Romans 11:20

Paul grants the fact; but he denies the inference drawn from it. There is no arbitrary favor in God. If the Jews have been rejected, it is in consequence of their unbelief; and if thou fillest their place for the present, it is a consequence of faith that is to say, of divine grace. For there is no merit in faith, since it consists only in opening the hand to receive the gift of God. The term: thou standest, alludes to the favored position of the engrafted branch which now rises on the stem, while those it has replaced lie on the ground.

The reading ὑψηλοφρόνει ought certainly to be preferred to the form ὑψηλὰ φρόνει, which is substituted for it by the Alexs., probably after Romans 12:16. In the passage 1 Timothy 6:17, where this word again occurs, there is the same variant.

But it is not enough to avoid self-exaltation; there should be a positive fear.