Romans 11:21
in Romans 11For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee.
KJV
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
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This verse in Romans 11
Commentary
13 notes on this verseFor if these men of old time, who preceded us in the gifts [bestowed upon them], and for whom the Son of God had not yet suffered, when they committed any sin and served fleshly lusts, were rendered objects of such disgrace, what shall the men of the present day suffer, who have despised the Lord's coming, and become the slaves of their own lusts?
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.
This site's exposition
He will certainly not spare you either
The natural branches had the patriarchs behind them, and Matthew Henry notes that ancestry and long usage failed to secure them. The grafted branch has less claim than they had. Basil of Caesarea adds that the Judge will examine how each person used the grace given.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
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. […]
Judgment will be in accordance with grace, and the Judge will make examination of how you have used the graces bestowed upon you.
"For if God spared not the natural branches," and then he does not say, neither will He spare thee," but "take heed, lest He also spare not thee." So paring away the distasteful from his statement, representing the believer as in the struggle, he at once draws the others to him, and humbles these also.
The Medieval Church2 voices
The reason for this admonition is given when he says: for if God has not spared the natural branches, i.e., the Jews, who descended by natural origin from the patriarchs, but allowed them to be broken off, fear lest perhaps also he does not spare …
The Jews were sons of the patriarchs by nature, yet were broken off by unbelief. All the more should you fear, you who are grafted in, whether God will spare you in the case of your fall.
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Prescription, long usage, the faithfulness of their ancestors, would not secure them. It was in vain to plead, though they insisted much upon it, that they were Abraham's seed, Matt. iii. It is true they were the husbandmen to whom the vineyard was first let out; but, when they forfeited it, it was justly taken from them, Matt. xxi.
For if God spared not the natural branches,....
This teaches us how to understand other prayers of David against his enemies; they are to be looked upon as prophetic of the judgments of God upon the public and obstinate enemies of Christ and his kingdom. His prayer that it might be so was a prophecy that it should be so, and not the private expression of his own angry resentments.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For if God ... - If God did not refrain from rejecting the Jews who became unbelievers, assuredly he will not refrain from rejecting you in the same circumstances. It may be supposed that he will be quite as ready to reject the ingrafted branches, as to cast off those which belonged to the parent stock. The situation of the Gentiles is not such as to give them any security over the condition of the rejected Jew.
For if God spared not the natural branches - If He, in his infinite justice and holiness, could not tolerate sin in the people whom he foreknew, whom he had so long loved, cherished, miraculously preserved and blessed; take heed lest he also spare not thee. Be convinced that the same righteous principle in him will cause him to act towards you as he has acted towards them, if you sin after the similitude of their transgression; and to this, self-sufficiency and self-confidence will soon lead you. Remember, therefore, the rock whence you were hewn, and the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Depend incessantly on God’s free grace, that ye may abide in his favor.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἰ | ei | If | G1487 → | 508 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεὸς | theos | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| τῶν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κατὰ | kata | according to | G2596 → | 468 times |
| φύσιν | phusin | nature | G5449 → | 14 times |
| κλάδων | kladon | branches | G2798 → | 11 times |
| οὐκ | ouk | not | G3756 → | 1664 times |
| ἐφείσατο, | epheisato | spared, | G5339 → | 10 times |
| μή | me | surely | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| πως | pos | perhaps | G4458 → | 16 times |
| οὐδὲ | oude | neither | G3761 → | 141 times |
| σοῦ | sou | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| φείσεται.¶ | pheisetai | will He spare. | G5339 → | 10 times |
εἰIf
eiG1487 →508 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
θεὸςGod
theosG2316 →1312 times
τῶνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
κατὰaccording to
kataG2596 →468 times
φύσινnature
phusinG5449 →14 times
κλάδωνbranches
kladonG2798 →11 times
οὐκnot
oukG3756 →1664 times
ἐφείσατο,spared,
epheisatoG5339 →10 times
μήsurely
meG3361 →1066 times
πωςperhaps
posG4458 →16 times
οὐδὲneither
oudeG3761 →141 times
σοῦyou
souG4771 →2973 times
φείσεται.¶will He spare.
pheisetaiG5339 →10 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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 8:32He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
it leads to
- John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Psalms 84:11
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- 1 John 4:10
And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- John 3:16
Through
Jude 1:5Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
it leads to
- Hebrews 3:16
For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
- Numbers 26:64–65
Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
- 1 Corinthians 10:1–12
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.
- Hebrews 3:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies28
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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); Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY 20; Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans; Irenaeus, Irenaeus Against Heresies Book 4; 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.
