Comparing what is said in these texts (verses 13-14) about the pagans and the Jews, St. Chrysostom says: "And in this again he reveals the superiority of the pagans. Although Jews and Gentiles mutually serve each other in the matter of salvation, they are not in the same way. The Jews bring good to the Gentiles by their unbelief, and the Gentiles to the Jews by their faith. From this it can be seen that the pagans are equal to the Jews, even surpass them. For what say thou, O Jew? If you hadn't been rejected, wouldn't you have been called up so soon? The Gentile will say the same: If I had not been saved, jealousy would not have been aroused in you. And if you want to know in what way we are superior, then I save you by believing, and you, stumbling, gave me the opportunity to come before you."

Verse 15. For the postponement of their reconciliation to the world: what is the reception of life from the dead?

The reason for St. Paul's concern for the salvation of the Jews is presented here. Someone is supposed to ask: "Why do you, Saint Paul, care so much about the Jews, saying: If I can provoke and save someone from them?" Why such a feat? It is impossible, he says, otherwise, it is impossible not to care and strive for them; I am compelled by the fact that if they are postponed, reconciled to the world, and so on. That is, if the fact that they rejected the faith and were rejected for this reason served to reconcile the (pagan) world to Himself and destroyed the center of ancient enmity, then how much good, and good, will happen when they are added to the faith and are saved? If their stumbling has served for the salvation of the world, what will happen, tell me, who can, when they arise, turn to the faith, and are received by God into their former mercy? What else, he says, is the resurrection from the dead? (see: Photius in Ecumenia). One can add to this what Blessed Theodoret said: "If," says the Apostle, "and when they did not believe, the Gentiles were received and freed from their former ignorance; then it is evident that if they had all wished to believe, there would have been nothing else to come to pass than the resurrection of the dead. This also the Lord said: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed among all nations for a witness to them. and then will come the end (cf. Matt. 24:14)."

St. Chrysostom draws attention to the fact that the unbelief of the Jews is not the cause of the faith of the Gentiles, but only the pretext, just as the faith of all the Gentiles will not be the reason for the acceptance of the Jews, but only the pretext: the cause of all is faith. If the Gentiles did not have faith, no matter how much the Jews were rejected, it would not be of any use to them, and vice versa. He says: "Do not be amazed that the Apostle ascribes to the Jews what happened out of necessity (that is, the acceptance of the Gentiles, against the will of the Jews). For he speaks in such a way as to humble some, and give advice to others. But if the Jews had been rejected a thousand times, and the Gentiles had not shown faith, the latter would never have been saved. What the Apostle said means: if God, being angry with the Jews, showed so much mercy to others, then what does He not grant when He is reconciled to them? But just as the resurrection of the dead does not come from receiving them, so our present salvation is not from them. On the contrary, they are rejected for their unbelief, and we are saved by our faith and grace from above. And all this cannot bring them the slightest benefit if they do not show proper faith."

Verse 16. If the firstfruits are holy, so is the mixture: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Mixing, φύραμα, is kneaded dough. When the dough for bread is kneaded, first the base is taken, on which both good kneading and good emergence or souring of the dough depend. Then add flour and knead until the dough comes to the proper measure. If the foundation is laid properly, then the bread will be good, and if something in the base is defective, the bread will also be defective. The Apostle calls it the firstfruits and says that if it is holy, then all the admixture, or all the mixture, is holy. The beginning for bread kneading is the same as the root for the branches. Whom does the Apostle mean here, and why did he say this? By the beginning and root of the founders of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and by the mixture and branches, he means the whole nation of Israel, and asserts that if the ancestors are holy, as indeed holy and in glory are with God in heaven, then the whole mass of the people is holy. The Apostle said this in order to inspire: the entire mass of the people must be holy, — such is the way it is laid down in the ancestors, and so it is destined and capable. Why, when you now see the unbelieving Jews, do not think that they will remain so; the time will come, and they too will believe and become holy. And such a testimony he presents in confirmation that his expectation expressed before this is not in vain that they will be received, after which the glorious Kingdom of God will be revealed after the resurrection of the dead; therefore his labors are not in vain to convert the Gentiles as quickly as possible, and thus contribute to the speedy conversion of the Jews and the speedy opening of the Kingdom of God. Extending his thought into the distant future, the Apostle, of course, did not lose sight of the Jews who were present, and with the proposed sentence he also wanted, perhaps, to irritate them to the faith, saying, as it were: "This is what you are destined for!" What to expect? Turn quickly and enter into the order of saints, so that you do not remain long alienated from your holy root. Blessed Photius says in Ecumenia: "If it is necessary for the kneading (bread) and the branches to be holy with the beginning and root – holy, and the Jews are not holy (because of unbelief); then it is obvious that they consist in falling away from their ancestral root, Abraham." To which Ecumenius himself adds: "By calling them saints, he disposes them to faith, saying, as it were: you are fit and fit for the faith, the only thing you lack is the desire to believe."

