Israel is The Root: What Is The Root Of The Wild Olive Tree Part2

In Romans 11, Paul presents one of the most misunderstood metaphors in all of Scripture: the cultivated olive tree and the wild olive tree. Many use this imagery to promote the idea that Gentile believers form a coequal branch of Yah’s covenant people. Some even suggest the Gentile church replaces Israel entirely. But what Paul actually describes is exact and covenant-based. It is grounded in the Torah and the promises given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

To interpret Romans 11 correctly, we must first identify the cultivated olive tree and understand its root. Then we must ask: what is the wild olive tree, and what is the root that sustains it? The answer reveals a sharp separation between the people of the covenant and the nations who lived without law.

The Cultivated Olive Tree: Israel’s Covenant And Patriarchal Root

Paul begins by describing a cultivated tree, something intentionally planted and maintained.

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them…”— Romans 11:17

This cultivated tree is not the Messiah. Paul separates the tree, the root, and the branches as distinct elements. The cultivated olive tree is Israel. Not political Israel, but covenant Israel. The people formed through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy. And if the root be holy, so are the branches.”— Romans 11:16

The root is not Yahusha. The root is the original covenant Yah made with the fathers.

“And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant.”— Genesis 17:7

The tree is Israel. The root is the patriarchal covenant. The branches are Israelites by blood. Some were broken off, but the tree and the root remain in place.

Gentiles Are Called Wild, Alien To The Covenant Tree

Paul is not comparing equals. Gentiles are wild. The Greek word used is agrios, which means untrained, uncultivated, and savage.

“...thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them…”— Romans 11:17

Paul confirms in Ephesians that Gentiles had no connection to Yah’s covenant.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh... at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”— Ephesians 2:11–12

This is not symbolic language. Paul is describing a legal and covenantal condition. Gentiles were outside the law, outside the promises, and outside Yah’s structure. They were rooted in rebellion, not righteousness.

What Is The Root Of The Wild Olive Tree

The wild olive tree has no holy root. It is rooted in lawlessness and paganism. Its foundation is false worship and rebellion.

“They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods. With abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. To gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up… I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people.”— Deuteronomy 32:16–21

Gentiles were not a people. They had no law, no covenant, and no priesthood. Their root was the religions of Nimrod, Baal, Tammuz, Mithras, Ishtar, and Rome. They were raised in traditions that Yah never approved.

“Much every way. Chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.”— Romans 3:2

Israel alone received the oracles. The wild olive tree represents nations that served gods of the sun, moon, and stars. Their religious practices included fertility rituals, child sacrifice, and idolatrous feasts.

Grafting Means Leaving Pagan Roots Not Blending Trees

When Gentiles are grafted in, they are not blending two trees. They are being cut off from their old root and inserted into Israel’s tree.

“And thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree.”— Romans 11:17

They do not bring their own traditions. They do not bring their own doctrines. They do not create their own form of worship. Paul warns them directly:

“Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.”— Romans 11:18

It is against the commandments of Yah for Gentiles to invent their own religious practices. Days like Christmas, Easter, and Halloween are all built on pagan foundations. They are rooted in the worship of Saturn, Ishtar, and the sun. Yah never commanded these things.

“Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them... Enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.”— Deuteronomy 12:30

Yah forbids Gentiles from repackaging pagan practices into His worship. Christianity has done exactly that. Gentiles must abandon these practices entirely.

“One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you.”— Exodus 12:49

The same law applies to both Israelite and stranger. There is no separate path. There is no Gentile tree. The only way to life is through the tree of Israel.

Israel Remains The Tree, The Root Remains The Covenant

Paul is not creating a new religion. He is upholding the original structure. The tree is Israel. The root is the covenant. Yahusha is the door, but Israel is the house.

“Salvation is of the Jews.”— John 4:22

Yahusha did not say salvation is of the Gentiles. He did not authorize a new tree, a new feast calendar, or a new system of worship. The wild olive tree must be cut off and grafted into the cultivated tree of Israel. That is the only way.

Those who try to build their own system will be burned with their root.

“Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”— Matthew 15:13

There is one root. One tree. One people. One covenant. Those who reject it, reject the foundation of truth.