeling on all spiritual things as to seem like a resurrection from the dead.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. But life from the dead] If the rejection of the Jews became the occasion of our receiving the Gospel, so that we can even glory in our tribulations, though they themselves became chief instruments of our sufferings; yet so far must we feel from exulting over them that we should esteem their full conversion to God as great and choice a favour as we would the restoration of a most intimate friend to life, who had been at the gates of death.

The restoration of the Jews to a state of favour with God to which the apostle refers, and which is too plainly intimated by the spirit of prophecy to admit of a doubt, will be a most striking event. Their being preserved as a distinct people is certainly a strong collateral proof that they shall once more be brought into the Church of God: and their conversion to Christianity will be an incontestable proof of the truth of Divine revelation; and doubtless will become the means of converting multitudes of deists, who will see the prophecies of God, which had been delivered so long before, so strikingly fulfilled in this great event. We need not wonder, if a whole nation should then be born as in a day.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. For if their rejections, etc. This passage, which many deem obscure, and some awfully pervert, ought, in my view, to be understood as another argument, derived from a comparison of the less with the greater, according to this import, “Since the rejection of the Jews has availed so much as to occasion the reconciling of the Gentiles, how much more effectual will be their resumption? Will it not be to raise them even from the dead?” For Paul ever insists on this, that the Gentiles have no cause for envy, as though the restoration of the Jews to favor were to render their condition worse. Since then God has wonderfully drawn forth life from death and light from darkness, how much more ought we to hope, he reasons, that the resurrection of a people, as it were, wholly dead, will bring life to the Gentiles. It is no objection what some allege, that reconciliation differs not from resurrection, as we do indeed understand resurrection in the present instance, that is, to be that by which we are translated from the kingdom of death to the kingdom of life, for though the thing is the same, yet there is more force in the expression, and this a sufficient answer.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(15) Reconciling of the world.—The gospel could not be preached to the Gentiles until it had first been offered to and rejected by the Jews. Hence the casting away of the Jews might be said to have caused the reconciling of the rest of the world.

Life from the dead.—The reconversion of the Jews will be a signal to inaugurate that reign of eternal life which will be ushered in by the resurrection from the dead.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. the casting away] Not the cognate word to that in Rom_11:1-2. But there is no practical difference in the words: it is the reference that differs here. There he denies that Jews as such were thrust out of the covenant; here he asserts the plain fact that the Jewish nation was, by its rejection of Messiah, under (temporary) exclusion.

the reconciling] i.e. the practical reconciling. The circumstances which caused and attended the “casting away” of Israel were the occasion of the proclamation of the Gospel of Reconciliation to the world. Thus, in a sense, Israel’s unbelief was the instrumental cause of the enjoyment of “peace with God” by the host of Gentile believers. On “reconciliation,” see on ch. Rom_5:1; Rom_5:11.

life from the dead] i.e. a vast and intense revival of true religion from a state which, by comparison, was religious death. (For a passage where “life” and “death” are so used, see Rev_3:2.) Meyer and some other expositors take the words here to mean literal resurrection-life; q. d., “the ‘receiving’ of the Jews shall usher in the resurrection and the immortal state.” But observe (1) that St Paul still has in view a blessing to the Gentiles through the Jews: the “for” which introduces this verse indicates this. And if so, it is most unlikely that he would mean resurrection-life here; a blessing in no way peculiar to Gentiles. Observe (2) that he implies a causative connexion, to some extent, between the casting-away of the Jews and the reconciliation of the Gentile world; (see last note): analogy leads us then to see a causative connexion also between their “receiving” and this “life from the dead.” But how could this be said if the “life” meant here is the literal resurrection? How likely, on the other hand, that its meaning should be just such a spiritual revival of the Gentile church as the conversion of Israel on a great scale would directly tend to awaken!—It is objected that this “life from the dead” must, as forming a climax, be a greater thing than the previous “reconciling of the world;” and that no mere revival could be this. No doubt in some respects it could not be; but if the revival were really world-wide, and intense, it would be a greater thing in respect of manifest triumph of Divine truth and life. See further below, on Rom_11:25-26.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For if the casting away of them,.... This argument, as before, in Rom 11:12, is from the lesser to the greater, showing that as the Gentiles received present advantage through the rejection of the Jews, they would receive far greater at their future recovery, and which proves that their rejection is not final; for by "the casting away of them", is meant the rejection of the Jews, and refers to God's writing a "Lo-ammi", Hos 1:9, upon them, and his taking away the Gospel from them, and which were the occasion of

