Israel Has Not Been Rejected

11 I say then, God has not (A)rejected His people, has He? [a](B)Far from it! For (C)I too am an Israelite, [b]a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God (D)has not rejected His people whom He (E)foreknew. (F)Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, (G)they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” But what [c]is the divine response to him? “(H)I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time (I)a remnant according to God’s [d]gracious choice. But (J)if it is by grace, it is no longer [e]on the basis of works, since otherwise grace is no longer grace.

What then? What (K)Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but [f]those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were (L)hardened; just as it is written:

(M)God gave them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes to see not and ears to hear not,
Down to this very day.”

And David says,

(N)May their table become a snare and a trap,
And a stumbling block and a retribution to them.
10 (O)May their eyes be darkened to see not,
And bend their backs continually.”

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:1 Lit May it never happen!
  2. Romans 11:1 Lit of the seed of Abraham
  3. Romans 11:4 Lit says
  4. Romans 11:5 Lit choice of grace
  5. Romans 11:6 Lit out of
  6. Romans 11:7 Lit the election

God’s Love for His People

11 So I ask, “God has not rejected his people, has he?” Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he chose[a] long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah,[b] when he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets and demolished your altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to take my life.”[c] But what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal.”[d] So it is at the present time: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if this is by grace, then it is no longer on the basis of actions. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

What, then, does this mean?[e] It means that Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking, but the selected group obtained it while the rest were hardened. As it is written,

“To this day God has put them into[f] deep sleep.
    Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear.”[g]

And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a punishment for them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,
    and keep their backs forever bent.”[h]

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 11:2 Lit. knew
  2. Romans 11:2 The Gk. lacks the story about
  3. Romans 11:3 Cf. 1 Kings 19:10, 14
  4. Romans 11:4 Cf. 1 Kings 19:18
  5. Romans 11:7 The Gk. lacks does this mean
  6. Romans 11:8 Lit. has given them a spirit of
  7. Romans 11:8 Cf. Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10
  8. Romans 11:10 Cf. Ps 69:22-23; 35:8