Romans 11:19
in Romans 11You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
KJV
Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
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This verse in Romans 11
Commentary
12 notes on this verseWhen you were stripped you were anointed with exorcised olive oil, from the topmost hairs of your head to the soles of your feet, and became partakers of the good olive tree, Jesus Christ. Cuttings from the wild olive tree, you were grafted into the good olive tree and became partakers of the richness of the true olive tree.
This site's exposition
Branches were broken off
on Romans 11:19-22
Paul lets the Gentile say that branches were broken off so he could be grafted in. Verse 20 grants the fact and breaks the pride, since both the breaking and the standing turn on faith.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A believing Gentile says that he can rejoice that the Jews did not believe, saying that their condemnation made room for the Gentiles. But the Jews were not condemned by God in order to let the Gentiles in. They condemned themselves by rejecting God's gift, …
A commentator
Origen of AlexandriaCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS · Written before 253.
proposed
"But if the firstfruits are holy, so is the lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though you were a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became a sharer in the root and the fatness of the olive tree, do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who bear the root, but the root you. You say then: The branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Well: they were broken off because of unbelief. But you stand by faith: do not be proud in your thinking, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Behold, then, the goodness and the severity of God: toward those indeed who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in goodness. Otherwise you too will be cut off, and they, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in. For God is able to graft them in again. For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into the good olive tree, how much more shall these, who are according to nature, be grafted into their own olive tree?" I do not know how those who come from the school of Valentinus and Basilides, failing to hear these things thus spoken by Paul, suppose that there is a nature of souls which is always saved and never perishes, and another which always perishes and is never saved: when Paul plainly says that the branches of the good olive tree were broken off because of their own unbelief, and stood in need of the vengeance of divine severity; and again that the branches of the wild olive — which among them is set down as a nature that is lost — were grafted into the root and fatness of the olive tree. But to those people, indeed, an easy answer may be given by these words. […]
"Thou wilt say then," he goes on, "The branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." Again he establishes, by way of objection, the opposite to the former position, to show that what he said before, he had not said as directly belonging to the subject, but to draw them to him. For it was no longer by their fall that salvation came to the Gentiles, nor was it their fall that was the riches of the world. Nor was it by this that we were saved, because they had fallen, but the reverse. And he shows that the providence in regard to the Gentiles was a main object, even though he seems to put what he says into another form. And the whole passage is a tissue of objections, in which he clears himself of the suspicion of hatred, and makes his language such as will be acceptable.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Here he proves that the Gentiles were not chosen in place of the Jews because the Jews sinned, but for the faith which the Gentiles displayed. So where he seems to cast down the Gentile, there he shows that the fall of the Jews was …
Then when he says, you will say then, he excludes an objection from the gentiles: first, he presents the objection; second, he excludes it from a consideration of divine justice, at well; third, he urges them to diligently consider God's judgments, at see then the …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): They were broken off that I might be grafted in; that is, do not think that thou didst merit more at the hand of God than they, or didst stand higher in his favour." "But remember, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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.
His seeing all things by one clear, and certain, and infallible view--all things that are, or ever were, or ever shall be,--that all is naked and open before him: there is his knowledge. His ruling and ordering all things, directing and disposing them to his own glory, and bringing about his own purposes and counsels in all; this is his wisdom.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
Thou wilt say then, etc. - 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.
The words behind it
7 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐρεῖς | ereis | You will say | G4483 → | 46 times |
| οὖν· | oun | then; | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἐξεκλάσθησαν | exeklasthesan | Were broken off | G1575 → | 3 times |
| κλάδοι | kladoi | branches | G2798 → | 11 times |
| ἵνα | ina | that | G2443 → | 668 times |
| ἐγὼ | ego | I myself | G1473 → | 839 times |
| ἐγκεντρισθῶ. | egkentristho | may be grafted in. | G1461 → | 6 times |
ἐρεῖςYou will say
ereisG4483 →46 times
οὖν·then;
ounG3767 →497 times
ἐξεκλάσθησανWere broken off
exeklasthesanG1575 →3 times
κλάδοιbranches
kladoiG2798 →11 times
ἵναthat
inaG2443 →668 times
ἐγὼI myself
egoG1473 →839 times
ἐγκεντρισθῶ.may be grafted in.
egkentristhoG1461 →6 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 11:17Now if some branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others to share in the nourishment of the olive root,
it leads to
- Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Ephesians 2:11–13
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- John 15:2
He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Jeremiah 11:16
The LORD once called you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. But with a mighty roar He will set it on fire, and its branches will be consumed.
- Matthew 21:43
Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.
- Ephesians 3:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies22
On this chapter
- Abraham
- The Armor of God
- Baal and the religion of Canaan
- Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism
- Elijah the Tishbite
- God and the Nations, from Abraham to the New Jerusalem
Show the next 6 titles
About Romans

This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; Cyril of Jerusalem, THE MYSTAGOGICAL LECTURES 2.3; John Chrysostom, Homily on Romans 19; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Romans and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Romans.
