For if God did not spare the original branches, he won’t spare you either.
Parallel translations
- WEB for if God didn’t spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
- KJV For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
- BSB For if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.
- NKJV For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either.
- NASB for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
If God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare proud, unbelieving Gentiles either.
Overview
Paul reinforces the warning: God's removal of unbelieving Israel proves he shows no partiality and will likewise judge presumptuous Gentiles. This sobering logic undercuts any sense of automatic security based on present privilege. It calls believers to persevering faith rather than complacency.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 49:12For Yahweh says: “Behold, they to whom it didn’t pertain to drink of the cup shall certainly drink; and are you he who shall altogether go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, but you shall surely drink.
- Jer 25:29For, behold, I begin to work evil at the city which is called by my name; and should you be utterly unpunished? You shall not be unpunished; for I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth, says Yahweh of Armies.”’
- 2 Pet 2:4–9For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
- Rom 8:32He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?
- Rom 11:19You will say then, “Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.”
- Jude 1:5Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe.
- Rom 11:17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree;
- 1 Cor 10:1–12Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 11:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.