εἰ γὰρ σὺ ἐκ τῆς κατὰ φύσιν ἐξεκόπης ἀγριελαίου καὶ παρὰ φύσιν ἐνεκεντρίσθης εἰς καλλιέλαιον, πόσῳ μᾶλλον οὗτοι οἱ κατὰ φύσιν ἐγκεντρισθήσονται τῇ ἰδίᾳ ἐλαίᾳ.
24For if you have been 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 natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree.
In Gbaya, the notion of something done easily in these verses is emphasized with yɛ́kɛ́ɗɛ, an ideophone that expresses an easy action, something that can be accomplished easily.
Ideophones are a class of sound symbolic words expressing human sensation that are used as literary devices in many African languages. (Source: Philip Noss)
The Greek in Romans 11:24 that is translated as “contrary to nature” or similar in English is translated as “where you didn’t spring up” in Isthmus Zapotec, as “contrary to what you belong to” in Highland Totonac, and as “which is contrary to your normal way in that you are not the good branches of the good tree” in North Alaskan Inupiatun. (Source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.)
The Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as a form of “save” in English is translated in Shipibo-Conibo with a phrase that means literally “make to live,” which combines the meaning of “to rescue” and “to deliver from danger,” but also the concept of “to heal” or “restore to health.”
Other translations include:
See also salvation and save (Japanese honorifics).
Following are a number of back-translations of Romans 11:24:
The olive family has over four hundred species in the world. Many of them grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but it is the one in the Bible, the European Olive Olea europaea, that has become famous. It is likely that the olive was domesticated in Egypt or the eastern Mediterranean basin in the third millennium B.C. The botanist Newberry argued that Egypt was its original home. We know from the Bible that olives grew in the hills of Samaria and in the foothills. There is a wild variety, called Olea europaea sylvestris, that is smaller than the domestic one; it produces a smaller fruit with less oil. The Apostle Paul refers to this wild variety in Romans 11:17 and 11:24. Olives are easily propagated by cuttings and by grafting fruitful species into less fruitful ones. They grow best on hillsides where the rain drains off quickly. The fruit forms by August but does not ripen until December or January.
The olive is not a big tree, reaching up to perhaps 10 meters (33 feet), but with pruning it is usually kept to around 5 meters (17 feet) tall. The leaves are grayish green above, and whitish underneath. The bark of young trees is silvery gray but gets darker and rougher as the tree ages. The trunk also gets twisted and hollow and may reach over a meter in thickness. Olives grow for hundreds of years, and some in Israel have possibly reached two thousand years.
The fruit of the olive is about 2 centimeters (1 inch) long and a bit more than a centimeter (1/2 inch) thick. It has a hard stone inside and a soft skin that covers the oily flesh. Today a mature tree may yield 10-20 kilograms (22-44 pounds) of fruit, which, when processed, will yield 1.3-2.6 kilograms (3.6 pounds) of oil.
For the Jews the “big three” trees were the vine, the fig, and the olive. People ate olive fruits, but more importantly, they squeezed the oil from the fruits, and used it for cooking, for lamps, for rubbing on the body, for medicine, and in religion. Jacob poured olive oil on the stone where he saw a vision of angels, declaring it a holy place (Genesis 28:18). Moses, similarly, anointed the Tabernacle and its equipment with olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling resins (Exodus 40:9). Aaron and the priests who served in the Tabernacle were also anointed (Exodus 29:21).
Some types of wild olive grow in Africa, India, and Australia, but are not well-known. The so-called “African olive” produces a black, oil-bearing fruit much like an olive. It is common as a snack in northern Nigeria. The “Chinese olive” is also a species of Canarium and may be a possible cultural substitute, if it produces edible fruit and oil. The “Russian olive” grown in dry regions of the world is a member of the Elaeagnus family and not a true olive. A variety of olive (Olea cuspidate) is used for building in India and Nepal, but it is probably not possible to use it in the Bible except perhaps in a study Bible where you could say that the biblical olive was related to this tree.
Since most of the kinds of olive trees in the world do not have edible fruit, it may not be possible to substitute a local variety. If it is done, however, a footnote would be required saying that the Palestinian kind produced edible fruit and oil. If a variety of Canarium is eaten in your area, you could use the local name for it. Otherwise transliterate from a major language.
