Romans 11:25

"For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that you be not wise in your own conceit: that blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in: and so all Israel should be saved, as it is written: There shall come out of Sion he who shall deliver and shall turn away impieties from Jacob: and this is my covenant with them, when I shall have taken away their sins." Still addressing those who had believed from among the Gentiles, as being elated and proud against the branches that were broken off, and thinking that they had obtained this not by God's goodness and the ineffable dispensation of his wisdom, but by their own merits — namely that, with those broken off, they themselves, though they were wild olives, should be grafted into the good olive tree — he says: "I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that you be not wise in your own conceit;" because to insult the fallen, and to boast against the branches that were broken off, comes not from the wisdom of God, but from a human wisdom, notorious and ignorant of the mystery of God. For he who is wise according to God does not, amid God's benefits, insult those who have been cast down, but with fear gives thanks to the mercy that bestows them. The mystery, then, which was unknown to those who insulted, is of this sort: how, in the dispersion of the sons of Adam, when all the other nations were distributed according to the number of the angels, Israel was made a certain portion proper to God, as also in other places where it was fitting, and in these very passages a little above, we have recalled — to whom also the promises of good things, and the covenants, and the giving of the law were made. So long, then, as that portion of the Lord remained in its own state, it was not possible for us, who were Gentiles, to enter into the inheritance of God, and to succeed to the rights of his scepter. For this reason, therefore, God allows a blindness to come about in part — that is, not upon all, but upon some of Israel — brought upon them, without doubt, by those angels who had obtained by lot the rule of the other nations, under the pretext of envious rivalry. God therefore allowed it, and, though he could have prevented it, was unwilling to do so, in order that, in exchange for those who were deceived by blindness — that is, who fell through the dullness of their heart — God might make the portions of those very ones who had deceived them his own portion, so that in a certain way they might be caught in that very thing by which they had caught others. For by turning God's people to themselves through the enticements of sin, they made room for the Gentiles to enter into the inheritance of God, God holding judgment with them by a certain common and most equitable right: that so long as they held the people of God in the captivity of blindness, the number of the Gentiles should be rendered as it were in place of those whom from the beginning they had withdrawn from God's portion and his set-apart inheritance; but when the fullness of the Gentiles had been completed, and Israel, through emulation of their salvation, had begun to shake off from itself the blindness of heart, and, with eyes lifted up, to behold Christ the true light, then, according to the preceding prophecies, it might seek, being roused, the salvation which, having been blinded, it had lost, saying within itself that prophetic word: "I will return to my former husband, for it was better for me then than now." But that these things were promised to them through the prophets is found indeed in many prophetic volumes: we shall nevertheless set down what suffices for the present, a single testimony from Jeremiah, running thus: "If heaven be exalted on high, and the earth be humbled below, I will not reject the race of Israel for all that they have done." If, therefore, in order that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter in, blindness came upon Israel for all that they have done, without doubt, when the fullness of the Gentiles has entered in, the blindness will cease. But if you wish, says the Apostle, to know how Israel is to be saved even after its blindness, hear how it is written: "There shall come out of Sion he who delivers, and he shall turn away impiety from Jacob: and this is my covenant with them, when I shall have taken away their sins." It should indeed be known that in the prophet Isaiah, from whom Paul takes this testimony, in place of what the Apostle said, "he shall come out of Sion," it is written, "he shall come for the sake of Sion;" and that what he says here, "when I shall have taken away their sins," is not written there at all, nor indeed among the Hebrews: yet it has been assumed on the Apostle's authority. Meanwhile the Lord, coming out of Sion, sets free and turns away impieties from Jacob. And he turns away impieties from him according to that which is written: That "the Lord shall wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Sion, and shall cleanse the blood from the midst of her in the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning;" and that this should so come to pass was for them a covenant from God, that in this way impieties should be turned away from them and their sins taken away. But who this "all Israel" is that shall be saved, or what this "fullness" of the Gentiles will be, God alone knows, and his Only-begotten, and any who perchance are his friends; to whom he may say: "No longer will I call you servants, but friends; for I have made known to you all things which I have heard from the Father." This, however, can occur even to our understanding: that just as Israel, so long as it remains Israel according to the flesh, and has not also according to the spirit been made a true Israelite seeing God with the mind, cannot attain to salvation, so neither indeed can all the Gentiles whatsoever be saved, but only those who shall be found within the fullness, whatever that is which is named by the Apostle "fullness." Thus therefore the mystery of God is handled by a certain ineffable dispensation of his wisdom, so that even when the soul has of itself brought upon itself a lot of evils, he who knows how to dispose all things makes its rejection and punishment the salvation of others. But this too seems to me in this passage to be more carefully considered, that he does not say that this blindness has befallen all Israel, but "in part. For the remnant according to the election of grace has been saved," concerning which remnant Isaiah also had prophesied, saying: "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed." These remnants, therefore, are joined in blessedness with the fullness of the Gentiles: but the rest of Israel, who have been blinded, are put together with those Gentiles who could not attain to the fullness. So then, whatever things are found written in the discourses of the prophets concerning the promises containing blessedness, if they are about Israel, pertain to this remnant which has been chosen; if about the Gentiles, they look to the fullness. But if there be any sad things, if indeed they are spoken of Israel, they are without doubt referred to those remaining ones who were blinded: but if of the Gentiles, they assuredly bind those who are outside the fullness. Yet the end presses upon all things, and those indeed who are blessed, whether they come from Israel or also from the Gentiles, the word of the evangelical teaching of the present time purifies, that they may be such as were those to whom the Lord said: "Behold, now you are clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." But whoever spurns the purification of the word of God and of evangelical teaching reserves himself for sad and penal purifications, so that the fire of Gehenna may purge amid torments him whom neither apostolic teaching nor the evangelical word has purged, according to that which is written: "And I will purify you with fire unto purity." But in this very purgation which is applied through the punishment of fire, for how long a time, or through how many ages, torment is exacted of sinners, he alone can know to whom "the Father has handed over all judgment," who so loves his creature that for its sake he emptied himself of the form of God and took up the form of a servant, humbling himself even unto death, willing that "all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." Nevertheless we ought always to remember that the Apostle wished the present passage to be held as a mystery, namely so that all the faithful and perfect should cover thoughts of this kind within themselves in silence as a mystery of God, and not bring them forth indiscriminately to the imperfect and the less capable. "For it is good," says the Scripture, "to conceal the mystery of a king."

