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Chapter 11

The Remnant of Israel.[a] I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Of course not!(A) For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.(B) God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have torn down your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.”(C) But what is God’s response to him? “I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not knelt to Baal.”(D) So also at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.(E) But if by grace, it is no longer because of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.(F) What then? What Israel was seeking it did not attain, but the elect attained it; the rest were hardened,(G) as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of deep sleep,
    eyes that should not see
    and ears that should not hear,
down to this very day.”(H)

And David says:(I)

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes grow dim so that they may not see,
    and keep their backs bent forever.”

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Footnotes

  1. 11:1–10 Although Israel has been unfaithful to the prophetic message of the gospel (Rom 10:14–21), God remains faithful to Israel. Proof of the divine fidelity lies in the existence of Jewish Christians like Paul himself. The unbelieving Jews, says Paul, have been blinded by the Christian teaching concerning the Messiah.