the reconciling of the world, the Gentiles; not of God's drawing the scheme of their reconciliation in his Son; nor of the actual reconciliation of them by his sufferings and death; but of the Gospel, the word of reconciliation being carried among them upon the Jews' disbelief and contempt of it, which was made effectual by the power of divine grace, to the reconciling of them to God, to the, way of salvation by Christ; to be willing to serve him, and be saved by him; to, lay down their arms, surrender to his victorious grace, and become obedient to him both by word and deed; and if this was the case then, as it was, he asks

what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? By the receiving of them is meant the conversion of the Jews in the latter day, when they will be received by Christ, on whom they will look with an eye of faith, and mourn in an evangelical manner for their sins against him; who casts out none that come unto him, but receives them into his arms in the most kind and tender manner; and when they will be also openly received into the house and family of God, into the visible church of Christ; and as the apostle afterwards says, "be grafted into their own olive tree", Rom 11:24; and this their restoration will be as "life from the dead"; which regards not so much the quickening of the Jews themselves, though their conversion will be, as the conversion of every sinner is, a resurrection from the death of sin to a life of grace, and is so represented in Eze 37:1, but rather the reviving the work of God among the Gentile churches, who having lain long in a dead, lifeless, lukewarm, and indifferent frame of spirit, will be aroused and quickened, at this wonderful work of grace upon the Jews; and besides it will be as unexpected by them, and as surprising to them, as a person's being raised from the dead would be; yea as joyful, and as welcome to them, as if a man received his nearest relation and friend from the dead; add to this, and which some of the ancients make to be the sense of the place, quickly after the conversion of the Jews, the fulness of the Gentiles being brought in, and nothing more to be done in a way of grace, the first resurrection from the dead will follow, and happy is he that will have part in it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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?

Ver. 15. Be the reconciling] Not as a cause, but as an occasion.

Life from the dead] That is, Res summe bona, saith Phocius, a special good thing.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For if the casting away of them - If their rejection as the special people of God - their exclusion from their national privileges, on account of their unbelief. It is the same as “the fall of them;” Rom 11:12.

Be the reconciling of the world - The word “reconciliation” καταλλαγή katallagē denotes commonly a pacification of contending parties; a removing the occasion of difference, so as again to be united; 1Co 7:11, “Let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband.” It is commonly applied to the reconciliation, or pacification, produced between man and God by the gospel. They are brought to union, to friendship, to peace, by the intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ; Rom 5:10; 2Co 5:18-19,” God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.” Hence, the ministry is called the “ministry of reconciliation;” 2Co 5:18. And hence, this word is used to express the atonement; Rom 5:11, “By whom we have now received the atonement” (the reconciliation). In this place it means that many of the Gentiles - the world - had become reconciled to God as the result of the casting off of the Jews. By their unbelief, the way had been opened to preach the gospel to the Gentiles; it was the occasion by which God sent it to the nations of the earth; compare Act 13:46.

The receiving of them - The same as was denoted Rom 11:12 by their fulness. If the casting them off, an event so little likely, apparently, to produce any good effect, was nevertheless overruled so as to produce important benefits in the spread of the gospel, how much more may we expect will be accomplished by their conversion and return; an event suited in itself to produce an important influence on mankind. One would have supposed that their rejection of the Messiah would have been an important obstacle in the way of the gospel. It was overruled, however, to promote its increase. Their return will have a direct tendency to spread it. How much more, therefore, may we expect to be accomplished by that?

