Romans 11 · Verse 16

Romans 11:16

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Romans 11:16, King James Version

Romans 11:16 in other translations

BSBIf the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch; if the root is holy, so are the branches.
WEBIf the first fruit is holy, so is the lump. If the root is holy, so are the branches.
ASVAnd if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
YLTand if the first-fruit is holy, the lump also; and if the root is holy, the branches also.
DARBYNow if the first-fruit be holy, the lump also; and if the root be holy, the branches also.
BBEAnd if the first-fruit is holy, so is the mass: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.
WebsterFor if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

What does Romans 11:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
16. For--"But" if the first-fruit be holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root ... so the branches--The Israelites were required to offer to God the first-fruits of the earth--both in their raw state, in a sheaf of newly reaped grain (Le 23:10, 11), and in their prepared state, made into cakes of dough (Nu 15:19-21)--by which the whole produce of that season was regarded as hallowed. It is probable that the latter of these offerings is here intended, as to it the word "lump" best applies; and the argument of the apostle is, that as the separation unto God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, from the rest of mankind, as the parent stem of their race, was as real an offering of first-fruits as that which hallowed the produce of the earth, so, in the divine estimation, it was as real a separation of the mass or "lump" of that nation in all time to God. The figure of the "root" and its "branches" is of like import--the consecration of the one of them extending to the other.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verse 16. For if the firstfruit be holy. The word firstfruit (απαρχη) used here denotes the firstling of fruit or grain which was separated from the mass, and presented as an offering to God. The Jews were required to present such a portion of theft harvest to God, as an expression of gratitude, and of their sense of dependence, Nu 15:19-21. Till this was done, it was not lawful to partake of the harvest. The offering of this was regarded as rendering the mass holy, i.e., it was lawful then to partake of it. The firstfruits were regarded as among the best portions of the harvest; and it was their duty to devote to God that which would be the best expression of their thanksgiving. This was the general practice in relation to all that the land produced. The expression here, however, has reference to the small portion of dough or kneaded meal that was offered to God; and then the mass or lump (φυραμα) was left for the use of him who made the offering, Nu 15:20.

Be holy. Be set apart, or consecrated to God, as he commanded.

The lump. The mass. It refers here, properly, to the dough of which a part had been offered. The same was true also in relation to the harvest, after the waive-sheaf had been offered; of the flock, after the first male had been offered, etc.

Is also holy. It is lawful then for the owner to partake of it. The offering of a part has consecrated the whole. By this illustration Paul doubtless means to say that the Jewish nation, as a people, were set apart to the service of God, and were so regarded by him. Some have supposed, that by the firstfruit here the apostle intends to refer to the early converts made to the Christian faith in the first preaching of the gospel. But it is more probable that he refers to the patriarchs, the pious men of old, as the firstfruits of the Jewish nation. See Rom 11:28. By their piety the nation was in a manner sanctified, or set apart to the service of God; implying that yet tile great mass of them would be reclaimed and saved.

If the root be holy. This figure expresses the same thing as is denoted in the first part of the verse. The root of a tree is the source of nutritious juices necessary for its growth, and gives its character to the tree. If that be sound, pure, vigorous, we expect the same of the branches. A root bears a similar relation to the tree that the firstfruit does to the mass of bread. Perhaps there is allusion here to Jer 11:16, where the Jewish nation is represented under the image of "a green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit." In this place the reference is doubtless to Abraham and the patriarchs, as the root or founders of the Jewish nation. If they were holy, it is to be expected that the distant branches, or descendants, would also be so regarded. The mention of the root and branches of a tree gives the apostle occasion for an illustration of the relation at that time of the Jews and Gentiles to the church of Christ.

(p) "the firstfruit" Lev 23:10, Nu 15:18-21

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 16 For if the first fruit be holy - As the consecrating the first fruits to God was the means of drawing down his blessing upon the rest, so the conversion of Abraham to the true faith, and the several Jews who have now embraced Christianity, are pledges that God will, in process of time, admit the whole Jewish nation into his favor again, so that they shall constitute a part of the visible Church of Christ. If the root be holy, so are the branches - The word holy in this verse is to be taken in that sense which it has so frequently in the Old and New Testaments, viz. consecrated, set apart to sacred uses. It must not be forgotten that the first converts to Christ were from among the Jews; these formed the root of the Christian Church: these were holy, ἁγιοι, consecrated to God, and those who among the Gentiles were converted by their means were also ἁγιοι, consecrated; but the chief reference is to the ancestors of the Jewish people, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and, as these were devoted to God and received into his covenant, all their posterity, the branches which proceeded from this root, became entitled to the same privileges: and as the root still remains, and the branches also, the descendants from that root still remain: they still have a certain title to the blessings of the covenant; though, because of their obstinate unbelief, these blessings are suspended, as they cannot, even on the ground of the old covenant, enjoy these blessings but through faith: for it was when Abraham believed God that it was accounted to him for righteousness; and thus he became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Romans 11:11-21

The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is. As therefore the righteous rejection of the unbelieving Jews, was the occasion of so large a multitude of the Gentiles being reconciled to God, and at peace with him; the future receiving of the Jews into the church would be such a change, as would resemble a general resurrection of the dead in sin to a life of righteousness. Abraham was as the root of…

Read the full comment on Romans 11:11-21 →

Romans 11:16 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

εἰeiIfG1487
δὲdenowG1161
ἡhētheG3588
ἀπαρχὴaparchēfirstfruitG536
ἁγία,hagia[is] holy,G40
καὶkaialsoG2532
τὸtotheG3588
φύραμα·phuramalump;G5445
καὶkaiandG2532
εἰeiifG1487
ἡhētheG3588
ῥίζαrhizarootG4491
ἁγία,hagia[is] holy,G40
καὶkaialsoG2532
οἱhoitheG3588
κλάδοι.kladoibranches.G2798

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Romans 11:16

  • Proverbs 3:9

    Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

  • Ezekiel 44:30

    And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

  • James 1:18

    Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

  • Jeremiah 2:21

    Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

  • Numbers 15:17-21

    And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land whither I bring you, Then it shall be, that, when ye eat of the bread of the land, ye shall offer up an heave offering unto the Lord. Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for an heave offering: as ye do the heave offering of the threshingfloor, so shall ye heave it. …

  • Leviticus 23:10

    Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:

  • Romans 11:17

    And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

  • Deuteronomy 26:10

    And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God:

  • Deuteronomy 18:4

    The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.

  • Genesis 17:7

    And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

  • Exodus 23:16

    And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

  • Exodus 23:19

    The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
if the first-fruit.
Ex 22:29; 23:16,19; Le 23:10; Nu 15:17-21; De 18:4; 26:10
Ne 10:35-37; Pr 3:9; Eze 44:30; Jas 1:18; Re 14:4
and if.
17; Ge 17:7; Jer 2:21; 1Co 7:14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Romans 11:15

    For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

  • Romans 11:16

    For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

  • Romans 11:17

    And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;

Read all of Romans 11

Romans 11:16 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y si el primer fruto es santo, también lo es el todo, y si la raíz es santa, también lo son las ramas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Or, si les prémices sont saintes, la masse l’est aussi; et si la racine est sainte, les branches le sont aussi.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Wenn aber der Erstling heilig ist, so auch die Masse; und wenn die Wurzel heilig ist, so auch die Zweige.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Quod si delibatio sancta est, et massa: et si radix sancta, et rami.