Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 11:12

"Now if their fall, is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?" — Romans 11:12 (ASV)

A dark picture of Israel has been painted both from the OT and from present observation. This leads naturally to an inquiry: Is this hardening a hopeless situation? Are they doomed to stumble so as to fall and rise no more? “Not at all!” The stumbling is admitted; an irreparable fall is not. This is a broad hint of the future salvation of Israel that Paul goes on to affirm. Those who stumbled are “the others” of v.7, those not included in the believing remnant. The language recalls the indirect reference to the Messiah in 9:32–33 as the stumbling stone.

God is bringing good out of apparent evil. Israel’s stumbling has opened the way for Gentile salvation on such a scale as to make Israel envious (cf. Acts 13:42–47). That envy, though it may involve bitterness, will ultimately contribute to drawing the nation to her Messiah. The longer the process goes on, the more unbearable the pressure on Israel becomes. Her transgression “means riches for the world.” A word should be said about “loss” (v.12; GK 2488). This is a military figure. An army loses a battle because of heavy casualties. In other words, as surely as Israel’s defeat (identified with her stumbling) has brought the riches of God’s grace to the Gentiles on a large scale, so the conversion of Israel to her Messiah (v.26) will bring even greater blessing to the world. The word “fullness” (GK 4445) refers to that conversion, meaning the full complement in contrast to the remnant. It will mark an end to the state of hardening that now characterizes the nation.