But life from the dead - This is an instance of the special, glowing, and vigorous manner of the apostle Paul. His mind catches at the thought of what may be produced by the recovery of the Jews, and no ordinary language would convey his idea. He had already exhausted the usual forms of speech by saying that even their rejection had reconciled the world, and that it was the riches of the Gentiles. To say that their recovery - a striking and momentous event; an event so much better suited to produce important results - would be attended by the conversion of the world, would be insipid and tame. He uses, therefore, a most bold and striking figure. The resurrection of the dead was an image of the most vast and wonderful event that could take place. This image, therefore, in the apostle’s mind, was a striking illustration of the great change and reformation which should take place when the Jews should be restored, and the effect should be felt in the conversion also of the Gentile world.

Some have supposed that the apostle here refers to a literal resurrection of the dead, as the conversion of the Jews. But there is not the slightest evidence of this. He refers to the recovery of the nations from the death of sin which shall take place when the Jews shall be converted to the Christian faith. The prophet Ezekiel Eze 37:1-14 has also used the same image of the resurrection of the dead to denote a great moral change among a people. It is clear here that the apostle fixed his eye on a future conversion of the Jews to the gospel, and expected that their conversion would precede the universal conversion of the Gentiles to the Christian faith, There could be no event that would make so immediate and decided an impression on the pagan world as the conversion of the Jews. They are scattered everywhere; they have access to all people; they understand all languages; and their conversion would be like kindling up thousands of lights at once in the darkness of the pagan world.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This verse contains an argument to prove the calling of the Jews; not a new one, but that repeated which you had before, Rom 11:12; the substance is the same, only the terms differ: there he spake of the fall and diminishing of the Jews, here, of their casting away; there it was the riches, here it is the reconciling of the world: q.d. If the rejection of the Jews brought great profit to the Gentiles, their reception and restoration will bring abundantly more.

Be the reconciling of the world; i.e. an occasion of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, by means of which they were reconciled to God. The gospel is the ministry of reconciliation, 2Co 5:18-20.

The receiving of them, into the favour of God and the bosom of the church.

Life from the dead; a proverbial speech, to signify a great change for the better. The conversion of that people and nation, will strengthen the things that are languishing and like to die in the Christian church. It will confirm the faith of the Gentiles, and reconcile all their differences in religion, and occasion a more thorough reformation amongst them: there will be a much more happy and flourishing estate of the church, even such as shall be in the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Life from the dead—Or, rather, life from dead, or, plural, deads. (See note on Luk_20:35.) The recovery of the Jews from the apostasy will be as a resurrection. It is a very palpable violation of rational exegesis, by Alford and others, to make the apostle say that the reconversion of the Jews would be an actual bodily resurrection. Their conversion must really be the reversal of their apostasy. As the former was a fall of their souls from grace by unbelief, so the latter must be a recovery of their souls to grace by faith. Nor is there any proof from Scripture that the conversion of the Jews will be forthwith followed by the resurrection.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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? The vivid force of this concluding expression is weakened by attempts to define what is exactly meant by it; as, for instance (as some interpret), that the general resurrection will come when the fulness of the Jews as well as the Gentiles has come in. It is best to leave the grandeur of the conception to be felt rather than explained.

"Life from the dead.

The new wine of Christianity burst the old, worn skin of Judaism. Israelites were indeed the first preachers of the faith, and its first adherents were largely recruited from the synagogues. Still, as years passed on, it became apparent that, as a whole, the favoured nation was unprepared for a religion so spiritual, so universal, as Christianity. The rejection of the gospel by the Jews was the occasion of the progress of the gospel in the larger, the Gentile world. And the apostle, himself a Hebrew, yet the apostle of the Gentiles, recognizing this fact as included in the plans of Providence, yet looked beyond the present into the future, and saw, in the predicted ingathering of the sons of Abraham, the destined revival of true religion throughout the world. When an event so remarkable, so unlikely, yet so clearly foretold, shall occur, its effect shall be prodigious; it shall be nothing less than "life from the dead." These words contain a principle truly and emphatically Christian. Let them be regarded in this light.

