Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 11:25

"For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in;" — Romans 11:25 (ASV)

Mystery.—Throughout St. Paul’s writings, the word always means something that, though not knowable or fully comprehensible by unassisted human reason, has been made known by direct divine revelation. Therefore, it should not be understood in this passage in its usual sense as something hidden and concealed from all except a few, but rather as all such truths that, although previously hidden, had been made manifest by the gospel.

Thus, it is applied to the whole or any part of the Christian system. It is applied to the whole, as in Romans 16:25; 1 Corinthians 2:7–10; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 6:19; Colossians 1:26–27; Colossians 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:9; and 1 Timothy 3:16.

It is applied to any part, such as:

• The admission of the Gentiles (Ephesians 3:3 and following, and partly here).
• The mystical union of Christ and His Church, which is typified in marriage (Ephesians 5:32).
• The transformation of the “quick” (that is, the living) at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:51).
• The opposition of Antichrist to the gospel (2 Thessalonians 2:7).

Here, the reference is to the whole of the divine purpose as shown in the dealings with Jew and Gentile, and especially in the present exclusion and future re-admission of the former. This last point the Apostle goes on to prove.

Blindness.—Rather, as noted in the margin, hardness, a hardening of the heart so that the gospel could not find entrance into it.

In part.—These words qualify “Israel.” The hardness extends over some, but not over all. There were Jewish as well as Gentile converts in Rome itself.

The fullness of the Gentiles.—As stated above, this means the complete number; the full complement of the Gentiles.

On verses 25-32:

There was a deep meaning underlying the temporary rejection of Israel, about which he has been speaking—a meaning that has until now been kept secret, but is now to be revealed as a corrective to any possible pride on the part of the Gentiles.