And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
All Commentaries on Romans 11:17 Go To Romans 11
Thomas Aquinas
AD 1274
After showing that the fall of the Jews was useful and reparable, the Apostle now forbids the Gentiles to boast against the Jews. In regard to this he does two things: first, he shows that the converted Gentiles must not boast against the Jews; 446 secondly, he answers an objection from the Gentiles [v. 19; n. 898]. In regard to the first he does two things: first, he forbids the Gentiles to boast against the Jews; secondly, he gives the reason for this prohibition [v. 18b; n. 897]. 895. There seemed to be two things that might tempt the Gentiles to boast against the Jews. First, the defection of the Jews. Hence he says: We have stated that if the root is holy, so too the branches. But if some of the branches, i.e., some of the Jews but not all, were broken off, i.e., separated from the faith of their fathers who are compared as the root, do not boast: "The flame will dry up his shoots" (Jb 15:30); "The branches not being perfect shall be broken" (Wis 4:5). The second ground for boasting was their own promotion. But the lower the state from which one has been promoted, the more he is inclined to vain boasting, as it says in Pr (30:21): "By three things the earth is disturbed, and the fourth it cannot bear: By a slave when he reigns..." Hence he reminds them of the low state from which they were raised, saying: And you, O Gentile, a wild olive shoot, i.e., a tree bearing no fruit: "He shall be like tamaric in the desert" (Jer 17:6); "Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Mt 3:10). 896. Then he describes their promotion. First, that they have been raised to the dignity of that race; hence, he says: you were grafted in their place: "He shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall make others to stand in their stead" (Job 34:24). 447 Secondly that they have been made associates of the patriarchs, whom he had compared to the root; hence he says: to share the root, i.e., united to the patriarchs and prophets: "Many will come from the east and west, and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 8:11). Thirdly, that they share the glory of the apostles when he says: and share the richness of the olive tree. The Jewish race is called the olive tree on account of the rich spiritual fruit they bore: "The Lord called you once a plentiful olive tree, fruitful and beautiful" (Jer 11:16); "I am like a green olive tree in the house of God" (Ps 52:8). But just as the roots of this olive tree are the patriarchs and prophets, so its richness is the abundance of the Holy Spirit's grace, which the apostles had more than all the others. This, therefore, is the way the Gentiles have been promoted to a partnership with that people, namely, with the patriarchs, apostles and prophets: "You are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets" (Eph 2:19). And although these may seem to be reasons for boasting, do not boast against the branches, i.e., against the Jews: "Your boasting is not good" (1 Cor 5:1). 897. Then when he says, If you do boast, he gives the reason for his admonition, saying: If in spite of this admonition you do boast by insulting the Jews, who stand upright or have been cut off, you should remember as a check to your boasting that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you, i.e., Judea did not receive salvation from the Gentiles, but just the reverse: "Salvation is from the Jews" (Jn 4:22). Hence, Abraham was promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed in him (Gen c.22). 448 898. Then when he says, You will say, he excludes an objection from the Gentiles: first, he presents the objection; secondly, he excludes it [v. 20; n. 900]; thirdly, he urges them to scrutinize God's judgments [v. 22; n. 903]. 899. First, therefore, he says: Therefore, O Gentile, who boasts against the Jews, you might say: Branches were broken off, so that I might be grafted in, i.e., God permitted the Jews to fall from faith, so that I might enter into faith. But no one accepts the loss of one things save for something more precious and more desired, just as a physician allows a foot to remain sore in order to heal the eye. Thus, it would seem that the Gentile nations are more valuable and acceptable to God than Judea. Hence it says in Mal (1:10): "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations" and in Is (49:6): "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob; I will give you as a light to the nations." 900. Then when he says, That is true, he excludes the objection. First, he assigns the reason why the Jews fell away and the Gentiles were promoted, saying: That is true, i.e., that God permitted branches to be broken off, so that you might be grafted in, but consider the cause of the breaking off of the branches. It is because of their unbelief, i.e., because they refused to believe in Christ, that they were broken off: "If I speak the truth, why do you no believe me?" (Jn 8:46).But you, O Gentile, stand fast in faith, i.e., by believing in Christ, through Whom you have obtained 449 grace: "I preached to you the gospel, in which you stand, by which you are saved" (1 Cor 15:1). 