I THE FOUNDATION OF THIS PRINCIPLE IS LAID IN THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF OUR SAVIOR. From the throne of his glory Christ describes himself as the Being who "was dead, and is alive again." He must needs suffer, and taste death for every man; but it was not possible that he should be holden of it. His rising was more than a sign of his authority and of his acceptance with the Father. He rose as the Mediator and the Representative and the Forerunner of his people.

II THE APPLICATION OF THIS PRINCIPLE IS SECURED BY THE OPERATIONS OF THIS HOLY SPIRIT. The Church professes, in the ancient Creed, to "believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life." Without the influences of the Divine Spirit, the moral results secured by Christianity could not have been realized. Like the sunshine and the showers of spring, the Holy Spirit, by his descent and by his shining, fertilizes the barren soil of humanity. Like the breath which came from the four winds, and breathed upon the slain so that they lived, is the influence which awakens the dead. bones of the valley, and makes of them an exceeding great army. All spiritual life is evoked and sustained by the living Spirit of God.

III THE PRINCIPLE REVEALS ITSELF IN THE NEWNESS OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE WHICH IS THE DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. The transforming power of the new faith was at once revealed, and has ever continued to be revealed, in the heart and life of the individuals who have received Christ. The former state, the state of heathenism and irreligiousness, the state of sensuality, or worldliness, or unbelief, may well be designated, and by the inspired writers was designated, "death." And the contrast between that and the state of fellowship with God and of obedience to Christ could not be more strikingly described than in the language of the text, "Life from the dead." It is nothing less than this that Christianity is intended to effect a change moral, radical, extensive, and enduring.

IV THE PRINCIPLE IS MANIFESTED ON A LARGER, A SOCIAL SCALE. It is thus that it is represented in the text as operating; it effects a transformation in human society. To many cities and communities in the primitive times, the religion of the Lord Jesus proved an impulse of regeneration. And by it ancient society seems to have been saved from threatening corruption and dissolution. When death was to all appearance imminent, the gospel entered into the heart of humanity as a new vital principle, renewing that which was old, healing that which was sick, and reviving that which was dead. It is still the one, the only, hope for a race "dead in trespasses and sins.

V THE PRINCIPLE WILL DE EXEMPLIFIED IN THE ETERNAL LIFE OF CHRIST"S PEOPLE. Both the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and that transformation of spiritual character which is called "the first resurrection," are the pledge and earnest of the immortal life of the Lord"s people. It is distinctive of our religion that it holds out a definite and assured prospect of a life beyond the present a life holy, imperishable, and Divine. The prospect of bright and blessed immortality has strengthened the arms of every true Christian labourer, and has cheered the heart of every Christian sufferer. It has been the joy of the living and the hope of the dying.

APPLICATION.

1. The words are a summons to the spiritually dead. There is life in Christ even for such.

2. They are an encouragement to Christian toil. Those who in their service of benevolence are oppressed by the deadness which encounters them, should recur to first principles, and consider the purposes of infinite grace and power, and the promises of spiritual revival.

3. They are a consolation and inspiration to Christians when drawing near to the death of the body.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Life from the dead - Overflowing life to the world, which was dead.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

world kosmos = mankind.

