what shall the receiving of them he but life from the dead? Although Paul here returns to the sentiment of the 12th verse, this passage is logi- cally connected with the preceding. The apostle had said, that even in labouring for the Gentiles, he had in view the salvation of the Jews, for if their rejection had occasioned so much good, how desirable must be their restoration. If the casting aioay of them he the reconciling of the luorld. The reconciliation here spoken of is that which Paul so fully describes in Eph. 2 : 11 — 22. A reconciliation by which those who were aliens and strangers have been brought nigh ; reconciled at once to the church, the commonwealth of Israel, and to God himself, "by the blood of Christ." This event has been facilitated, as remarked above, by the rejection of the Jews, what will the restoration of the Jews then be, hat life from the dead? That is, it will be a most glorious event; as though a new world had risen ; it will therefore be an event, not only glorious in itself, but in the highest degree beneficial for the Gentiles.
(16) For if the first-fruits he holi/, the lump is also holy, and if thf root he holy, so also arc thehranches. Under two striking and appropriate figures, the apostle expresses the general idea, ' If one portion of the Jewish people is holy, so also is the other.' With regard to this inte- resting passage, the first point to be settled is the allusion in the figura- tive expression in the first clause. The Jews were commanded to ofFei a certain portion of all the productions of the earth to God, as an expres- sion of gratitude and acknowledgment of dependence. This offering, called the first-fruits, was to be made, first, from the productions in their natural state (Ex. 23 : 19) ; and, secondly, from the meal, wine, oil, and dough, as prepared for use. Num. 15 : 20, " Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the Lord a heave-ofiering in all your generations ;" Neh. 10 : 37. Deut. 18 : 14. The allusion is here probably to the latter of these offerings, as the word lump cannot so well refer to the mass of grains as to the mass of dough from which the first-fruits were taken.*
By the first-fruits and the root are to be understood the source of the Jewish people, i. e. their ancestors; and by the lump and branches the residue of the nation. The meaning, therefore, is, ' If the ancestors of the Jews were holy, so are their descendants.' The word holy does not in this case mean morally pure, but consecrated, separated to the special service of God. The word is used in this sense in a multitude of cases in the Old Testament, and is applied to any person, place, or thing set apart for the service of God. It is used in the same sense in the New Testament also : see Matt. 4:5. 7:6. Luke 2 : 23. 1 Cor. 7 : 14. The Jews, therefore, in this passage are called holy, because peculiarly con- secrated to God, separated from the rest of the world as his chosen people.
The connexion of this verse with the preceding, its import and bearing on the apostle's object is therefore clear. The restoration of the Jews, which will be attended with such beneficial results for the whole world, is to be expected, because of their peculiar relation to God as his chosen