Verses 19–20. Say, "Break off the branches, and I will cling to it." Good: you have broken off through unbelief, but you stand by faith: do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

The Apostle continues to humble the believing Gentile and to smite the unbelieving Jew. "The pagan seems to object: how can I not boast, when so many good things have come to me? They broke off, but I was grafted in and make use of the promises given to them, I, a stranger to them and in no way related to them" (Ecumenios). Every word is a defeat for the Jew. What about the Apostle? Although there is no causal connection here, the breaking off of some is not the cause of the attachment of others; but the Apostle agrees with this speech and says: "Good." So; You see, I see too, and everyone else sees that these events will follow one after another. But do not stop at this one visible sequence, but delve into the cause of both. The reason for the breaking off of the Jews is not your grafting, but their unbelief, and the cause of your grafting is not their breaking, but your faith. Each of these events, one after the other, does not have a cause in one another, but each has its own cause. In those is unbelief, in thee is faith. Here, each of the participants in these events, direct your attention. You are clinging to faith but faith gives everything freely, and no extraneous advantages are taken into account. Therefore, you have nothing to boast about. They broke off with unbelief; But what is easier, more convenient, and more handy than faith? It requires neither special time, nor special place, nor labor; only an inner turn – to surrender oneself to God and entrust everything to Him. Therefore, your unbelief can have no excuse. "Here again is a new praise of the Gentiles, which, however, destroys their arrogance, and a new accusation of the Jews, which, however, can serve as a strong incentive for them to believe" (St. Chrysostom).

Of them he said, "He broke off," and to this he says, "He did not cling," but, "Stop." By this he wants to express that he is firmly established on the root and therefore can be reliable, if, of course, he does not lose the strength with which he has clung and stands now: for here "everything is not a matter of nature, but a matter of faith and unbelief" (St. Chrysostom). Since the transition from both unbelief in faith and from faith to unbelief is convenient and can be accomplished instantly, the Apostle added: do not be arrogant, but be afraid. Do not ascribe anything to yourself and do not think highly of yourself, having been vouchsafed great spiritual blessings by grace. For here everything is from God and faith itself is from Him. You only agreed to believe, but God gave faith itself, and by faith everything else has already been granted. And the very foundation of faith is extreme self-abasement: I am God's unrepayable debtor and condemner; there is no salvation for me in anything save the Lord Jesus Christ; To Him I give myself wholeheartedly. And faith, as it is conceived in this spirit of self-abasement, so it stands, and from it all the zeal and benevolence of believers. Why did the Apostle, when he said, "Stand fast by faith," add nothing else but to be arrogant, because in low-mindedness and humble self-abasement is the spirit of faith and the power of life according to faith. Whoever begins to deviate into the opinion of himself has already begun to waver in his faith, his contempt for the very work of faith has already arisen, and negligence about salvation has already begun to move (see: St. Chrysostom). And what extreme danger is there in all this?! Wherefore the Apostle added: but be afraid. Walk with danger and watch your heart with all vigilance, lest a high opinion of yourself creep in there. For as soon as it creeps in, it will weaken faith, and after this weakening there will be a breakdown, and from breaking is not far from breaking off, and this is destruction. Fear arrogance as fire, and with all fear and trembling work out your salvation.

Verse 21. For if God does not spare the natural branches, let him not spare you either.

By natural branches he calls the Jews, descended from the patriarchs, their ancestors, to whom and to whose family the promises were given. The promises to this generation are extended on condition that the persons who compose it remain in the same spirit of faith in God and obedience to His commands as the patriarchs-progenitors. And so it is: those who have believed and listened to the Gospel, as you see, are partakers of the promises and are in the mercy of God, just as their fathers were, but those who do not believe and stubbornly resist the will of God in this, are deprived of the promise and are excluded from the generation of their fathers, because they have become not of the same spirit with these fathers. God did not look at the fact that they were descended from such great fathers and such a blessed family, but rejected them when they became unworthy of mercy through their unbelief. For God has no respect of persons. Whoever is worth what receives either mercy or mercy accordingly. Behold, thou, a heathen, who believed, and for this was received into the blessed generation of God, the race of men who are saved; reason and keep in mind that if God for unbelief rejected those whose race He had as His own and so carefully guarded until now; how much more will he not spare you, a stranger, who have been adopted into the generation of God, if you weaken in the faith, or falter in it, or behave unworthy of it. Keep this in mind and be afraid, be afraid to lose the good of which you have been vouchsafed, and to be deprived of God's mercy.

"And unbelief made the Jews strangers to the root, and faith made you a partaker of the fat of it. Therefore it is proper not to be arrogant, but to fear and tremble. What then? (In order not to lose this spirit of faith and therefore not to be deprived of God's mercy.) For if they were not in the least availed by their natural affinity, when they did not have the same will (with their fathers); how much more will you, if you do not preserve grace, become a stranger to the root" (Blessed Theodorite). "And righteously. For if those who, according to the prerogatives of their fathers, were worthy, to whom even the promise was given to be adopted sons of God, God cut them off because of unbelief; what will He not do to those who are so exalted without any advantages, if they waver in faith or become proud? After all, they are not honored at all according to their worth" (Ambrosiastes).

The Apostle's thought in the words: "Not as it is for thee, and it shall not spare thee" is one that will not spare thee either; but he expressed himself so hesitantly and hesitatingly, or in accordance with the word "be afraid," since fear is usually revealed by irresolute expectations, if this would not happen, if such and such would not be tolerated; or in order to soften the severity of the sentence in the word (see: Ecumenios), allowing the readers to understand it themselves. And St. Chrysostom says: "Having said, 'If God has not spared the natural branches,' the Apostle did not continue, 'Neither will He spare you,' but says, 'Not as He will spare you.' Thus, by excluding harsh expressions from speech and forcing the believer to be caring, he attracts the Jews, and humbles the Gentiles."

