Rom 11:16 | NET2full | STEP | If the first portion of the dough offered is holy , then the whole batch is holy , and if the root is holy , so too are the branches .

‏ Romans 11:16

16 If the first portion ^{▼▼tn 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.} of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ^{▼▼sn 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.}