What does Paul mean by "full inclusion"?

Explanation:

Paul says that Israel’s trespass means riches for the Gentiles, so how much more their τὸ πλήρωμα. The term carries several senses, so there is some ambiguity in what Paul means here.³ Still, we can detect his meaning because he uses the term again in Romans 11:25 where the meaning is clear.⁴ There he writes that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the πλήρωμα of the Gentiles has come in. It is obvious that what he means is that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the full number of Gentiles have accepted the gospel. Given the proximity of this use of πλήρωμα with his earlier use in Romans 11:12, Paul likely has the same meaning in mind in both verses. As such, he must be saying that if Israel’s rejection means riches for the Gentiles, how much richer will it be when their full number is saved.⁵

Counterargument:

The problem is that the use of πλήρωμα in a strictly quantitative sense is extremely rare and essentially absent from the New Testament.⁶ This is a problem for this view, because if the meaning of a term is extremely rare or absent from a series of writings, then it is unlikely that any occurrence within that writing is meant to signal the rare meaning. The fact is, it is much more likely that Paul uses πλήρωμα in a qualitative sense, so this is likely how he means us to take him in Romans 11:12.

Response to counterargument:

There are at least three problems with this counterargument. First, the term πλήρωμα is used several times in the New Testament, and on at least two occasions, it refers to items filling a basket (Mark 6:43; Mark 8:20). This connotation suggests quantity.⁷ Second, Paul himself clearly uses the term πλήρωμα to mean quantity in Romans 11:25 when he refers to the fullness of the Gentiles coming in.⁸ Third, even if no other New Testament authors, including Paul himself, use the term πλήρωμα in other passages to denote quantity, this may simply imply that Romans 11:12 is the only New Testament instance where πλήρωμα denotes quantity. Thus, given that Paul in Romans 11:25 clearly uses πλήρωμα to refer to the number of Gentiles coming in, he likely uses it to refer to the number of Israelites in Romans 11:12.

Explanation:

We can understand what Paul means when he refers to their πλήρωμα by considering what he wrote earlier. In Romans 11:5 he says that a remnant of Israel has been elected by grace. Then he explains that the rest were hardened (Romans 11:7). Next, he asks whether the rest stumbled in order to fall, concluding that this is not the case (Romans 11:11). That is because the stumbling of the rest brought salvation to the Jews. Of course, if the stumbling of the rest brought riches to the Jews, how much more their πλήρωμα. Given that Paul is explaining the value of the rest stumbling, along with their subsequent full inclusion, it is clear that the full inclusion is their eventual inclusion in salvation. In other words, the full inclusion here is the number of the rest coming to salvation.

Counterargument:

This view assumes that when Paul says that their trespass means riches for the world and their failure riches for the Gentiles, he has in mind the rest who were hardened. That is, according to this argument, the rest who were hardened did not stumble in order to fall, but to result in riches for the world and Gentiles. In fact, when Paul says that their trespass results in riches for the world and Gentiles, their likely refers to Israel as a nation. Of course, if their refers to Israel, then Paul may use the term πλήρωμα in the sense of qualitative fulfillment. That is, Israel’s trespass will ultimately result in the fulfillment of Israel’s purpose as a nation.

Response to counterargument:

It is unlikely that their in Romans 11:12 refers to Israel as a nation. Paul has already distinguished the remnant from the rest who were hardened. It is the rest who were hardened that stumbled in order that the gospel would go to the Gentiles. So it is the rest who were hardened that result in riches to the world and Gentiles, how much more their πλήρωμα. Given that the rest refers to individuals who rejected the gospel and not to the nation of Israel as a whole, πλήρωμα likely refers to them turning and being saved. Thus, it refers to quantity, not quality.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. Possibly the strongest weakness is that the term πλήρωμα can mean a number of things and is not normally used to denote quantity. Still, we dealt with this possible weakness in the first response to counterargument, explaining that Paul’s use in Romans 11:25 certainly suggests quantity in Romans 11:12.

Explanation:

Paul explains that Israel’s trespass meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fulfillment. While it is not right away clear what Paul means by Israel’s fulfillment, it likely has to do with Israel’s reigning with Christ for a thousand years when Christ returns.⁹ The Old Testament prophecies predict this will happen. First, in Zechariah 12:10 we learn that God will give Israel the Spirit of grace and supplication as she mourns for the one she pierced, likely referring to the crucifixion. In that day the Lord will be king over the earth, and the nations will go up to worship the Lord (Zechariah 14:9–16).¹⁰ And we learn from Revelation that as this spiritual revival begins, the Lord will crush Satan and seal for himself 144,000 from Israel (Revelation 7:4). Then Christ will reign for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1–10). Thus, the fulfillment of Israel is when the nation turns to Christ in repentance, initiating Christ’s thousand-year reign.¹¹

Counterargument:

There are at least two problems with this argument. First, it does not clearly establish that the fulfillment of Israel means that Israel will repent and Christ will return to reign for one thousand years while crushing Satan. The fact is, there are varying ways to interpret what the author of Revelation means when he writes about Christ sealing 144,000 and his thousand-year reign. That is because the literary genre of Revelation is clearly apocalyptic, and apocalyptic literature often uses dreams and non-literal imagery to convey its teaching. This argument has much more work to do to convince us that the thousand-year reign of Christ is literal, and that this is what Paul means by the fulfillment of Israel in Romans 11:12.

Second, the immediate context strongly suggests that the fulfillment of Israel is quantitative. Paul is asking whether the rest who were hardened stumbled in order to fall, and concludes they did not. Rather, if their trespass meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more their πλήρωμα. Now, πλήρωμα can mean something like inclusion. Given that their trespass means the inclusion of the Gentiles, likely their πλήρωμα is their own inclusion.

This view is not rooted in the text. We want to know what Paul means when he writes about their πλήρωμα. Nothing Paul has written alludes to Israel reigning with Christ for a thousand years. So there is no reason from the text to take Paul this way.