Romans 11:15

"if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh, and may save some of them."

Key Reflection

In Romans 11:15, Paul uses the concept of divine jealousy to emphasize a strategic approach in his mission among the Gentiles. He suggests that by highlighting the potential loss of God’s covenant blessings, which would be particularly felt by his fellow Jews (his "flesh"), he might stir them to emulation and ultimately lead some to faith. This rhetorical device draws on the cultural understanding of jealousy as a powerful motivator, prompting his readers to recognize their own spiritual condition and seek salvation.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Verse 15. For if the casting away of them. If their rejection as the peculiar people of God--their exclusion from their national privileges, on account of their unbelief. It is the same as "the fall of them," Ro 11:12. Be the reconciling of the world. The word reconciliation (katallagh) denotes, commonly, a pacification of contending parties; a removing the occasion of difference, so as again to be united. 1 Co 7:11, "Let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband." It is commonly applied to the reconciliation, or pacification, produced between man and God by the gospel.

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