I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
All Commentaries on Romans 11:11 Go To Romans 11
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
After showing that the fall of the Jews is not universal [n. 859], the Apostle now begins to show that their fall was neither useless nor irreparable. In regard to this he does two things: first, he shows that the fall of the Jews is useful and reparable; secondly, he disputes the Gentiles' boasting against the Jews [v. 17; n. 894]. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he asks a question; secondly, he answers it [v. 11b; n. 880]. 879. First, therefore, he says: It has been stated and proved that except for the chosen, the rest of the Jews have been blinded. So the question arises: Have they stumbled so as to fall? This can be interpreted in two ways: the first way is this: Has God permitted them to stumble only so as to fall, i.e., not for any benefit that might follow but merely willing their fall? This, of course, would be contrary to God's goodness which, as Augustine says, is so great that it would not permit any evil to occur except for some good, which He draws out of the evil. Hence it says in Jb (34:24): "He shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall make others to stand in their stead"; and in Rev (3:11): "Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown,": namely, because God permits some to fall in order that their fall be the occasion of salvation for others. Another interpretation is this: Have they stumbled so as to fall? i.e., to remain fallen forever: "will he not rise again from where he lies?" (Ps 41:8). 880. Then when he says, Let it not be! he answers the question: first, according to the second interpretation that it is reparable; 439 second, he resolves the question according to the second interpretation, showing that the Jews’ situation is reparable [883]. 881. First, therefore, he says: By no means was their fall useless; rather, by their, namely, the Jews', trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Hence the Lord Himself says: "Salvation is from the Jews" (Jn 4:22). This can be understood in three ways. In the first way, that by their trespass, which they committed in killing Christ, the salvation of the Gentiles was obtained through the redemption of Christ's blood: "you know that you were ransomed not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of the Lamb" (1 Pt 1:18). In the second way, it can be understood of the trespass by which they rejected the teaching of the apostles, with the result that the apostles preached to the Gentiles, as it says in Ac (13:46): "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, we turn to the Gentiles." In a third way it can be understood as meaning that on account of their impenitence they have been scattered among all the nations. As a result Christ and the Church had from the books of the Jews testimony to the Christian faith helpful in converting the Gentiles, who might have suspected that the prophecies concerning the testimony of the Hews; hence it says in Ps 59 (v.10): "Let me look in triumph on my enemies," i.e., the Jews. "Slay them not, lest my people forget, make them totter by thy power." 882. There follows so that they may be jealous of them. 440 And because he does not say who or whom, and since there are two kinds of jealousy, namely that of indignation and that of imitation, this phrase can be explained in four ways. The first way is this. The Gentiles are jealous of them, namely the Jews, such that they imitate them in the worship of the one God: "You were at one time without Christ, alien to the way of life of Israel," and later he adds, "But now you, who were once far off, have been drawn near in the blood of Christ" (Eph 2:12); "You have become imitators of the Church of God" (1Th 2:14), which was in Judea. Or it can be interpreted this way. The Gentiles are jealous of the Jews, i.e., they are indignant against them on account of their unbelief: "I beheld the transgressors and I pined away, because they do not keep your words" (Ps 118:158). Thirdly, it can be understood in this way. The Jews are jealous, i.e., imitate the Gentiles when everywhere, and now some of them particularly, are converted to the faith, imitating the faith of the Gentiles; and in the end all Israel will be saved when the fullness of the Gentiles have entered. Thus will be fulfilled what is said in Dt 28(:44), "He will be the head and you will be the tail." Fourthly, it can be interpreted this way. The Jews are jealous of the Gentiles, i.e., are disturbed out of envy towards them when they see their glory passing over to them: "I will provoke you by that which is not a people" (Dt 22:21). 883. Then when he says, Now if their trespass, he answers the question as interpreted in the second way and shows that the fall of the Jews is reparable. He does this in three ways: first, from its usefulness; 441 secondly, from the Apostle's intention [v. 12; n. 885]; thirdly, from the condition of that people [v. 16; n. 891]. In regard to the first he presents the following reason: a good is more powerful than an evil in producing usefulness, but the evil which befell the Jews produced something very useful for the Gentiles, therefore, their good will produce greater usefulness for the world. What he is saying is this: It has been said that by their trespass the salvation of the Gentiles was achieved. Now if their trespass, i.e., the Jews', means riches for the world, i.e., for the Gentiles, because the trespass of the Jews resulted in spiritual riches for the Gentiles, (This refers to their guilt, and their failure, by which they fell from the lofty glory they had, pertains to their punishment). "For we are diminished more than any nation and are brought low in all the earth this day for our sins" (Dan 3:37). How much more will their full inclusion, i.e., their spiritual abundance or their multitude converted to God, result in riches for the Gentiles: "My abode is in the full assembly of saints" (Sir 24:16). And so, if for the benefit of the whole world God permitted the Jews to do wrong and be diminished, much more will He repair their disaster for the benefit of the whole world. 