Teks -- Romans 11:1 (NET)

Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final

11:1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Robertson: Rom 11:1 - I say then

I say then ( legō oun ).

As in Rom 11:11. Oun looks back to 9:16-33 and Rom 10:19-21.

Robertson: Rom 11:1 - Did God cast off?

Did God cast off? ( mē apōsato ho theoṡ ).

An indignant negative answer is called for by mē and emphasized by mē genoito (God forbid). Paul refers to the promise in the O.T. made three times: 1Sa 12:22; Psa 94:14 (Psalms 93:14, lxx); Psa 94:4. First aorist middle indicative (without augment) of apōtheō , to push away, to repel, middle, to push away from one as in Act 7:27.

Robertson: Rom 11:1 - For I also

For I also ( kai gar egō ).

Proof that not all the Jews have rejected Christ. See note on Phi 3:5 for more of Paul’ s pedigree.

Vincent: Rom 11:1 - I say then

I say then ( λέγω οὖν )

Then introduces the question as an inference from the whole previous discussion, especially Rom 11:19-21.

Vincent: Rom 11:1 - Hath God cast away

Hath God cast away ( μὴ ἀπώσατο ὁ Θεὸς )

A negative answer required. " Surely God has not, has He?" The aorist tense points to a definite act. Hence Rev., better, did God cast off . The verb means literally to thrust or shove . Thus Homer, of Sisyphus pushing his stone before him (" Odyssey," xi., 596). Oedipus says: " I charge you that no one shelter or speak to that murderer, but that all thrust him (ὠθεῖν ) from their homes" (" Oedipus Tyrannus," 241).

Vincent: Rom 11:1 - People

People ( λαὸν )

See on 1Pe 2:9; see on Act 13:17.

Vincent: Rom 11:1 - An Israelite, etc

An Israelite, etc.

See on Phi 3:5. Paul adduces his own case first, to show that God has not rejected His people en masse . An Israelite of pure descent, he is, nevertheless a true believer.

Wesley: Rom 11:1 - Hath God rejected his whole people

All Israel? In no wise. Now there is "a remnant" who believe, Rom 11:5; and hereafter "all Israel will be saved," Rom 11:26.

JFB: Rom 11:1 - I say then, Hath

"Did"

JFB: Rom 11:1 - God cast away his people? God forbid

Our Lord did indeed announce that "the kingdom of God should be taken from Israel" (Mat 21:41); and when asked by the Eleven, after His resurrection, if He would at that time "restore the kingdom to Israel," His reply is a virtual admission that Israel was in some sense already out of covenant (Act 1:9). Yet here the apostle teaches that, in two respects, Israel was not "cast away"; First, Not totally; Second, Not finally. FIRST, Israel is not wholly cast away.

JFB: Rom 11:1 - for I also am an Israelite

See Phi 3:5, and so a living witness to the contrary.

JFB: Rom 11:1 - of the seed of Abraham

Of pure descent from the father of the faithful.

JFB: Rom 11:1 - of the tribe of Benjamin

(Phi 3:5), that tribe which, on the revolt of the ten tribes, constituted, with Judah, the one faithful kingdom of God (1Ki 12:21), and after the captivity was, along with Judah, the kernel of the Jewish nation (Ezr 4:1; Ezr 10:9).

Clarke: Rom 11:1 - I say then, hath God cast away his people?

I say then, hath God cast away his people? - Has he utterly and finally rejected them? for this is necessarily the apostle’ s meaning, and is the import of the Greek word απωσατο, which signifies to thrust or drive away, from απο, from, and ωθεω, to thrust or drive; has he thrust them off, and driven them eternally from him? God forbid - by no means. This rejection is neither universal nor final. For I also am an Israelite - I am a regular descendant from Abraham, through Israel or Jacob, and by his son Benjamin. And I stand in the Church of God, and in the peculiar covenant; for the rejection is only of the obstinate and disobedient; for those who believe on Christ, as I have done, are continued in the Church.

Calvin: Rom 11:1 - I say then, etc // For I am also an Israelite, etc

1.I say then, etc What he has hitherto said of the blindness and obstinacy of the Jews, might seem to import that Christ at his coming had transferred elsewhere the promises of God, and deprived the Jews of every hope of salvation. This objection is what he anticipates in this passage, and he so modifies what he had previously said respecting the repudiation of the Jews, that no one might think that the covenant formerly made with Abraham is now abrogated, or that God had so forgotten it that the Jews were now so entirely alienated from his kingdom, as the Gentiles were before the coming of Christ. All this he denies, and he will presently show that it is altogether false. But the question is not whether God had justly or unjustly rejected the people; for it was proved in the last chapter that when the people, through false zeal, had rejected the righteousness of God, they suffered a just punishment for their presumption, were deservedly blinded, and were at last cut off from the covenant.

The reason then for their rejection is not now under consideration; but the dispute is concerning another thing, which is this, That though they deserved such a punishment from God, whether yet the covenant which God made formerly with the fathers was abolished. That it should fail through any perfidiousness of men, was wholly unreasonable; for Paul holds this as a fixed principle, that since adoption is gratuitous and based on God alone and not on men, it stands firm and inviolable, howsoever great the unfaithfulness of men may be, which may tend to abolish it. It was necessary that this knot should be untied, lest the truth and election of God should be thought to be dependent on the worthiness of men.

For I am also an Israelite, etc Before he proceeds to the subject, he proves, in passing, by his own example, how unreasonable it was to think that the nation was utterly forsaken by God; for he himself was in his origin an Israelite, not a proselyte, or one lately introduced into the commonwealth of Israel. As then he was justly deemed to be one of God’s special servants, it was an evidence that God’s favor rested on Israel. He then assumes the conclusion as proved, which yet he will hereafter explain in a satisfactory manner.

That in addition to the title of an Israelite, he called himself the seed of Abraham, and mentioned also his own tribe; this he did that he might be counted a genuine Israelite, and he did the same in his Epistle to the Philippians, Phi 3:4. But what some think, that it was done to commend God’s mercy, inasmuch as Paul sprung from that tribe which had been almost destroyed, seems forced and far-fetched.

TSK: Rom 11:1 - Hath God // God forbid // For I also

Hath God : 1Sa 12:22; 2Ki 23:27; Psa 77:7, Psa 89:31-37, Psa 94:14; Jer 31:36, Jer 31:37; Jer 33:24-26; Hos 9:17; Amo 9:8, Amo 9:9

God forbid : Rom 3:4

For I also : Rom 9:3; Act 22:3, Act 26:4; 2Co 11:22; Phi 3:5

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Rom 11:1 - I also am an Israelite // Of the tribe of Benjamin

Rom 11:1-6 God hath not so far cast off all Israel, but that a

remnant is saved by grace, not by works. Rom 11:7-10 The judicial blindness of the rest is prophesied of

in Scripture. Rom 11:11-16 The consequence both of their fall and conversion

with regard to the Gentile world. Rom 11:17-22 The Gentiles are cautioned not to insult the Jews,

but to make a proper use of the example both of God’ s goodness and severity.

Rom 11:23-32 The Jews may, and shall in time, believe and be saved. Rom 11:33-36 God’ s judgments and ways are unsearchable.

The apostle having shown, in the end of the foregoing chapter, that the Jews were for their obstinacy rejected, and the Gentiles called, he here prevents or answers an objection. Some might be ready to say: If this be so, then God hath cast away his covenant people, which he hath promised not to do; see Psa 94:14 . To this he answers, first, by his accustomed form of denial: God forbid; and then he proceeds to show, that the rejection of the Jews was neither total nor final. That it was not total, he proves, first, by a particular instance in the following words.

I also am an Israelite i.e. I am a Jew by descent, of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, and yet am not cast off by God.

Of the tribe of Benjamin: some think this is added to intimate, that he was born of an honourable tribe, out of which king Saul sprang, 1Sa 9:1 , and Esther the queen, Est 2:5 . Others think this is added for a contrary reason; lest his calling should be ascribed to the dignity of his tribe, he says, he was of Benjamin, the last and least of all the tribes. And others rather think, that this particular recital of his genealogy is only to show, that he was a Jew by nature and nation, and not a proselyte converted to the faith: see Phi 3:5 .

Haydock: Rom 11:1 - God hath not cast away his people // The Scripture saith of Elias

St. Paul in this chapter endeavours to comfort the Jews, though the greatest part of them were rejected for their blindness; and to admonish the Gentiles, not to boast for being called and converted, but to persevere with humility, and the fear of God. ---

God hath not cast away his people. That is, not all of them, nor hath he cast off those whom he foreknew, and decreed to save. ---

The Scripture saith of Elias. He brings the example of Elias living among the ten tribes of Israel, when all the people were forbidden to go and adore in the temple of Jerusalem, when the altars of the true God were destroyed, and almost all in these tribes were fallen into idolatry, and worshipped Baal: he complains as if he were left alone in the worship of the true God. But the divine answer shewed him his mistake. I have reserved to myself seven thousand man, &c. Some take notice that seven is divers times put for a great number, as three and a half for a small number: however, besides these seven thousand, all in the kingdom of Juda remained firm in the worship of the true God. In like manner, a remnant is now saved by the election of grace, by God's free and liberal gift of divine grace. Some pretended reformers of the faith of the Church bring this as an argument, that the Church of God may fail, and fall into errors. It is sufficient to answer, that there is a wide difference betwixt the Jewish synagogue, which brought nothing to perfection, and the Church of Christ, which he built upon a rock, with which he has promised to be to the end of the world, and guide them by the Spirit of Truth. (Witham) ---

This is very ill alleged by some against the perpetual visibility of the Church of Christ: the more, because however the number of the faithful might be abridged by the persecution of Jezebel in the kingdom of the ten tribes; the Church was at the same time in a most flourishing condition (under Asa and Josaphat) in the kingdom of Juda. (Challoner) -- Our separated brethren add to this text, as in Acts xix. 35. the word image. They also cite it in proof of an invisible Church; but with no just grounds: for in Jerusalem the faith and worship were public to the whole world. Besides, the Christian Church rests on better promises than the synagogue. (Bristow) ---

The Jews obtain not the justice they sought after, because they did not seek it as they ought; they expected to obtain it by their works, whereas it can only be had from grace. (Estius)

Gill: Rom 11:1 - I say then, hath God cast away his people // God forbid // for I also am an Israelite // of the seed of Abraham // of the tribe of Benjamin

I say then, hath God cast away his people?.... The Alexandrian, copy adds here, "whom he foreknew", as in Rom 11:2, upon the citation of the above passages out of Moses and Isaiah, relating to the calling of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews, the apostle saw an objection would arise, which he here takes up from the mouth of an adversary, and proposes it; in which is suggested, that God has cast away all his people the Jews, according to this count; and if so, where is his covenant with Abraham? what is become of his promises? and how is his faithfulness to be accounted for? and what hope can any Israelite have of ever obtaining salvation? than which, nothing can be thought more injurious to God, and absurd in itself. This was an old prejudice of the Jewish nation, and still continues, that God never would, nor has he cast them away, even in their present condition; it is one of the articles of their creed, received by the Karaites ^o, a sect among them, that

"the blessed God לא מאס לאנשי הגלות, "hath not cast away the men of the captivity", though they are under the chastisements of God; but it is fit that they should every day obtain salvation by the hands of Messiah, the Son of David.''

Now to this objection the apostle makes answer; "first", in his usual way,

God forbid, when anything was objected which was displeasing to him, abhorred by him, which was not agreeable to the perfections of God, to the truth of his word, and promises, and could by no means be admitted of; and next by observing his own case, which was a standing instance to the contrary; for God had chosen him unto eternal salvation, Christ had redeemed him by his blood, and he was effectually called by grace; and as to his eternal state, he had no doubt or scruple about it; and besides, the Lord had made him a minister of the Gospel, had greatly qualified him for that work, had raised him to the high office of an apostle, and had made him very useful to the souls of many, both Jews and Gentiles; and yet he was one of the nation of the Jews, and therefore God had not cast them all away, as the objection insinuates:

for I also am an Israelite; according to the flesh, by lineal descent from Jacob or Israel; see 2Co 11:22; as well as in a spiritual sense:

of the seed of Abraham; "the grandfather of Israel"; the head of the Jewish nation he was, both of his natural and of his spiritual seed, who is the father of us all:

of the tribe of Benjamin; a very little tribe, which in the time of the Judges was near being destroyed, and, upon the return from the captivity of Babylon, was very small, as it was at this time; and yet God had not cast away this, much less all the tribes of Israel.