(See Scofield "Mat 4:8").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what will the reception be but life from the dead?” With the collapse of the Jews a gospel sunburst came upon the Gentile world. In a similar manner the conversion of the Jews will stir all Christendom from center to circumference, giving an impetus unprecedented in the ages.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? [Again we have a passage wherein "the apostle," as Meyer expresses it, "argues from the happy effect of the worse cause, to the happier effect of the better cause." If a curse, so to speak, brought a blessing, what would not a blessing bring? If the casting away of Israel in Paul's day resulted in the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, and the turning of them from idols and imaginary deities to seek after the true God as part of a theocratic family wherein converted Jew and Gentile are reconciled to each other and to God (see Eph_2:11-22 for a full description of this double reconciliation), what would the receiving again of the vast body of unconverted Jews at the end of the times of the Gentiles ( Rom_11:25-26 ) be but a veritable life from the dead, an unprecedented, semi-miraculous revival? Theophylact, Augustine, Melanchthon, Calvin, Beza, Bucer, Turretin, Philippi, Bengel, Auberlen, Clark, Macknight, Plumer, Brown, Lard, Gifford, Moule, Riddle, etc., view this as a great spiritual resurrection, a revival of grace accompanying the conversion of the whole world. Others, as Origen, Chrysostom, the earlier commentators generally, Ruckert, Meyer, De Wette, etc., look upon it as a literal, bodily resurrection, while Olshausen, Lange and Alford consider it as a combination of spiritual and bodily resurrections. The first of these positions is most tenable. "This," says Barnes, "is an instance of the peculiar, glowing and vigorous manner of the apostle Paul. His mind catches at the thought of what may be produced by the recovery of the Jews, and no ordinary language would convey his idea. He had already exhausted the usual forms of speech by saying that even their rejection had reconciled the world, and that it was the riches of the Gentiles. To say that their recovery--a striking and momentous event; an event so much better fitted to produce important results--would be attended by the conversion of the world, would be insipid and tame. He uses, therefore, a most bold and striking figure. The resurrection of the dead was an image of the most vast and wonderful event that could take place." Some of those who view this as a literal resurrection, do so from a lack of clear conception as to the order of the dispensations. They look upon the conversion of the Jews as taking place at the very end of the world, and hence synchronous with the final resurrection. They do not know that the Jewish dispensation, or age, gave place to the present one, which is called "the times of the Gentiles" ( Luk_21:24 ), and that this dispensation will give place to a third, known as the millennium or age of a thousand years ( Rev_20:1-6 ). The Jewish dispensation ended with the death of Christ, and the Gentile dispensation will end when the gospel is preached unto all nations ( Mat_24:14 ). Its end, as Paul shows us at verses 25 and 26, will also be synchronous with the conversion of the Jews. Failure to grasp these important facts has led to much general confusion, and to gross mistakes in the interpretation and application of prophecies, for many Biblical references to the end of the Gentile dispensation, or age, have been erroneously referred to the end of the world, or end of the ages. The last age, or millennium, will be the triumph of the kingdom of God, the thousand-year reign of the saints on earth, and it will begin with the conversion of the world under the leadership of the Jews, and this is the event which Paul fittingly describes as "life from the dead." The millennium will be as a resurrection to the Jews (Eze 37), for they will return to their own land ( Eze_37:11-14 ; Eze_37:21 ; Eze_37:25 ) and revive their national life as a united people ( Eze_37:22 ). It will be as a resurrection of primitive, apostolic Christianity to the Gentiles, for the deadness of the "last days" of their dispensation ( 2Ti_3:1-9 ; 2Ti_4:3-4 ), with its Catholic Sardis and its Protestant Laodicea ( Rev_3:1-6 ; Rev_3:14-22 ), will give place to the new life of the new age, wherein the "first love" of the Ephesian, or first, church will be revived ( Rev_2:4-5 ), and the martyr spirit of Smyrna, its successor, will again come forth ( Rev_2:10 ), and the devil will be chained and the saints will reign ( Rev_20:1-6 ). This spiritual resurrection of the last age is called the "first resurrection," for it is like, and it is followed by, the real or literal resurrection which winds it up, and begins the heavenly age, or eternity with God. Ezekiel tells what the last age will do to the Jews, Paul what it will be to the Gentiles, and John what it will mean to them both. As to Paul's description Pool thus writes: "The conversion of the Jewish people and nation will strengthen the things that are languishing and like to die in the Christian church. It will confirm the faith of the Gentiles, and reconcile their differences in religion, and occasion a more thorough reformation amongst them: there will be a much more happy and flourishing estate of the church, even such as shall be in