901. Secondly, he gives an admonition, saying: So do not become proud, i.e., do not presume on yourself beyond yourself: "Do not be haughty, but consent to lower things" (Rom 12:15); but stand in awe, lest you too be broken off because of unbelief: "The fear of the Lord drives out sin" (Sir 1:27). 902. The reason for this admonition is given when he says: But if the natural branches, i.e., the Jews, who descended by natural origin from the patriarchs, God did not spare but allowed to be broken off, neither will he spare you, i.e., he might permit you to be broken off because of unbelief: "The jealously and rage of the husband will not spare on the day of revenge" (Pr 6:34); "I will not spare and I will not pardon; nor will I have mercy, but to destroy them" (Jer 13:14). This, therefore, is the Apostle's answer; that when someone sees that he has obtained grace and another has fallen, he should not boast against the fallen but rather fear for himself, because pride is the cause of falling headlong and fear is the cause of carefulness and being kept safe. 903. Then when he says, Note then the kindness and severity of God, he invites them to a close scrutiny of divine judgments: first, he invites them to consider; secondly, he instructs them as though unable to consider by themselves [v. 25); n. 912]; thirdly, as though he himself were not perfectly capable of this investigation, he exclaims in admiration of God’s wisdom [v. 33; n. 933]. 450 904. In regard to the first he does three things: first, he shows what should be considered, saying: Note then, i.e., give careful consideration to, the kindness of God having mercy: "How good, O Israel, is God to the upright of heart" (Ps 72:1); "Do you presume upon the riches of his kindness" (Rom 2:4); and his severity in punishing: "O Lord, thou God of vengeance (Ps 94:1); "The Lord is a jealous God and avenging (Nah 1:2). For the first consideration begets hope, the second begets fear, so that despair and presumption are avoided. 905. Secondly, he indicates the ones affected by each of these two qualities, saying: toward those who have fallen, i.e., the Jews, severity: "The Lord has destroyed without mercy all the habitations of Jacob" (Lam 2:2); but to you, the engrafted Gentile, kindness: "You have dealt kindly with your servant, O Lord" (Ps 119:65). 906. Thirdly, he shows how the foregoing points should be considered, since the situation is not immutable but could change in the future. 907. First, he shows this with respect to the Gentiles, saying: To you, I say, kindness, if you persevere in goodness: "Remain in my love" (Jn 15:9); otherwise, if you do not strive to persevere through fear and humility, you too will be cut off: "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down" (Mt 3:10). 908. Secondly, he shows the same with respect to the Jews. First, he states the fact: and even the others, namely, the Jews, if they do not persist in their unbelief, will be grafted in, i.e., restored to their former status: "Thou has prostituted thyself to many lovers. Nevertheless, return to me, says the Lord" (Jer 3:1). 451 909. Then he proves what he has said: First, from God's power, saying: For God has the power to graft them in against; therefore, their salvation is not to be despaired of: "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save" (Is 59:1). Secondly, by arguing from the lesser, saying: For if you, O Gentile, have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, i.e., from Gentileness, which by nature was not fruit-bearing, not as God made nature, but because it was spoiled by sin: "They were a wicked generation, and their malice natural" (Wis 12:10); "We were by nature children of wrath" (Eph 2:3); and grafted into a cultivated olive tree, i.e., into the faith of the Jews, contrary to nature, i.e., against the common course of nature. (For it is not the custom to graft the branch of a bad tree onto a good tree, but vice versa. But what God does is not against nature; it is natural in the fullest sense. For we call that natural which is cause by an agent to which the patient is naturally subject, even if it is not in keeping with the specific nature of the patient; for just as the ebb and flow of the sea is natural, because it is produced by the motion of the moon, to which the water is naturally subject, although it is not natural to the nature of water: so, too, since every creature is naturally subject to God, whatever God does in creatures is natural in the full sense, although it is not natural to the proper and particular nature of the thing in which it is done, say when a blind man has sight restored or a dead man is revived). 911. If, I say, this was contrary to nature, how much more will these natural branches, i.e., which by natural origin pertains to the Jewish nation, be grated back into their own olive tree, i.e., be brought back to the greatness of their nation: "He will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers" (Mal 4:6).
