In this section Paul teaches that the rejection of the Jews was not total. While true that the nation as a whole was rejected by God (as predicted in the Old Testament) there was a remnant (small portion) of Jews whom God had saved, and perhaps a much larger remnant than many might suppose.
11:1 |
I ask then: Did God
[totally]
reject his people
[the Jews]?
By no means! [God had not totally rejected all Jews, there were those among the Jews whom God had chosen to save. Paul was a good example of this]:
I am an Israelite myself, |
11:2 | God did not
reject his people, whom he foreknew. [loved beforehand] [Notice how the following translations render the word translated "foreknow" in the NIV:
[Paul uses an example from the Old Testament to show what was happening among the Jews at the time the Roman letter was written]: Don't you know what the
Scripture says |
11:3 |
"Lord, they have killed your prophets |
11:4 | And what was God's
answer to him?
|
11:5 | So too, at the
present time there is a remnant [small portion] chosen by grace. ["As in the days of Elijah, the number of those who had not bowed the knee to Baal was far greater than the prophet believed it to be, so the number of those who acknowledged Christ as the Messiah, in the times of the apostle, was much larger than is generally supposed. The apostle James speaks of many myriads (Acts 21:20) of believing Jews" (Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans p.356)] |
11:6 | And if by grace, then
it is no longer by works; if it were, [if God's choice had been based on whatever He foresaw] grace would no longer be grace. |
11:7 | What then? What Israel
[as a
nation] sought so earnestly [right standing before God] it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others [the non-elect Jews] were hardened [by God], |
11:8 | as it is written
[in Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10]:
|
11:9 | And David says
[in
Psalm
69:22-23]:
|
11:10 |
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