the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead." All this, as Paul boldly asserts, will result from the blessed power of Jewish leadership, as in the beginning. "The light," says Godet. "which converted Jews bring to the church, and the power of life which they have sometimes awakened in it, are the pledge of that spiritual renovation which will be produced in Gentile Christendom by their entrance en masse. Do we not feel that in our present condition there is something, and that much, wanting to us that the promises of the gospel may be realized in all their fullness; that there is, as it were, a mysterious hindrance to the efficacy of preaching, a debility inherent in our spiritual life, a lack of joy and force which contrasts strangely with the joyful outbursts of prophets and psalmists; that, in fine, the feast in the father's house is not complete . . . why? because it can not be so, so long as the family is not entirely reconstituted by the return of the elder son. Then shall come the Pentecost of the last times, the latter rain." Against the above view that Paul speaks of a spiritual resurrection it is weakly urged that it assumes a future falling away of the Gentiles, and a lapse on their part into spiritual death, and that the apostle gives no intimation of such a declension by them. But it is right to assume such a declension, for Paul most clearly intimates it; for (1) all the remainder of this section is a discussion of how the Jews brought their dispensation to an end, and a warning to the Gentiles not to follow their example and have their dispensation end in a like manner. (2) In verse 25 he speaks of the fullness or completeness of the Gentiles. But, according to the divine method, this dispensation of the Gentiles could not reach completeness and be done away with until it became corrupt and worthless. God does not cast off till iniquity is full and failure complete ( Gen_6:13 ; Gen_15:16 ; Mat_23:29-33 ). Moreover, some five years before this, in the second Epistle that ever came from his pen, Paul had foretold this declension in the church, and had described it as even then "working," though restrained ( 2Th_2:3-12 ). The assumption on which this view of a spiritual resurrection rests is both contextual and natural. Finally, as to this being a literal body resurrection, we must of course admit that an all-powerful God can begin the millennium that way if he chooses, but to suppose that the literally resurrected dead shall mingle and dwell with the rest of humanity for a thousand years, or throughout an entire dispensation, savors of fanaticism. Even Jesus kept aloof during his forty days of waiting before his ascension. A healthy mind can not long retain such an idea, nor can we think that Paul would introduce so marvelous and abnormal a social condition without in some measure elaborating it. As against a literal, physical resurrection Hodge argues strongly. We give a sentence or two: "Not only in Scriptures, but also in profane literature, the transition from a state of depression and misery, to one of prosperity, is expressed by the natural figure of passing from death to life. The Old Testament prophets represented the glorious condition of the Theocracy, consequent on the coming of Christ, in contrast with its previous condition, as a rising from the dead. . . . Nowhere else in Scripture is the literal resurrection expressed by the words 'life from the dead.' Had Paul intended a reference to the resurrection, no reason can be assigned why he did not employ the established and familiar words 'resurrection from the dead.' If he meant the resurrection, why did he not say so? Why use a general phrase, which is elsewhere used to express another idea? Besides this, it is not according to the analogy of scripture, that the resurrection of the dead, and the change of those who shall then be alive ( 1Co_15:51 ; 1Th_4:14-18 ), are to be immediate, consequent on the conversion of the Jews. The resurrection is not to occur until 'the end.' A new state of things, a new mode of existence, is to be then introduced. Flesh and blood--i. e., our bodies as now organized--can not inherit the kingdom of God." For a full discussion of the spiritual nature of the resurrection, from the pen of A. Campbell, see his articles on the second coming of the Lord, in the Millennial Harbinger. We shall never know how dead our liquor-licensing, sectarian, wealth-worshipping, stock-gambling, religio-fad-loving, political, war-waging Christendom has been until the spirit of the early church rises from the dead to form the new age; then it will be at once apparent to all what Paul meant by this bold figure, "life from the dead." But the glorious prospect here presented rests on the supposition that the Jews en masse shall be converted. As that is a supposition which many expositors even in our day regard with doubt, the apostle first shows its Scriptural and natural reasonableness, and then plainly and unequivocally predicts it. He presents its reasonableness thus]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world. See the notes on Rom. 11:11. Their unbelief caused the preaching of the gospel of reconciliation to the Gentiles. But life from the dead. The apostle, under this strong expression, describes a wonderful resurrection of spiritual life which will follow the national conversion of Israel.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world

