11:20a

That is correct: The Greek word here means “good” or “well” or “appropriate.” Scholars believe it indicates here agreeing in part. 11:20b–d then explains what he means by saying That is correct. Here are other ways to translate the Greek word:

Yes, but remember— (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Admittedly
-or-

⌊Yes,⌋ those words are true.
-or-
This is true but

With these words Paul began his response to the quoted words in 11:19. In some languages this must be made explicit for clear and natural communication of the meaning. For example:

⌊My answer/response is this:⌋
-or-
That is indeed true, relatives. But remember:

11:20b

They were broken off: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:

⌊God⌋ broke them off

because of unbelief: The words because of introduce the reason why the branches were broken off. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

because they did not believe (Good News Translation)
-or-
because they did not have faith (Contemporary English Version)

unbelief: The word “their” is clearly implied here. Because of this, some English versions add this word. For example:

their unbelief (English Standard Version)

It may be more natural in your language to follow the English Standard Version or the examples in the previous note. The word unbelief refers to not believing in Jesus as the Christ, the one appointed by God to save his people. Some languages must say what the belief is in. For example:

did not believe ⌊in Jesus⌋
-or-
didn’t believe in Christ (New Living Translation (2004))

11:20c

you: The Greek word is emphatic here. For example:

⌊as for you,⌋ you

stand by faith: Here this phrase refers to remaining strong in what the person believes. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

stand fast (English Standard Version)
-or-
are established (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
stand strong ⌊in faith⌋

by faith: This phrase indicates that this person is able to stand strong because they continue believing in Jesus. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:

because you do believe (Good News Translation)
-or-
because of faith (New American Bible, Revised Edition)

11:20d

Do not be arrogant: The connection of “therefore/so” is implied here. For example:

So, do not become proud (English Standard Version)

be afraid: Here it is unclear what the object of this be afraid might be. Many scholars think it means “respect/revere God.” But some scholars think it means “be afraid of being broken off like them.” The Berean Standard Bible and other English versions are perhaps more clear that it means be afraid, but many versions are not clear with just the word “fear.” On the whole it seems like this interpretation is more likely, because 11:21 seems to explain what to fear.

© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.