Section 11:1–10
God has not rejected the Jews
In this section Paul, using a rhetorical question, said that God had certainly not rejected his chosen people, the Jews. Then he spoke of several ways that showed that God has not rejected them. Paul spoke again of God’s grace being the basis for him choosing who will be his people. The basis is not what people do.
Then Paul explained why only some Jews have accepted Jesus as the Christ/Messiah. God caused some of them to reject Christ for his own purposes (which was so that many non-Jews would believe in Jesus (11:12)).
Here are other possible headings for this section:
God has kept a remnant of Jews as his people
-or-
At this time, in grace, God has chosen some Israelites/Jews
Paragraph 11:1–6
11:1a
I ask then: Here the word then introduces something someone might think based on what Paul said in 10:21 (“But as for Israel he says: ‘All day long I have held out My hands to a disobedient and obstinate people.’”). For example:
So I ask (NET Bible)
In many languages the word then (or “so”) must be first in the clause, as in the above example.
I ask: The Greek is literally “I say,” but it is more natural in many languages to translate as I ask, because a question follows.
did God reject His people?: This is a rhetorical question. Paul answered it in 11:1b. Here are other ways to translate this clause:
God has not rejected His people, has He? (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
is it possible that God abandoned his people? (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? (Contemporary English Version)
reject: This Greek word refers here to no longer calling the Jews his chosen people and not doing things for them as he had promised. See the above examples.
His people: This phrase refers to the people of Israel (10:21). In some languages people would think a literal translation refers to Christians. If that is true in your language, indicate the correct meaning. For example:
his people Israel (God’s Word)
-or-
his own people, the nation of Israel (New Living Translation (2004))
11:1b
Certainly not!: The Greek is literally “May it not be.” It indicates a very strong “no.” People are not to think that God has rejected his people Israel. See how you translated this phrase in 3:4 or 9:14.
11:1c
I am an Israelite myself: The “-ite” ending in English means “a person of.” For example:
I am one of the people of Israel (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
I am a man of Israel
a descendant: The Greek here is literally “seed.” Here it means descendant, like many English versions translate. Some languages can use a literal translation for the correct meaning. For example:
seed
Some languages must translate without the metaphor, as the Berean Standard Bible does.
11:1d
from the tribe of Benjamin: The Greek is literally “of the tribe/clan of Benjamin.” Benjamin was a son of the man Jacob, whom God named Israel. Benjamin’s descendants are then the clan of Benjamin. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
from the clan of Benjamin
-or-
as for my ancestors, they came from the clan of the descendants of Benjamin
-or-
a descendant of Benjamin
The BDAG defines the Greek word as “a subgroup of a nation.” The Greek word does not refer to a whole nation/people-group. The Jews are the nation of Israel. One of the twelve clans of Israel was the clan of Benjamin.
© 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.