"For if because God rejected them, he will reconcile the rest of the world to himself"

their rejection

The pronoun "their" refers to Jewish unbelievers.

the world

Here "the world" is a metonym for the people who live in the world. AT: "the people in the world" (See: Metonymy)

what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Paul asks this question to emphasize that when God accepts the Jews, it will be a wonderful thing. You can translate it in an active form. AT: "how will it be when God accepts them? It will be like they have come back to life from among the dead!" or "then when God accepts them, it will be like they have died and become alive again!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Active or Passive)

the dead

These words speak of all dead people together in the underworld.

If the firstfruits are reserved, so is the lump of dough

Paul is speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Israelites' ancestors, as if they were the first grain or "firstfruits" to be harvested. He is also speaking of the Israelites who are descendants of those men as if they were a "lump of dough" that they made from the grain. AT: "If Abraham is counted as the first of what has been offered to God, all of our ancestors who followed should also be counted as God's possession" (See: Metaphor)

If the root is reserved, so are the branches

Paul is speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Israelites' ancestors, as if they were the root of a tree, and the Israelites who are descendants of those men, as if they were the tree's "branches." (See: Metaphor)

reserved

The people always dedicated to God the first crops that they harvested. Here "firstfruits" stands for the first people to believe in Christ. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

reject

reconcile

world

life

die

firstfruits

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

15.] For (a reason for my anxiety for the salvation of Israel: not merely for the sake of mine own kinsmen, but because their recovery will bring about the blessed consummation of all believers. Vv. 13, 14 should not then be in a parenthesis) if the rejection of them (not ‘their loss,’ as Luth. and Beng., by which the antithesis to πρόσλημψις is weakened) be (the occasion of) the reconciliation of the world (of the Gentiles, viz. to God), what (‘qualis,’ ‘of what kind,’ in its effect) (will be) their reception, but (the occasion of) life from the dead! ξωὴ ἐκ νεκρ. may be variously taken. (1) it may be metaphorical, as in ch. 6:13, and may import, that so general a conversion of the world would take place, as would be like life from the dead. So, more or less, Calv., Calov., Estius, Bengel, Stuart, Hodge, al., and Theophyl., , who explain it of a joy like that of the resurrection. But against this interpretation lies the objection, that this is already involved in καταλλαγὴ κόσμ., and thus no new idea would be brought out by the words, which stand in the most emphatic position. (2) it may mean that ‘life from the dead’ literally should follow on the restoration of the Jewish people; i.e. that the Resurrection, the great consummation, is bound up with it. So Chrys., Orig. (“tunc enim erit assumptio Israel, quando jam et mortui vitam recipient, et mundus ex corruptibili incorruptibilis fiet, et mortales immortalitate donabuntur”), Theodoret, Reiche, Meyer, Fritzsche, Rückert Exo_2, Tholuck, al. The objection to this view seems to be, that the Apostle would hardly have used ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν thus predicatively, if he had meant by it a fixed and predetermined event;—but that, standing as it does, it must be qualitative, implying some further blessed state of the reconciled world, over and above the mere reconciliation. This might well be designated ‘life from the dead,’ and in it may be implied the glories of the first resurrection, and deliverance from the bondage of corruption, without supposing the words ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν = ἡ ἀνάστασις τῶν νεκ. Stuart well compares Eze 37:1-14, which was perhaps before the mind of the Apostle:—but he gives a mere ethical interpretation to it.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. The two previous verses have been to a certain extent parenthetical; in this verse the Apostle continues the argument of ver. 12, repeating in a stronger form what he has there said, but in such a way as to explain the statement made in vv. 13, 14, that by thus caring for his fellow-countrymen he is fulfilling his mission to the Gentile world. The casting away of the Jews has meant the reconciliation of the world to Christ. Henceforth there is no more a great wall of partition separating God’s people from the rest of the world. This is the first step in the founding of the Messianic kingdom; but when all the people of Israel shall have come in there will be the final consummation of all things, and this means the realization of the hope which the reconciliation of the world has made possible.ἀποβολή: the rejection of the Jews for their faithlessness. The meaning of the word is defined by the contrasted πρόσληψις.