Verse 22. Behold the goodness and lack of mercy of God: for there is no mercy on those who have fallen away, but the goodness of God is upon you, if you remain in goodness: if not, then you will also be cut off.

Two examples are before your eyes – an example of God's goodness and an example of God's lack of mercy, that is, strict condemnation and rejection of the guilty. The Jews did not believe, did not submit to the will of God in this, fell away from the race of the chosen sons of God, and God did not spare them, did not see that they had such fathers according to the flesh, and that He Himself had so much care for them, and as soon as they became unworthy of His goodness through their stubborn unbelief, He immediately rejected them and deprived them of His mercy. You have believed humbly and obediently, and the goodness of God has poured out upon you all the blessings predestined for such. And these blessings will forever remain your inheritance, if you keep yourself worthy of God's love for mankind until the end of your life, and through this abide in God's goodness. But "if you do not do this, then you will also be cut off" (Blessed Theophylact). Expect no mercy; An example in front of your eyes. St. Chrysostom says: "The Apostle did not say, 'See your merits, see your labors,' but, 'Behold God's love for mankind.' This shows you that everything is done by grace from above, and makes you tremble. The very pretext for vanity makes you afraid. Vladyka has become merciful to you, so be afraid. As good things are not inalienable to thee, if thou shalt be despised, so evil is not inevitable to the Jews, if they change."

Verse 23. And they, if they do not continue in unbelief, will cling to them: for God is able to fasten them.

God both has mercy and rejects, depending on the mood of people's will: He shows mercy to the obedient, and rejects the disobedient. But as long as we are here on earth, the rejection of God is not final: it is always only corrective. God rejects in order to reason with rejection and draw to Himself. No matter how rejected someone is, as soon as he comes to his senses and runs to God, He again accepts him into mercy. So it will be with the Jews: if they give up their unbelief and cease to stubbornly, God will again receive them into His generation, into the generation of the saved, the elect, and the saints. St. Chrysostom says: "Do you see what is the power of freedom? What is the power of will? Nothing is immutable, neither your (the Gentile's) good, nor his (the Jew's) evil. Do you see how the Apostle raised up and humbled the presumptuous Gentile even the despairing Jew? And thou, O Jew, when thou hearest of severity, do not despair; And thou, O heathen, when thou hearest of goodness, do not put thy trust in thyself. He did not spare thee, and cut thee off, that thou wouldst return; but He showed thee grace in order that thou might abide, and the Apostle did not say, "In faith," but, "In grace," that is, that thou shouldest do that which is worthy of God's love for mankind; because it takes more than one faith.

And thou shalt be cut off, saith the Apostle to the Gentile, if thou shalt be despised. The Jew is cut off, but he will cling if he tries to do so, because you too are attached. And the Apostle acts very wisely, that he addresses all his speech to the pagan and, according to his usual custom, striking a blow at the strongest, corrects the weakest with it. Then, so that a number of his conclusions could not be disputed, he takes proof from the omnipotence of God. Though the Jews are cut off and rejected, though others have taken their place, yet they ought not to despair. For God is mighty, he says, to fasten them. God is able to produce even that which is beyond hope. But if you demand experimental arguments, then you have the most sufficient example on yourself."

Verse 24. For if thou hast been cut off from the natural wonder of the olive tree, and through nature hast clung to the good olive tree, how much more shall these, who by nature cling to their olive tree.

He explains the possibility of attaching Jews who have fallen away from the tree of the saved by attaching to it pagans who did not belong to him. Everything comes from faith, and faith comes from volition. The Jews will accept the faith, and they will cling. "If faith has been able to bring about that which is not by nature, how much more will it bring about that which is by nature" (St. Chrysostom). The whole race of the pagans is called the wild olive tree, because they were not brought up, as the Jews were, they had neither the law given by God, nor the Prophets sent by God, nor did they experience any special providential actions of God. They grew like a wild olive tree, not nurtured by a skilled gardener. Why did they not have in themselves anything special of God, except that which is put into nature: and yet they were grafted into grace by faith. The Jew, although he does not yet believe, still has traces of that special Divine that was given and revealed to his ancestors — he has the law and the Prophets. Consequently, it has much in common with the principles of faith. Why can he turn to me all the sooner when he wants? Blessed Theodoret writes: "If you, being a wild olive tree (because you had neither a law that cultivated, nor prophets watering, purifying, and taking proper care of you), were separated from your wicked ancestors and relatives, but you were made a partaker of Abraham's faith, and you boast that Abraham is your root, father, and forefather, not according to the natural law, but according to the bounty of God: Of course, it is more lawful and natural for the Jews, having believed, to be united to their own root. And this is what the Apostle says, teaching modesty to those who believe from among the Gentiles, and drawing those who do not believe from among the Jews to salvation." St. Chrysostom expounds this suggestion in more detail, addressing his speech to the unbelieving Jew: "You, if you wish to return, will establish yourself not on someone else's, like a pagan, but on your own root. Will you therefore be worthy of any excuse when it has become possible for a pagan that it is not in his nature, but that you will not be able to do what is in your nature, and, on the contrary, destroy what is natural? And since the Apostle said (of the Gentile), "Through nature," and "He clung to it," and from this you could conclude that the Gentile received something more; then he removes this conclusion by saying that the Jew will also cling. How much more, he says, who by nature cling to their olive tree; and again: God is able to attach them; And he said above: If they do not continue in unbelief, they will cling. But when you hear that the Apostle often uses the expression: by nature, and by nature, do not conclude from the fact that he means here the immutable nature; on the contrary, by these names it signifies both conformable and corresponding, and inconsistent with nature. Good and evil are not natural actions, but only actions of will and freedom."