11 Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.
12 Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root … the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121–24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17–24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16–19.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Now if the firstfruits are holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches.

And since Abraham and the other patriarchs were holy, their descendants will also be holy—just as the entire batch of dough is holy because the portion given as an offering is holy. For if the roots of the tree are holy, the branches will be, too.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Now if the first fruits are holy, so also is the whole batch of dough, and if the root is holy, so also are the branches.

KJV 1900King James Version

For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Public Domain

Romans 11:16

English

Arabic

Czech

French

German

Greek

Hungarian

Italian

Korean

Latin

Portuguese

Russian

Simplified Chinese

Spanish

Traditional Chinese

Footnotes