CONTENTS.
THIS chapter consists of two parts, vs. 1—10, and 11—36. In the former the apostle teaches that the rejection of the Jews was not total. There was a remnant, and perhaps a much larger remnant than many might suppose, excepted, although the mass of the nation, agreeably to the predictions of the prophets, was cast off, vs. 1—10. In the latter, he shows that this rejection is not final. In the first place, the restoration of the Jews is a desirable and probable event, vs. 11—24. In the second, it is one which God has determined to bring to pass, vs. 25—32. The chapter closes with a sublime declaration of the unsearchable wisdom of God, manifested in all his dealings with men, vs. 33—36. In the consideration of the great doctrinal truths taught in this chapter, Paul intersperses many practical remarks, designed to give these truths their proper influence both on the Jews and Gentiles, especially the latter.
ROMANS XI. 1—10.
ANALYSIS.
THE rejection of the Jews is not total, as is sufficiently manifest from the example of the apostle himself, to say nothing of others, ver. 1. God had reserved a remnant faithful to himself, as was the case in the times of Elias, vs. 2—4. That this remnant is saved, is a matter entirely of grace, vs. 5, 6. The real truth of the case is, that Israel, as a nation, is excluded from the kingdom of Christ, but the chosen ones are admitted to its blessings, ver. 7. This rejection of the greater part of the Jews, their own Scriptures had predicted, vs. 8—10.
COMMENTARY.
VERSE 1. I say, then, λέγω οὖν, I ask, then, i. e., Is it to be inferred from what I have said, that God hath rejected his people? When we consider how many promises are made to the Jewish nation, as God’s peculiar people; and how often it is said, as in Psalm xciv. 14, “The Lord will not cast off his people,” it is not surprising that the doctrine of the rejection of the Jews, as taught in the preceding chapters, was regarded as inconsistent with the word of God. Paul removes this difficulty, first by showing that the rejection of the Jews was neither total nor final; and secondly, by proving that the promises in question had reference, not to the Jewish nation as such, but to the elect, or, the spiritual Israel. The word ἀπώσατο stands at the beginning of the sentence, to show that it is emphatic. Has God utterly (i. e., totally and finally) rejected his people? This Paul denies. He had not asserted any thing of the kind. The rejection of the Jews as a nation, was consistent with all that God had promised to their fathers. Those promises did not secure the salvation of all Jews, or of the Jews as a nation. And the doctrine which he had inculcated did not involve the rejection of all Jews. In proof, he adds, For I also am an Israelite. Paul had not taught his own rejection. The fact that he claimed for himself, and for all who with him believed on Christ, a part in the Messiah’s kingdom, made it clear that he did not teach the rejection of all Israel. De Wette, and Meyer, in opposition to almost common consent, give a different view of the apostle’s language. They understand him as repudiating the idea of the universal rejection of the Jews, as inconsistent with his patriotic feeling. For I also am an Israelite. How can a Jew believe that God has cast off his people? But the context is clearly in favour of the common interpretation. The apostle goes on to show that a general apostacy did not involve an entire rejection. The nation, as a nation, had before turned to idols, and yet a remnant had remained faithful. And so it was now. Of the seed of Abraham, and of the tribe of Benjamin, see Phil. iii. 5. Paul was a Jew by descent from Abraham, and not merely a proselyte; and he was of one of the most favoured tribes. Judah and Benjamin, especially after the exile, were the chief representatives of the theocratical people.
VERSE 2. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. This verse admits of two interpretations. The words his people, may be understood, as in the preceding verse, as meaning the Jewish nation, and the clause which he foreknew, as, by implication, assigning the reason for the declaration that God had not cast them off. The clause, according to this view, is little more than a repetition of the sentiment of the preceding verse. ‘It is not to be inferred from what I have said of the rejection of the Jews, that God has cast away all his chosen people. Multitudes are excepted now, as in the days of Elias.’ The second interpretation requires more stress to be laid upon the words which he foreknew, as qualifying and distinguishing the preceding phrase, his people. ‘God has indeed rejected his external people, the Jewish nation as such, but he has not cast away his people whom he foreknew.’ According to this view, his people means his elect, his spiritual people, or the true Israel. This interpretation seems decidedly preferable, 1. Because it is precisely the distinction which Paul had made, and made for the same purpose, in chap. ix. 6—8, ‘The rejection of the external Israel does not invalidate the promises of God, because those promises did not contemplate the natural seed as such, but the spiritual Israel. So, now, when I say that the external Israel is rejected, it does not imply that the true chosen Israel, to whom the promises pertained, is cast away.’ 2. Because this is apparently Paul’s own explanation in the sequel. The mass of the nation were cast away, but “a remnant, according to the election of grace,” were reserved, ver. 5. Israel, as such, Paul says in ver. 7, failed of admission to the Messiah’s kingdom, “but the election hath obtained it.” It is, therefore, evident that the people which God foreknew, and which were not cast off, is “the remnant” spoken of in ver. 5, and “the election” mentioned in ver. 7. 3. Because the illustration borrowed from the Old Testament best suits this interpretation. In the days of Elias, God rejected the great body of the people; but reserved to himself a remnant, chosen in sovereign grace. The distinction, therefore, in both cases, is between the external and the chosen people.