For I see that the former people, who were before us, became "like a stone," hard and unbelieving; yet not so far as to remain in the nature of a stone, but "until this people pass over, the people whom he has acquired": for "blindness in part happened in Israel" — that Israel according to the flesh — "until the fullness of the nations should enter in." For when "the fullness of the nations shall have entered in," then also "all Israel," which through the hardness of unbelief had become "like a stone," "shall be saved." And do you wish to see how it "shall be saved"? "God is able," he says, "from these stones to raise up sons of Abraham." Now, therefore, they remain stones, "until your people pass over, O Lord, this your people whom you have acquired."

"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise your own conceits."

Meaning by mystery here, that which is unknown and unutterable, and hath much of wonder and much of what one should not expect about it. As in another passage too he says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." What then is the mystery?

"That blindness in part hath happened unto Israel." Here again he levels a blow at the Jew, while seeming to take down the Gentile. But his meaning is nearly this, and he had said it before, that the unbelief is not universal, but only "in part." As when he says, "But if any hath caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part": And so here too he says what he had said above, "God hath not cast off His people whom He foreknew": and again, "What then? Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid": This then he says here also; that it is not the whole people that is pulled up, but many have already believed, and more are likely to believe.

All that follows is designed to prevent the Gentiles from being filled with pride toward the Jews. It is a secret unknown to mankind why the Gentiles were saved, because Israel's blindness in fact furnished the occasion for their salvation. The blindness continued until the Jews saw that the Gentiles were being saved, since all were called to salvation.