Source: Each According to its Kind: Plants and Trees in the Bible (UBS Helps for Translators)
Since verse 24 consists essentially of a summary statement of what has preceded, it may be important in some languages to identify this fact by a particle meaning “in conclusion” or “finally.”
In this verse also pronominal references have been made explicit: You Gentiles is literally “you” (singular) and the Jews is literally “these ones.” Throughout this entire section (vv. 13-24) there is a problem of singular and plural, since Paul is addressing his argument, as it were, to one Gentile. Therefore he speaks of the Gentiles as being “a branch.” In contrast, the Jews are referred to as “these ones” and in the analogy they are “branches.” It may seem quite anomalous for several branches to be broken out in order for “one Gentile” (me in v. 19) to be inserted. If a plural form of second person is employed (“you” plural) throughout, then quite naturally the reference to Gentiles will be “branches,” to parallel the plural branches used in speaking of the Jews.
The branch of a wild olive tree that is broken off is more literally “have been cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree” (Revised Standard Version). The Greek phrase “by nature” (kata phusin) is also used in the second part of this verse where it appears with the equivalent of an adjective “natural” in the phrase “the natural ones.” In English it is unnatural to speak of any tree as being “an X tree by nature”; we simply say “an X tree.” That is why the Good News Translation renders wild olive tree instead of “by nature a wild olive tree” (Revised Standard Version) or “natural wild olive” (Jerusalem Bible). The New English Bible is ambiguous and sounds odd: “your native wild olive tree.”
Contrary to nature (Greek para phusin) is used in formal contrast to the phrase “by nature” (kata phusin). The meaning is obvious: it is contrary to nature for a branch of one kind of olive tree to grow from the trunk of another kind of olive tree.
For God to join these broken-off branches back to their own tree is literally “the natural ones will be joined back to their own olive tree.” Once again, God is the understood agent of the passive verb, and “the natural ones” is a reference to the branches that have been broken off the original olive tree. It is unnecessary in English structure to identify these branches as “natural branches,” because this is carried by the last part of the verse, to their own tree. Finally, in order that Paul’s analogy may be quickly and easily seen, Gentiles and Jews are modified by the phrase are like the branch and are like this cultivated tree.
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
11:24a
For: Here this word introduces a second reason or basis for Jews being grafted in, once they believe in Jesus.
if: Here the word if introduces a situation that is true. If this first part is true, that supports the second part (God will graft in Jews, if they believe in Jesus (11:24c)) to also be true.
In some languages, translating literally here would have a different meaning. If that is true in your language, translate the correct meaning. For example:
if ⌊it is true that⌋
-or-
you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, ⌊therefore⌋ how much more…
you were cut from: The clause you were cut is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
⌊God⌋ cut you from
you: This word is emphatic in the Greek. For example:
you yourself
-or-
as for you, if you…
a wild olive tree: The phrase indicates that the tree from which the person was cut was by nature a wild olive tree, as opposed to a cultivated one. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
the wild olive tree to which you belonged
-or-
your parent/own wild olive tree
11:24b
and contrary to nature were grafted into one that is cultivated: The phrase contrary to nature indicates that grafting of a branch from the wild olive tree into the cultivated olive is contrary to nature. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
grafted to a cultivated tree to which you did not belong
-or-
grafted to a cultivated olive tree that was not your own tree
were grafted: The word “you” is implied from 11:24a. This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
⌊God⌋ grafted ⌊you⌋
one that is cultivated: The word cultivated indicates that people planted this olive tree and took care of it. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
a domestic olive tree
-or-
the planted olive
-or-
the cared-for tree
11:24c–d
how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!: The phrase how much more indicates that it is more fitting for God to graft the natural branches back to the cultivated olive tree, than to graft wild olive branches to it. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
it is much more fitting/proper that these, the natural branches, will be grafted back into their own olive tree
-or-
it is right indeed for God to graft these, the natural branches, back into their own tree
will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree: This clause is passive. Some languages must use an active clause. For example:
⌊God⌋ will graft these, the natural branches, into their own olive tree
these, the natural branches: The Greek is more literally “these (ones), the (ones) according-to nature.” The last part (“according-to nature”) here refers to the branches of the cultivated tree. The word these emphasizes that Paul was talking here about the branches of the cultivated olive tree. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
these branches, to the tree to which they belong
-or-
these ones, the branches of their parent/own ⌊cultivated⌋ tree
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