- Quod si primitiae sanctae, etiam
conspersio; et si radix sancta etiam rami: - For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is
also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the
branches. - Si vero ex ramis quidam defracti sunt, tu
vero oleaster quum esses, insitus es pro ipsis, et
particeps factus es radicis et pinguedinis oleae; - 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; - Ne contra ramos glorieris: quod si
gloriaris, non tu radicem portas; sed radix to. - Boast not against the branches. But if thou
boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. - Dices ergo, Defracti sunt rami, ut ego
insererer. - Thou wilt say then, The branches were
broken off, that I might be graffed in. - Bene; propter incredulitatem defracti sunt,
tu vero fide stabilitus es; Ne animo efferaris, sed
timeas. - Well; because of unbelief they were
broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not
high-minded, but fear: - Si enim Deus naturalibus ramis non
perpercit, vide ne qua fit, ut et tibi non parcat. - For if God spared not the natural
branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
16.For if the first-fruits, etc. By comparing the worthiness of the Jews and of the Gentiles, he
now takes away pride from the one and pacifies the other, as far as he could; for he shows that the
Gentiles, if they pretended any prerogative of honor of their own, did in no respect excel the Jews,
nay, that if they came to a contest, they should be left far behind. Let us remember that in this
comparison man is not compared with man, but nation with nation. If then a comparison be made
between them, they shall be found equal in this respect, that they are both equally the children of
Adam; the only difference is that the Jews had been separated from the Gentiles, that they might
be a peculiar people to the Lord.^354
They were then sanctified by the holy covenant, and adorned with peculiar honor, with which
God had not at that time favored the Gentiles; but as the efficacy of the covenant appeared then
but small, he bids us to look back to Abraham and the patriarchs, in whom the blessing of God was
not indeed either empty or void. He hence concludes, that from them an heredity holiness had
passed to all their posterity. But this conclusion would not have been right had he spoken of persons,
or rather had he not regarded the promise; for when the father is just, he cannot yet transmit his
own uprightness to his son: but as the Lord had sanctified Abraham for himself for this end, that
his seed might also be holy, and as he thus conferred holiness not only on his person but also on
his whole race, the Apostle does not unsuitably draw this conclusion, that all the Jews were sanctified
in their father Abraham.^355
(^354) There were two kinds of first-fruits: the sheaf, being the first ripe fruit, Leviticus 23:10; and the dough, the first kneaded
cake, Numbers 15:20. It is to the last that the reference is here made.
The first-fruits are considered by some, such as Mede and Chalmers, to have been the first Jewish converts to Christianity
— the apostles and disciples; but this is not consistent with the usual manner of the Apostle, which is to express the same thing
in two ways, or by two metaphors. Besides, the whole context refers to the first adoption of the Jewish nation, or to the covenant
made with Abraham and confirmed to the patriarchs. — Ed.
(^355) That the holiness here mentioned is external and relative, and not personal and inward, is evident from the whole context.
The children of Israel were denominated holy in all their wickedness and disobedience, because they had been consecrated to