English Standard Version
Romans 11:22
22Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
Romans 11:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
- New International Version (NIV)Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Notice how God is both kind and severe. He is severe toward those who disobeyed, but kind to you if you continue to trust in his kindness. But if you stop trusting, you also will be cut off.
Context of Romans 11:22
20That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. 21For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. 23And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree.
Read all of Romans 11Romans 11:22 word by word
Ἴδε οὖν χρηστότητα καὶ ἀποτομίαν θεοῦ· ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς πεσόντας ἀποτομία, ἐπὶ δὲ σὲ χρηστότης θεοῦ, ἐὰν ἐπιμένῃς τῇ χρηστότητι· ἐπεὶ καὶ σὺ ἐκκοπήσῃ.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
- Beholdὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
- thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
- the goodnessχρηστότηςchrēstotēs · kindnessG5544
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- severityἀποτομίαapotomia · severityG663
- of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- onἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
- them which fellπίπτωpiptō petō · to collapseG4098
- butδέde · thenG1161
- theeσύsu · youG4771
- ifἐάνean · ifG1437
- thou continueἐπιμένωepimenō · to remain/keep onG1961
- otherwiseἐπείepei · sinceG1893
- shalt be cut offἐκκόπτωekkoptō · to preventG1581
Cross-references for Romans 11:22
- Romans 2:4Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
- Romans 9:22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
- Numbers 14:18'The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.'
- Deuteronomy 32:39"'See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
- Joshua 23:15But just as all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the Lord your God has given you,
- Psalms 58:10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Psalms 78:49He let loose on them his burning anger, wrath, indignation, and distress, a company of destroying angels.
- Psalms 136:15but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever;
- Isaiah 66:14You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.
- Romans 2:7to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
- Luke 8:15As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
- John 8:31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
- John 15:4Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
- Acts 11:23When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,
- Acts 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
Commentaries on Romans 11:22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Behold therefore the goodness - The exclamation, Behold the goodness of God! is frequent among the Jewish writers, when they wish to call the attention of men to particular displays of God's mercy, especially towards those who are singularly unworthy. See several instances in Schoettgen. And severity of God - As , goodness, signifies the essential quality of the Divine nature, the fountain of all good to men and angels, so , severity, as it is here…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Behold, therefore - Regard, or contemplate, for purposes of your own improvement and benefit, the dealings of God. We should look on all his dispensations of judgment or of mercy, and derive lessons from all to promote our own steadfast adherence to the faith of the gospel. The goodness - The benevolence or mercy of God toward you in admitting you to his favor. This calls for gratitude, love, confidence. It demands expressions of thanksgiving. It should…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-32Verses 22-32 Of all judgments, spiritual judgments are the sorest; of these the apostle is here speaking. The restoration of the Jews is, in the course of things, far less improbable than the call of the Gentiles to be the children of Abraham; and though others now possess these privileges, it will not hinder their being admitted again. By rejecting the gospel, and by their indignation at its being preached to the Gentiles, the Jews were become enemies to…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22if you continue in His kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off: Scripture often teaches that those who remain faithful to the end will be saved. Paul’s warning here has led to different views about what he means. Some understand Paul to be saying that true believers can stop trusting God and therefore fail to be saved in the end. Others think Paul is using the image as a warning and should not be understood in a strict or literal way. From this view…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22-2322-23. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them that fell, severity--in rejecting the chosen seed. but toward thee, goodness--"God's goodness" is the true reading, that is, His sovereign goodness in admitting thee to a covenant standing who before wert a "stranger to the covenants of promise" (Ep 2:12-20). if thou continue in his goodness--in believing dependence on that pure goodness which made thee what thou art.Read the comment
Topics related to Romans 11:22
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Romans 11
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries