Sarah E. Rollens, “Notes on the Historical Paul and his Intellectual Activity” (5.14.20), ancientjewreview.com. Accessed 3.5.26.
[T]he most obvious place that Paul mobilizes an Israelite identity is his letter to the Romans. As in Galatians, Paul anchors his audience’s connection to Christ in Abrahamic heritage. Because Abraham demonstrated faith before receiving circumcision, Paul reasons, he became “the father of all who believe without being circumcised” (Romans 4:11; i.e., the ancestor of the Gentiles). Furthermore, in his complex arguments in Roman 9-11, he acknowledges the prestige that accompanies an Israelite identity: “the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, the promises…the patriarchs” (Romans 9:4-5). But this prestigious identity, he goes on to explain, is accessible to Gentiles. Not only do “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel” (9:6), but also inheritance here is based on merely being understood as the recipient of the promise, regardless of whether or not the descendants do any particular actions (i.e., actions prescribed by Judaean law). Paul uses the metaphor of grafting a wild olive tree (Gentiles) on to a cultivated one (the people Israel) to explain how Gentiles can access the benefits of Israelite identity. Some branches of this cultivated tree were broken off (i.e., disobedient Israel), and wild shoots were grafted in “to share in the richness of the olive tree” (Romans 11: 17). Theologians have made much of Paul’s metaphors here. For my purposes, I want to highlight how these intellectual enterprises work to give a new “backstory” to non-Judeans and to think about what the Gentiles would have heard about their new identity presented through this reasoning. In short, by linking them with an Israelite heritage via Abraham and the “grafting in” metaphor, Paul is essentially giving them access to Israelite’s Law, ancestors, legacies, and epic histories.
The Amateur Exegete 