885. Then when he says, For I am speaking to you Gentiles, he shows the same things by revealing the purpose of his ministry, which he first states; secondly, he assigns the reason [v. 15; n. 890]. 886. In regard to the first it should be noted that whereas the previous parts of the epistle were directed to all the believers in Rome, whether from the Jews or from the Gentiles, he is now directing his words to the converted Gentiles. 442 887. He says, therefore: I have stated that their fullness will mean riches for the world. As testimony to this I say to you Gentiles, i.e., Gentiles converted to the faith: "I said, 'Behold me' to a nation that did not call upon my name" (Is 65:1). This, I repeat, I say to you: inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, the special care of whom has fallen to me on account of the office entrusted to me: "For this was I appointed a preacher and apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth" (1 Tim 2:7); I will magnify my ministry not with things that pertain to worldly honor: but first by adorning it with good morals: "As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way in much patience." (2 Cor 6:4). Secondly, by performing extra works to which he was not bound: "What then is my reward? Just this: that by making his anxiety embrace everyone's salvation: "Apart from all other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor 11:28). 888. Hence he adds: in order to make my flesh, i.e., the Jews, who are related to me in the flesh, as was said above in chapter 9(:3), jealous: "Do not despise your own flesh" (Is 58:7): and thus save some of them, namely, of the Jews: "not seeking my own advantage but that of many, that they may be saved" (1 Cor 10:33). 889. But this seems contrary to what he says in 2 Cor (10:13): "But we will not boast beyond limit, but will keep to the limits God apportioned us, to reach even to you" But he had not accepted the limit of his service, which was to the Gentiles. Therefore, he should not have concerned himself about the Jews. Some say that the Jews living in Judea did not pertain to his apostolate, but to that of Peter, James and John (Gal c.2). But the Jews living among the Gentiles pertained to his apostolate and he worked for their salvation. 443 But this seems contrary to his statement here. For if those Jews were the limit of his apostolate, he would not be magnifying his service. Therefore, it must be said that preaching to the Gentiles was committed to him in such a way that he was bound to it by necessity, as he says: "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel. For necessity is laid upon me" (1 Cor 9:16); but he was not forbidden to preach to the Jews, even though he was not bound to do so. Consequently, by working for their salvation he magnified his service. But he would not have done this, if he thought their fall irreparable. Hence the Apostle's very zeal for the conversion of the Jews was the sign he adduced for stating that the fall of the Jews was reparable. 890. Then when he says, For if, he assigns the reason for his interest, namely, that the conversion of the Jews would contribute to the salvation of the Gentiles. Hence he says, For if their loss, i.e., their unbelief and disobedience, as a slave is said to be lost when he flees from the cave and obedience of his master. If I say the loss of the Jews means the reconciliation of the world, inasmuch as we have been reconciled to God through the death of Christ, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? i.e., that the Jews will be accepted again by God, as it says in Zech (11:17): "I took unto me two rods." What, I say, will such an acceptance mean but that it will make the Gentiles rise to life? For Gentiles are the believers who will grow lukewarm: "Because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grown cold" (Mt 24:12), or will fall away entirely, being deceived by Antichrist. These will be restored to their primitive fervor after the conversion of the Jews. 444 891. Then when he says, If the dough, he proves the same thing by considering the statue of the Jewish race. This he does in two ways. First, on the part of the apostles, when he says: If the representative portion [delibatio] is holy, so is the whole lump. The apostles chosen by God from the Jewish people are the representative sample taken from the whole lump. If, therefore, the apostles are holy, the consequence is that the Jewish people are holy. "You are a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Pt 2:9). 892. Secondly, he proves the same thing on the part of the patriarchs, who are compared to the Jews as root to branches; hence it says in Is (11:1): "there shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse." If, therefore, the patriarchs, who are the root, are holy, then the Jews, who grew from them as branches, are also holy. 893. But this seems to conflict with what is said in Ex (18:9): "if a man is righteous, he shall surely live." Therefore, it does not follow that if the root is holy, so also the branches. The answer is that the Apostle is not speaking here of actual holiness, for he does not mean to say that unbelieving Jews are holy; but of potential holiness. For if their ancestors and descendents are holy, nothing prevents them from being called back to holiness themselves. Or one might answer that those who imitate the patriarchs are a special type of branch, as it says in Jn (8:39): "If you were Abraham's children, you would do what Abraham did."
