Passage

Romans 11.11

Book: Romans · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

9. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: 10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, And bow thou down their back always.

11. I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.

Now if their fall, is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? 13. But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; (Romans 11:9-13, ASV)

WEB

9. David says, “Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. 10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. Bow down their back always.”

11. I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.

Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? 13. For I speak to you who are Gentiles. Since then as I am an apostle to Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; (Romans 11:9-13, WEB)

KJV

9. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: 10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

11. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? ^{diminishing: or, decay, or, loss} 13. For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: (Romans 11:9-13, KJV)

YLT

9. and David saith, 'Let their table become for a snare, and for a trap, and for a stumbling-block, and for a recompense to them; 10. let their eyes be darkened, not to behold, and their back do Thou always bow down.'

11. I say, then, Did they stumble that they might fall? let it not be! but by their fall the salvation [is] to the nations, to arouse them to jealousy;

and if the fall of them [is] the riches of a world, and the diminution of them the riches of nations, how much more the fulness of them? 13. For to you I speak, to the nations, inasmuch as I am indeed an apostle of nations, my ministration I do glorify; (Romans 11:9-13, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle
Audience: the mixed Jewish and Gentile house churches at Rome, a congregation Paul had neither founded nor yet visited
Location: composed at Corinth, addressed to Rome
Time period: c. AD 57

Theological reading

By their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. Paul is describing a strategy, and the shape of it governs how chapters 9 to 11 resolve.

The verse opens with a question he answers emphatically: did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid. The Greek me genoito is his strongest negative, used ten times in this letter, and it is directed here against the conclusion that Israel's stumbling is terminal. Whatever the passage teaches, it does not teach replacement.

The mechanism Paul describes is indirect and almost ironic. Israel's stumbling opens the door to the Gentiles, and Gentile blessing is then meant to provoke Israel to parazelosai, to be made jealous. The verb picks up Deuteronomy 32:21, where God says he will provoke Israel to jealousy by a people that is no people, and Paul quotes that verse at 10:19. So the strategy is not an improvisation; he reads it as announced in the Song of Moses.

Verse 12 completes the thought with an a fortiori the modern church has often ignored: if their trespass is the riches of the world, how much more their fulness. The passage's practical burden lands on Gentile readers, and verses 18 to 21 make it explicit: boast not against the branches. A theology that treats Israel's stumbling as an occasion for Gentile superiority has inverted the argument, since the entire point of provoking jealousy is that the Gentile branch should be visibly enjoying something the natural branches would want back.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G4991 - soteria, soteria, Strong's G4991
G1096 - ginomai, ginomai, Strong's G1096
G3004 - lego, lego, Strong's G3004

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Israel and the Church, via Romans 11.11-24

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.