Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 11:17

"But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree;" — Romans 11:17 (ASV)

And.—Rather, but.

Among them—that is, among the branches of the olive tree generally, both those which are broken off and those which are allowed to remain. This seems, on the whole, the more probable view; it would be possible to translate the words in place of them (the branches broken off).

Partakest of the root and fatness.—The meaning of this is sufficiently obvious as it stands. If, as perhaps is probable, we should drop the second “and,” reading, “of the root of the fatness,” the sense is that the rich flow of sap in which the wild olive partakes does not belong to the wild olive itself, but is all drawn from the root.

The evidence for the omission of the second “and” is that of the Vatican, Sinaitic, and rescript Paris manuscript—a strong combination.

On Romans 11:17-24:

The admission of the Gentile to the privileges of the Jew is no ground for boasting on his part. It is merely an admission. The Gentile is, as it were, a branch grafted into a stem that he did not plant.

Nor is his position absolutely secured to him; it is held conditionally on the tenure of faith. He should, therefore, anxiously guard against any failure in faith.

For the moment, God has turned toward him the gracious side of His providence, as He has turned the severe side toward the Jew. But this relation may easily be reversed, and the Jew received back into the favor he once enjoyed.