Paul strongly denies that God has rejected his people: Certainly not! (see 3.4, 6, 31; 6.2, 15; 7.7; 9.14; and 11.11). This initial combination of question and response may be stated as a strong affirmation: “I declare then, God has certainly not rejected his people.”

The next sentence, I myself … Benjamin, has been taken in two different ways: (1) As a proof that God has not rejected his people (that is, Paul, himself a Jew, has not been rejected); or (2) as an expression of Paul’s own feelings of horror at such an idea (that is, as a Jew, Paul could never imagine that God would reject his people). Most translations appear to support the former of these two interpretations, but the New English Bible appears to support the latter (“I ask then, has God rejected his people? I cannot believe it!”).

An Israelite may be rendered as “a man from the nation of Israel” or “a person of the people of Israel.” A descendant of Abraham may be translated as “a member of the family line of Abraham,” “a person in the lineage of Abraham,” or “Abraham was my ancestor.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1973. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .