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Romans 11

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God Has Not Rejected Israel 1–10

1
I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. ​
2
God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against Israel: ​
3
Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. ​
5
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. ​
6
But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. ​
7
What then? That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened: ​
8
according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day. ​
9
And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them:
10
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, And bow thou down their back always.

Israel’s Stumble and Gentile Salvation 11–16

11
I say then, Did they stumble that they might fall? God forbid: but by their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy. ​
12
Now if their fall is the riches of the world, and their loss the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? ​
13
But I speak to you that are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my ministry; ​
14
if by any means I may provoke to jealousy them that are my flesh, and may save some of them.
15
For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? ​
16
And if the firstfruit is holy, so is the lump: and if the root is holy, so are the branches. ​

The Olive Tree Analogy 17–24

17
But if some of the branches were broken off, and thou, being a wild olive, wast grafted in among them, and didst become partaker with them of the root of the fatness of the olive tree; ​
18
glory not over the branches: but if thou gloriest, it is not thou that bearest the root, but the root thee. ​
19
Thou wilt say then, Branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
20
Well; by their unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by thy faith. Be not highminded, but fear: ​
21
for if God spared not the natural branches, neither will he spare thee.
22
Behold then the goodness and severity of God: toward them that fell, severity; but toward thee, God’s goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. ​
23
And they also, if they continue not in their unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
24
For if thou wast cut out of that which is by nature a wild olive tree, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall these, which are the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? ​

The Mystery of Israel’s Restoration 25–32

25
For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; ​
26
and so all Israel shall be saved: even as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer; He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: ​
27
And this is my covenant unto them, When I shall take away their sins.
28
As touching the gospel, they are enemies for your sake: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sake. ​
29
For the gifts and the calling of God are not repented of. ​
30
For as ye in time past were disobedient to God, but now have obtained mercy by their disobedience,
31
even so have these also now been disobedient, that by the mercy shown to you they also may now obtain mercy.
32
For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all. ​

Doxology: Praise to God’s Wisdom 33–36

33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! ​
34
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35
or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36
For of him, and through him, and unto him, are all things. To him be the glory for ever. Amen. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Romans 11

Verse 1

I also am an Israelite — Paul answers his own question with himself: 'of the tribe of Benjamin' (Phil 3:5; cf. 2 Cor 11:22). 'God forbid' is the refusal he gives ten times in Romans (3:4, 3:6, 3:31, 6:2, 6:15, 7:7, 7:13, 9:14, here and v.11), and 'cast away' is the verb of v.2, 'God hath not cast away his people'.

Verse 2

which he foreknew — Proginosko, the verb of 8:29, 'For whom he did foreknow'. The refusal rests on Ps 94:14, 'the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance'. Elias is Elijah, whose complaint 'I, even I only, am left' (1 Kings 19:10) is the case Paul takes up next.

Verse 4

seven thousand men — The LORD's answer to Elijah, 'Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel' (1 Kings 19:18). 'The answer of God' is chrematismos, a divine reply, found only here in the New Testament. Paul's 'reserved to myself' keeps the point of 'I have left me': the number was kept by God's own act.

Verse 5

a remnant according to the election of grace — Leimma, what is left over, occurs only here in the New Testament. It is the 'remnant' of Isaiah's word quoted in 9:27, 'a remnant shall be saved'. 'Election' (eklogē) is joined to 'grace', and v.6 explains the pairing; the same 'election' is named again in vv.7 and 28.

Verse 6

no more of works — Rom 4:4 already marks the line: 'to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.' Here it is drawn from both sides. Grace that took works into account would cease to be grace, and work paid as a gift would cease to be work. Eph 2:8–9 says the same: 'Not of works, lest any man should boast.'

Verse 7

the election hath obtained it — What Israel 'seeketh for' (epizeteo) is the 'law of righteousness' of 9:31–32, followed 'as it were by the works of the law'. 'The election' is the remnant of v.5. 'Blinded' is poroo, to harden, the verb rendered 'hardened' in John 12:40, 'He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart'.

Verse 8

the spirit of slumber — Paul joins two Old Testament passages: Deut 29:4, 'the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day', and Isa 29:10, 'the spirit of deep sleep'. Katanyxis, a deep stupor, occurs only here in the New Testament. The Isaiah verse adds that the LORD 'hath closed your eyes'.

Verse 11

Have they stumbled that they should fall? — Two verbs: 'stumbled' (ptaio) and 'fall' (pipto). The question is whether the stumbling is a fall past recovery, and 'God forbid' answers it. 'Provoke… to jealousy' (parazeloo) is Moses' word quoted in 10:19, 'I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people' (Deut 32:21). Paul and Barnabas had turned to the Gentiles in Acts 13:46.

Verse 12

their fulness — Pleroma, completeness, the word that returns in v.25 for 'the fulness of the Gentiles'. 'Diminishing' (hettema) occurs only here and in 1 Cor 6:7, where it is 'a fault'. The argument runs from the lesser to the greater: if their 'fall' brought 'riches' to the world, 'how much more their fulness?'

Verse 13

I magnify mine office — 'Magnify' is doxazo, to glorify, and 'office' is diakonia, a ministry or service. The Lord had said of Paul, 'he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles' (Acts 9:15); Gal 2:7–9 records the same commission. Magnifying it serves the aim of v.14, to 'save some of them' that are his own flesh.

Verse 15

life from the dead — 'Casting away' is apobole, found only here and in Acts 27:22, where it is 'loss'. 'Reconciling' (katallage) is the word of 5:11 and 2 Cor 5:18–19, 'reconciling the world unto himself'. 'Receiving' (proslepsis) occurs only here. 'Life from the dead' has been read as the resurrection at the end, and as new life for the world.

Verse 16

the firstfruit… the root — 'Of the first of your dough ye shall give unto the LORD an heave offering' (Num 15:21). The 'firstfruit' (aparche) is that first portion, and when it is holy the 'lump' (phyrama, the dough) is holy with it. A second picture follows: the 'root' and the 'branches', which opens the figure of the olive tree in v.17.

Verse 17

a wild olive tree — Agrielaios, found only here and in v.24. The LORD had called Israel 'A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit' (Jer 11:16), whose 'branches… are broken'. The Gentile is 'graffed in' (enkentrizo, used only in this chapter) and shares the 'fatness' (piotes, here only) of the root.

Verse 18

the root thee — 'Boast' is katakauchaomai, to exult over; the other uses are James 2:13 and 3:14. The Gentile is told that the branches were there first: 'thou bearest not the root, but the root thee'. A like warning is given to anyone sure of his footing: 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall' (1 Cor 10:12).

Verse 20

thou standest by faith — Standing is by faith, as in 2 Cor 1:24, 'for by faith ye stand'. 'Highminded' (hypselophroneo, to think high things) is found elsewhere only in 1 Tim 6:17. The remedy Paul gives is 'fear', the other side of the 'Mind not high things' of Rom 12:16.

Verse 22

goodness and severity — Chrestotes, kindness, is the 'goodness' that 'leadeth thee to repentance' (Rom 2:4). Apotomia, 'severity', occurs only here, twice in this verse. 'If thou continue' sets the condition, as Col 1:23 does with 'If ye continue in the faith'. 'Cut off' (ekkopto) is the verb of 'cut it down' in Luke 13:7, 9.

Verse 24

contrary to nature — 'Good olive tree' is kallielaios, here only; the 'wild' olive is agrielaios as in v.17. Paul argues from the harder case: the Gentile was cut from a tree 'wild by nature' and grafted 'contrary to nature' into a good one, so 'how much more' can the 'natural branches' be graffed into 'their own olive tree'.

Verse 25

this mystery — Mysterion, a thing hidden until it is made known (Rom 16:25, 'the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began'). What is made known is a limit: 'blindness' (porosis, the noun of the verb in v.7) 'in part' lasts 'until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in'. 'Be not wise in your own conceits' returns in Rom 12:16 (cf. Prov 3:7).

Verse 26

all Israel shall be saved — 'And so' (houtos) means 'in this way'. Paul cites Isa 59:20, 'the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob', and v.27 draws on Isa 27:9, 'to take away his sin'. Christians have read 'all Israel' as the nation turning to Christ at the end, and as the whole company of the saved from Jew and Gentile.

Verse 28

beloved for the fathers' sakes — 'Enemies' and 'beloved' stand side by side: the first 'as concerning the gospel… for your sakes', the second 'as touching the election'. The ground of the love is the oath to the fathers: 'because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers' (Deut 7:8). 'Election' (eklogē) is the word of vv.5 and 7.

Verse 29

without repentance — Ametameletos, not to be regretted, occurs only here and in 2 Cor 7:10. It is said of God's own gifts and rests on Num 23:19, 'God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent'. The 'gifts' (charisma) and 'calling' (klesis) are Israel's, the adoption, covenants and promises of 9:4.

Verse 32

concluded them all in unbelief — Synkleio, to shut up together, as a net does (Luke 5:6, 'inclosed') and as in Gal 3:22, 'the scripture hath concluded all under sin'. The 'all' are the Gentiles and Jews of vv.30–31: 'ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief'. The purpose named is mercy (eleeo) for 'all'.

Verse 33

unsearchable — Anexereunetos, that cannot be searched out, occurs only here. 'Past finding out' (anexichniastos, that cannot be tracked) occurs only here and in Eph 3:8, 'the unsearchable riches of Christ'. Job asks the same: 'Canst thou by searching find out God?' (Job 11:7). The 'wisdom and knowledge' are the treasures 'hid' in Christ (Col 2:3).

Verse 36

of him, and through him, and to him — Three prepositions (ek, dia, eis) trace all things to God as source, means and end. 1 Cor 8:6 says it of the Father and the Son: 'of whom are all things… by whom are all things'. 'To whom be glory for ever. Amen' answers 9:5, 'God blessed for ever. Amen', and closes the argument of chapters 9–11.