Romans 11:25

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to a mixed Jewish-Gentile church in Rome, mid-argument (ch. 9–11) about Israel's present unbelief and future restoration. He addresses Gentile believers directly, guarding against a triumphalist reading of Israel's fall.

The words — μυστήριον (mustērion): a hidden thing now disclosed. Paul frames Israel's hardening not as a permanent verdict but as a divinely ordered phase within a revealed plan.

The thread — The "veil" over Israel's minds in 2 Corinthians 3:14 and the nations' dominion over Jerusalem in Luke 21:24 both picture the same temporary condition Paul calls "hardening." Romans 16:25 returns to the same mustērion, tying the letter's argument to the revelation now made known.

Why it lands — The verse names the danger explicitly: Gentile conceit. It asks the reader to hold Israel's unbelief as neither final nor a ground for self-elevation.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Cross-references

Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
Romans 16:25 Now to Him who is able to strengthen you by my gospel and by the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery concealed for ages past
Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.
Zechariah 8:20 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities—
Zechariah 14:9 On that day the LORD will become King over all the earth—the LORD alone, and His name alone.
Romans 11:7 What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
Isaiah 2:1 This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
Micah 4:1 In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.