Paul insists that only a part of Israel has been hardened, for in fact many of them believe. He thus encourages them not to despair that others will be saved as well. After the Gentiles accepted the gospel, the Jews would believe, when the great Elijah would come to them and bring them the doctrine of faith. The Lord himself said as much: "Elijah will come and will restore all things."

But when the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel shall thus be saved, here clearly speaking of the final consummation.

The Synagogue came first to the tomb, but did not enter, because although it received the commandments of the law and heard the prophecies concerning the incarnation and passion of the Lord, it refused to believe in the one who died. For John saw the linen cloths lying there, yet did not enter, because the Synagogue both recognized the mysteries of sacred Scripture and yet delayed entering through faith by believing in the Lord's passion. The one whom it had long prophesied from afar, it saw present and rejected; it despised him as a man and refused to believe that God had been made mortal in flesh. What does this mean, except that it both ran more quickly and yet stood empty before the tomb? But Simon Peter came following him and entered the tomb, because the Church of the Gentiles, coming after, both recognized the mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, dead in the flesh, and believed him to be the living God. ... Then therefore that disciple who had come first to the tomb also entered. After Peter entered, John also went in. He who had come first entered later. It should be noted, brothers, that at the end of the world Judea too will be gathered to faith in the Redeemer, as Paul testifies when he says: "Until the fullness of the Gentiles should enter, and so all Israel should be saved."

He calls a mystery here that which is unknown and hidden. What then does this mystery consist of? In that the Jews did not all disbelieve, but were hardened in part. Many of them believed, whom, as was said above, God foreknew, and many will believe afterward; for the Israelites were hardened until all the Gentiles foreknown by God are saved.

The fact that the Jews will be converted is certain because of Isaiah and the Apostle who teaches authoritatively: "Though the number of the children of Israel are as the sands of the sea, the remnant shall be saved." And again: "A partial blindness only has befallen Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles should enter." The Jews oppose to the fact that none of the prophesied peace has come about as yet. But the prophet is not speaking of the first advent nor of the first calling, but of the last, when "the Lord will have His day against all that is arrogant." Nor should it be understood that in so doing, the Lord is dismissing these branches.

After leading the gentiles to a knowledge of the divine judgments, in which God's goodness and severity were manifested, the Apostle, acting as though they are still unable to consider these things, explains how they seem to him.
First, he presents the fact;
second, he proves it, at as it is written;
third, he gives the reason, at for as you also.

In regard to the first he does three things.

First, he states his intention, saying: I have urged you to consider the kindness and severity of God, for I would not have you ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, for you cannot grasp all mysteries. Hence, this is a prerogative of the perfect to whom the Lord says: to you it has been given to understand the mystery of God's kingdom (Luke 8:9); I will not hide from you the mysteries of God (Wis 6:24). But ignorance of this mystery would be very damaging to us: but if any man know not, he shall not be known (1 Cor 14:38).

Second, he discloses the reason for his intention: lest you should be wise in your own conceits, i.e., that you not presume on your own understanding to condemn others and prefer yourself to them: be not wise in your own conceits (Rom 12:16); woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight (Isa 5:21).

Third, he states what he intended.

First, with respect to the fall of particular Jews, when he says: that blindness in part has happened in Israel, not universally but upon a part: blind the heart of this people (Isa 6:10).

Second, he predicts the end of this blindness, saying: until the fullness of the gentiles should come in to the faith, i.e., not only some gentile nations as were then converted; but either in all or the greater part the Church would be established: the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness (Ps 24:1).

The gentiles converted to the faith are said to come in, as though from the exterior and visible things they venerated into spiritual things and the divine will: come into his presence with singing (Ps 100:2).

It should be noted that the word until can signify the cause of the blindness of the Jews. For God permitted them to be blinded, in order that the full number of the gentiles come in.

It can also designate the termination, i.e., that the blindness of the Jews will last up to the time when the full number of the gentiles will come to the faith. With this agrees his next statement, namely, and then, i.e., when the full number of the gentiles has come in, all Israel should be saved, not some, as now, but universally all: I will save them by the Lord their God (Hos 1:7); he will again have compassion upon us (Mic 7:19).