Verses 17–18, 1st half. If some people break off from the branches, you are a wonder of the olive tree, and you have clung to them, and you have become a partaker of the root and the oil of the olive tree, do not boast on the branches.

Having come to the point where the root is holy, so are the branches, the Apostle now builds on this his suggestion to the believing pagans to be humble, as he had assumed, and he does it in this way: having said, "If the root is holy, so are the branches," he gave the idea that the whole mass of the Jews were holy, and yet there were many of them who did not believe and, consequently, were not holy. This could not but raise the question of the believing pagans: how is that? the branches are not all holy; as we see, the Apostle has already, although not clearly, predestined this question in the words: "More than fulfillment," and "What is the reception of life from the dead?" That is, they will also be holy, or in possibility they are already holy. Therefore he does not repeat this now, but, agreeing with the objectors concerning the Jews, he shifts his gaze to them and disposes them to pay more attention to themselves than to the Jews, saying, as it were: "Though some have broken off, do not rest your eyes on this, but look more at yourself." They broke off, and you clung to it. Leave those who are broken; God will arrange them according to His good pleasure. And direct all your attention to what this attachment obliges you to do and how you should behave yourself, so that you yourself do not break off like them.

Having given such a turn of thought, the Apostle then extensively teaches the believing pagans humility and apprehension. But in expounding this lesson, he introduces such sayings which, while humbling the Gentiles, could not but affect the Jews who did not believe; so that it is impossible not to assume that he had them in mind at the same time, lest he would irritate anyone with this speech and thereby attract them to faith.

You, pagan, wild olive tree, whose juices were bad and the fruits were unfit for consumption, now clung to the good-quality and good-fruited olive tree, did not grow from within it, but clung to it, as if to say: glued and unstable sitting; thou hast clung and become partaker of the root and good-sounding juice of the olive tree. The good juices of the olive tree, which is alien to you, have driven out your bad juices from you, and have made you fit to bear good fruit. You have nothing of your own, everything is someone else's. One interpreter remarks: usually grafting ennobles the sap of the tree; but, as ancient and modern travelers note, it is different with olives: the wild olive, being grafted to the root, receives good juices. This is how obsolete olives are renewed. All these are humbling instructions for a pagan. It came out of them: of course, it is commendable that you clung to it, but you yourself have nothing to boast about.

