25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning this mystery - that you may not be wise in yourselves - that hardness in part has come upon Israel until the fulness of the nations should come in.
26 And in this way all Israel shall be saved, as it has been written: The deliverer will come from Zion, he will turn away impiety from Jacob;
27 and this to them is the covenant from me, whenever I may take away their sins.
My translation
Submitted by andrew on Fri, 20/07/2007 - 09:17.
Paul has argued at a number of points in Romans 9-11 that a division has come upon Israel: ’not all those from Israel are Israel’ (9:6); ’though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved’ (9:27); ’there is a remnant according to the choice of grace’ (11:5); ’the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened’ (11:7); and the parable of the olive tree differentiates between the truncated stem of Israel and the branches that had been cut off (11:17-24).
So when he speaks of all Israel being saved, he means that this division will be repaired. The reference is to Israel as he knows it - under judgment and divided between those who are being saved and those who are destined for destruction (9:22).
I think we can make best sense of 11:25-27 if we treat verse 25 as something of a parenthesis, in which Paul explains the ’mystery’ at the heart of the parable of the olive tree, which is that the unnatural inclusion of Gentiles is intended to lead to the grafting back in of the branches that have been cut off. It is the same thought as 11:11 and 14: if the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God makes the Jews jealous, then perhaps that will lead to the salvation of some.
The argument, therefore, flows quite naturally from verse 24 to verse 26: if Gentiles from a wild olive trees can be grafted in to Israel, there will hardly be a problem in re-attaching the original branches that were cut off because of disobedience; and in that way all Israel will be saved - not only the remnant but also that larger part of Israel that currently stands under judgment and faces the destruction of AD 70. Israel will be made whole again. But this presupposes the crucial condition stated in 11:23: these branches will be re-engrafted ’if they do not persist in their unbelief’. So this is not an unconditional assertion that the whole of Israel will be restored: it still depends on the abandonment of unbelief and a renewal of obedience.
The quotations from Isaiah 27:9 and 59:20-21 in 11:26-27 suggest that in Paul’s mind, if this restoration is going to happen, it will be after the coming judgment - that is, after the war of AD 66-70, which is when God will ’turn away impiety from Jacob’ (11:26). The one who comes for the sake of Zion as redeemer (Is. 59:20 LXX), has come to execute judgment on his enemies because of their unrighteousness: ’he clothed himself with a garment of vengeance, and the cloak, as one about to render a recompence, reproach to his adversaries’ (59:17-18). Isaiah 60:10 encapsulates the sequence: ’in my wrath I struck you, but in my favour I have had mercy on you’. So if at this point Israel abandons its unbelief, the nation that has been divided by judgment and grace will be made whole again. But it’s a big ’if’.
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning this mystery - that you may not be wise in yourselves - that hardness in part has come upon Israel until the fulness of the nations should come in.
26 And in this way all Israel shall be saved, as it has been written: The deliverer will come from Zion, he will turn away impiety from Jacob;
27 and this to them is the covenant from me, whenever I may take away their sins.
Paul has argued at a number of points in Romans 9-11 that a division has come upon Israel: ’not all those from Israel are Israel’ (9:6); ’though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved’ (9:27); ’there is a remnant according to the choice of grace’ (11:5); ’the elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened’ (11:7); and the parable of the olive tree differentiates between the truncated stem of Israel and the branches that had been cut off (11:17-24).
So when he speaks of all Israel being saved, he means that this division will be repaired. The reference is to Israel as he knows it - under judgment and divided between those who are being saved and those who are destined for destruction (9:22).
I think we can make best sense of 11:25-27 if we treat verse 25 as something of a parenthesis, in which Paul explains the ’mystery’ at the heart of the parable of the olive tree, which is that the unnatural inclusion of Gentiles is intended to lead to the grafting back in of the branches that have been cut off. It is the same thought as 11:11 and 14: if the inclusion of Gentiles in the people of God makes the Jews jealous, then perhaps that will lead to the salvation of some.
The argument, therefore, flows quite naturally from verse 24 to verse 26: if Gentiles from a wild olive trees can be grafted in to Israel, there will hardly be a problem in re-attaching the original branches that were cut off because of disobedience; and in that way all Israel will be saved - not only the remnant but also that larger part of Israel that currently stands under judgment and faces the destruction of AD 70. Israel will be made whole again. But this presupposes the crucial condition stated in 11:23: these branches will be re-engrafted ’if they do not persist in their unbelief’. So this is not an unconditional assertion that the whole of Israel will be restored: it still depends on the abandonment of unbelief and a renewal of obedience.
The quotations from Isaiah 27:9 and 59:20-21 in 11:26-27 suggest that in Paul’s mind, if this restoration is going to happen, it will be after the coming judgment - that is, after the war of AD 66-70, which is when God will ’turn away impiety from Jacob’ (11:26). The one who comes for the sake of Zion as redeemer (Is. 59:20 LXX), has come to execute judgment on his enemies because of their unrighteousness: ’he clothed himself with a garment of vengeance, and the cloak, as one about to render a recompence, reproach to his adversaries’ (59:17-18). Isaiah 60:10 encapsulates the sequence: ’in my wrath I struck you, but in my favour I have had mercy on you’. So if at this point Israel abandons its unbelief, the nation that has been divided by judgment and grace will be made whole again. But it’s a big ’if’.
See also: