Once, you Gentiles were rebels against God, but when the people of Israel rebelled against him, God was merciful to you instead.
Parallel translations
- WEB For as you in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
- KJV For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
- BSB Just as you who formerly disobeyed God have now received mercy through their disobedience,
- NKJV For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,
- NASB For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,
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
Gentiles, once disobedient, have now received mercy because of Israel's disobedience.
Overview
Paul traces the interplay of disobedience and mercy: Gentiles, formerly disobedient to God, obtained mercy through the occasion created by Israel's unbelief. This sets up a parallel in the next verse about Israel receiving mercy in turn. It underscores that all salvation is a matter of unmerited mercy, never deserved standing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Col 3:7You also once walked in those, when you lived in them;
- Eph 2:1–2You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins,
- 1 Cor 7:25Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
- 2 Cor 4:1Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint.
- Titus 3:3–7For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- 1 Cor 6:9–11Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,
- Rom 11:31even so these also have now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they may also obtain mercy.
- 1 Pet 2:10who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
- Eph 2:19–21So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
- Eph 2:12–13that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
- 1 Tim 1:18This instruction I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 11:30 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.