Romans 11:16

If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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KJV

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

ASV

And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

YLT

and if the first-fruit is holy, the lump also; and if the root is holy, the branches also.

DBT

Now if the first-fruit [be] holy, the lump also; and if the root [be] holy, the branches also.

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Commentary voices

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Voices6

On this verse

And that the Saviour received first-fruits of those whom He was to save, Paul declared when he said, "And if the first-fruits be holy, the lump is also holy," teaching that the expression "first-fruits" denoted that which is spiritual, but that "the lump" meant us, that is, the animal Church, the lump of which they say He assumed, and blended it with Himself, inasmuch as He is "the leaven."

Irenaeus· Against Heresies Book I, 202patristic

Related commentary

For if the firstfruit be holy,.... Some by "the firstfruit" and "root" understand Christ, who is sometimes called, "the firstfruits of them that slept", 1Co 15:20, and "the root of Jesse and David", Isa 11:10, and indeed of all the righteous; and certain it is, that since he is holy, has all the holiness of his people in him, and is sanctification unto them, they shall be holy likewise; have it imparted to them in this life, and perfected in them in another: but this does not seem to agree with the apostle's argument.

John Gill· Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)reformed

For if the first fruit be holy - As the consecrating the first fruits to God was the means of drawing down his blessing upon the rest, so the conversion of Abraham to the true faith, and the several Jews who have now embraced Christianity, are pledges that God will, in process of time, admit the whole Jewish nation into his favor again, so that they shall constitute a part of the visible Church of Christ.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

The figure of the "root" and its "branches" is of like import--the consecration of the one of them extending to the other.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed

And this will surely come to pass. For if the first fruits be holy, so is the lump - The consecration of them was esteemed the consecration of all and so the conversion of a few Jews is an earnest of the conversion of all the rest.

John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament, 1755evangelical

Some by the first-fruits understand those of the Jews that were already converted to the faith of Christ and received into the church, who were as the first-fruits dedicated to God, as earnests of a more plentiful and sanctified harvest. A good beginning promises a good ending.

Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan

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Cross-references

31 linked verses

The verses this one reaches12

Mark 10:14
But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Ezekiel 44:30
The best of all the firstfruits and of every contribution from all your offerings will belong to the priests. You are to give your first batch of dough to the priest, so that a blessing may rest upon your homes.
Proverbs 3:9
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
Isaiah 6:13
And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
Acts 16:31
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Jeremiah 2:3
Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her found themselves guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.
James 1:18
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
Numbers 15:17–21
Then the LORD said to Moses,
Leviticus 23:10
“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest.
Jeremiah 2:21
I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before Me into a rotten, wild vine?
1 Corinthians 7:14
For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
Isaiah 27:6
In the days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will bud and blossom and fill the whole world with fruit.

19 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

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About this book

The Crucifixion — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

Romans — Paul's gospel set out in order. Four great movements: sin, salvation, sanctification, sovereignty — closing with sustained calls to service and unity.

Canon: New Testament
Author: Paul the apostle, dictated to Tertius (Rom 16:22)
Date: c. AD 57, from Corinth before the Jerusalem offering

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Proverbs 3:9
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
leads to
- Exodus 23:19
  Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 26:2–15
  you are to take some of the firstfruits of all your produce from the soil of the land that the LORD your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go…
- 1 Corinthians 16:2
  On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a portion of his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will be needed.
- Proverbs 14:31
  Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
- Philippians 4:17–18
  Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account.
Through
James 1:18
He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of His creation.
leads to
- Romans 8:29–31
  For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers.
- 1 Peter 1:23
  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
- John 3:3–5
  Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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