But how many suggestions are contained in these utterances that are strong enough to affect the Jew?! This aspect is primarily clarified by St. Chrysostom: "Pay attention to the wisdom of the Apostle, with which he apparently speaks in favor of the Jews and invents consolation for them, but secretly strikes them down, and through the words: root and firstfruits — he presents them as having no excuse. For imagine the worthlessness of the branches, which, having a sweet root, are not like it, and the uselessness of the mixture (kneading of bread), when it does not change (does not sprout or sour) from the first. If some have broken off from the branches. Most of the branches have broken off, but the Apostle wants to comfort the Jews (that there are few of them). At the same time, however, he wounds them, proving (in a word, broken off) that they have departed from their kinship with Abraham. For this is precisely what the Apostle was trying to say, that the unbelieving Jews had nothing in common with Abraham. For if the root is holy, and they are not holy, they are far from the root. Then, apparently consoling the Jew, he again strikes him with the very accusation (blasphemy) of the Gentiles. For having said, "If some are broken off from the branches," he adds, "Thou art a wonder of the olive tree, and thou hast clung to them." The less valuable the Gentile, the more grieved the Jew is when he sees that he enjoys his possessions. To the pagan, however, it is not so much shame that brings shame to his insignificance, as to his change of honor. And note the wisdom in the words of the Apostle, he did not say, "Thou art planted," but, "Thou hast clung to," whereby again he mocks the Jew, and shows that the Gentile stood on a tree in the place of the Jew, and the Jew lies on the ground. Wherefore he did not stop there, and when he said, "I clung to it," he did not finish his speech, although he had already said everything; on the contrary, he continues to describe the prosperity of the pagan and expands in the image of honor, saying: "And the partaker of the root and the color of the olive tree was created." Although apparently he places the pagan on the level of something subordinate (humbles him); however, he shows that he does not suffer any harm from this, but has everything that is characteristic of a branch that comes from the root. In order that it may not be inferred from the words, "Thou hast clung to the ecus," that the pagan humbles himself before the natural branch, see how the Apostle equalizes him, saying: "And he who partakes of the root and the oil of the olive tree was created," that is, he attained the same nobility, took on the same nature (by which he strikes the Jew). Then, when he admonishes and says, "Do not boast in the branches," he apparently comforts the Jew, but in fact shows his worthlessness and greater dishonor. Wherefore He did not say, "Do not boast," but, "Do not boast in the branches," do not exalt yourself before them as before those who are broken. You are put in their place and use what belonged to them. Do you see how he apparently reproaches the Gentiles, but in fact he wounds the Jews."

Verse 18. Do not boast on a branch: if you boast, you do not bear the root, but the root to you.

Do not boast about the branches, do not exalt yourself over these broken branches, do not humiliate them, and do not make fun of them, seeing the trouble into which their unbelief has plunged. "This, as Ambrosiastes remarked, should not have been done according to the general rule of the Most Wise, according to which one should not rejoice in the stumbling of another, because it is not pleasing to the Lord (Prov. 24, 17–18). But the Apostle, as an inducement to this, cites the very fact that the Gentiles have been brought to such a state that they can, even with sin, boast over the Jews, namely, that although they have become better than the branches that have broken off, they are still branches on someone else's root, and not a special tree with its own root. It is not you, he says, who bear the root, but the root to you, that is, you do not have any firmness in yourself, and everything is foreign to you, so that you have nothing to boast of." If you boast, if the temptation to boast comes to you, then, it must be added, "consider that the root bears you, and you do not bear the root, and that you have need of it, and not it in you" (Blessed Theodoret), and the temptation will pass, and you will drive away the self-boasting that is beginning. By this the Apostle humbles the Gentiles. "But, as has been observed, by inventing a faint shadow of consolation for the Jew, he strikes a timely blow at the Jews even by reproaching the Gentiles. Having said, "Do not boast," and "If you boast," he gave the Jew to understand that what was done was worthy of boasting, although it was not proper to boast about it; and by this he arouses and encourages him to faith, presents himself as his defender, shows him the damage he has suffered and the fact that strangers possess his property" (St. Chrysostom).

With these words, the Apostle conveys the idea that the generation of those who are saved is one from the beginning of the world, like one tree of life, and that no one is saved apart, but if he wants to be saved, he must be grafted into this tree of the saved generation, enter into communion with his life and become one with it. This kind was observed in the Jewish people by a special Divine providence, and then through the Lord Jesus Christ, the entrance to it or kinship with it was open to all nations. This was also shown by the Saviour when, speaking to the Samaritan woman, He said that "salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22). The prophetic blessing of the righteous Noah, given to Japheth, can also be included here: let him dwell in the villages of Shem. Shemu had previously predicted that in his generation the generation of those who would be saved would remain, and the Lord God would always be the God of Shem (Genesis 9:26-27).