καταλλαγὴ κόσμου: cf. vv. 10, 11. The reconciliation was the immediate result of St. Paul’s ministry, which he describes elsewhere (2Co 5:18, 2Co 5:19) as a ministry of reconciliation; its final result, the hope to which it looks forward, is salvation (καταλλαγέντες σωθησόμεθα): the realization of this hope is what every Gentile must long for, and therefore whatever will lead to its fulfilment must be part of St. Paul’s ministry.

πρόσληψις: the reception of the Jews into the kingdom of the Messiah. The noun is not used elsewhere in the N. T., but the meaning is shown by the parallel use of the verb (cf. 14:3; 15:7).

ζωὴ ἐκ νεκρῶν. The meaning of this phrase must be determined by that of καταλλαγὴ κόσμου. The argument demands something much stronger than that, which may be a climax to the section. It may either be (1) used in a figurative sense, cf. Eze 37:3 ff.; Luk 15:24, Luk 15:32 ὁ ἀδελφός σου οὗτος νεκρὸς ἦν, καὶ ἔζησε· καὶ ἀπολωλώς, καὶ εὑρέθη. In this sense it would mean the universal diffusion of the Gospel message and a great awakening of spiritual life as the result of it. Or (2), it may mean the ‘general Resurrection’ as a sign of the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom. In this sense it would make a suitable antithesis to καταλλαγή. The reconciliation of the heathen and their reception into the Church on earth was the first step in a process which led ultimately to their σωτηρία. It gave them grounds for hoping for that which they should enjoy in the final consummation. And this consummation would come when the kingdom was completed. In all contemporary Jewish literature the Resurrection (whether partial or general) is a sign of the inauguration of the new era. Schürer, Geschichte, &c. ii. p. 460; Jubilees xxiii. 29 ‘And at that time the Lord will heal his servants, and they will arise and will see great peace and will cast out their enemies; and the just shall see it and be thankful and rejoice in joy to all eternity.’ Enoch Lev_1 (p. 139 ed. Charles) ‘And in those days will the earth also give back those who are treasured up within it, and Sheôl also will give back that which it has received, and hell will give back that which it owes. And he will choose the righteous and holy from among them: for the day of their redemption has drawn nigh.’ As in the latter part of this chapter St. Paul seems to be largely influenced by the language and forms of the current eschatology, it is very probable that the second interpretation is the more correct; cf. Origen viii. 9, p. 257 Tunc enim erit assumtio Israel, quando iam et mortui vitam recipient et mundus ex corruptibili incorruptibilis fiet, et mortales immortalitate donabuntur; and see below ver. 26.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The casting away [η αποβολη] . In contrast with receiving. Only here and Act 27:22, where it means loss. Here exclusion from God 's people. Reconciling of the world [καταλλαγη κοσμου] . See on ch. Rom 5:10, 11. Defining the phrase riches of the world in ver. 12.

Life from the dead. The exact meaning cannot be determined. Some refer it to the resurrection to follow the conversion of Israel, including the new life which the resurrection will inaugurate. Others, a new spiritual life. Others combine the two views.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.