Romans 11

has God rejected His people?
This question opens with the Greek negative particle μή (mē), which, according to normal Greek usage, sets an expectation for a negative answer. This is why some translations structure the question, “God has not…has He?” But the Greek does not require this translation. Also, to avoid adding words with do not appear in the Greek, the rhetorical question is simply translated with a familiar English structure. In this way, nothing external is added and the force of the question and the expected negative answer remains intact. A benefit of this translation is that the question’s form better matches the Greek, and this brings the idea of “His people” to the forefront before Paul continues on that theme by saying that he himself is an Israelite. His own testimony would be a contradiction if it were true that God rejected Israel.

May it never be!
The exclamation, “May it never be!” represents the Greek construction μὴ γένοιτο (mē genoito), which is a strong way of expressing the desire that something never take place. Thus, other versions choose something like “God forbid!,” “By no means!,” or “Absolutely not!” to translate it. These all accurately convey the idea, but “May it never be!” is most literal to the Gk text because the verb used here comes from γίνομαι (ginomai) which is a state-of-being verb, negated and used in the optative mood, which communicates a strong desire that the action of the verb not take place. This expression is used by Paul 14 times in his writings (Rom 3:4, 6; 31; 6:2, 15; 7:7, 13; 9:14; here, 11:11; 1 Cor 6:15; Gal 2:17; 3:21; 6:14).

seed
Paul’s use of “seed” here (σπέρμα; sperma) draws the reader’s attention to the Old Testament theme of God’s faithfulness to protect and preserve a godly line (or “seed”) of people after sin threatened to destroy the human race (cf. Gen 3:15; 22:17–18; etc.).

appeals
“Appeals” is a more consistent translation of the Greek term ἐντυγχάνει (entugchanei), which refers to someone who approaches another with a request (see BDAG on ἐντυγχάνω). In the judicial or governmental context of Acts 25:24 (like here), the term is translated as “appeal,” while elsewhere in ceremonially religious contexts, it appears as “intercede” (Rom 8:27; 34; Heb 7:25). The point is that Elijah is appealing to God to judge his enemies and protect the faithful remnant. Such a point is the kind of nuanced understanding that Paul highlights in order to say that God has not outright rejected His covenant people.

what does the divine response say to him?
This phrase is a more literal translation of the Greek, emphasizing how God’s word itself (“the divine response”) actively speaks to Elijah.

LEFT
While some translations say “kept,” the gloss “left” is not only a better translation of the Hebrew original (cf. 1 Kings 19:18), but it is also a better match to the Greek term καταλείπω (kataleipō), which means “to leave behind” (cf. Matt 16:4; 19:5; Acts 25:14; etc.). Such leaving is not abandonment in this context, but it does demonstrate that God’s purpose in salvation is not to save souls and immediately remove them to His presence in heaven. Rather, He leaves saints upon the earth who will testify of their allegiance to Him in the face of false worship.

In this way
“In this way” is a more straightforward translation of the Greek adverb οὕτως (houtōs) If one were to rearrange the sentence, this adverb modifies the verb “come to be,” but for the purpose of rhetorical emphasis, Paul arranges his sentence structure (see below) in order to highlight how God is graciously doing the same thing today that He was doing in Elijah’s day.

a remnant according to God’s gracious choice has also come to be
The word order of the present translation better aligns with the Greek original. Paul wants his hearers to understand the idea of “remnant” right alongside the modifying clause “according to God’s gracious choice” in order to stress the fact that the survival of the godly is entirely up to God.

of works
“Of works” is a more straightforward translation of the Greek phrase ἐξ ἔργων (ex ergōn). While some translations exposit this phrase further by saying “on the basis of works,” that task is better left to the expositor than the translation itself. The overall rhetorical emphasis is that the remnant does not exist thanks to a prior foundation of human works. Rather, the source of such a remnant lies in God and His gracious character.

the chosen obtained it
“The chosen obtained it” is a more literal translation of the Greek phrase ἡ δὲ ἐκλογὴ ἐπέτυχεν (hē de eklogē epetuchen). The δὲ (de) conjunction highlights a distinction (hence the translation “but”), and therefore Paul is distinguishing “Israel” from “the elect” who lived within Israel. While God pledged Himself to the nation as an entity, the point here is that such allegiance to the nation at large does not cancel out the need for God to elect individuals unto salvation. Throughout Israel’s history, her generations comprised a mix of believers and unbelievers, and therefore Paul’s point here can be substantiated from several places in the Old Testament. There has always been a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. But, as Paul goes onto say, one day in the future, it won’t just be the visible remnant who are saved. Rather, every living Israelite on earth will be saved as a glorious demonstration of God’s commitment to redeem the people (Rom 11:25–27; cf. Zech 12:10–14). Until that time, however, the remnant remains, and there are lessons to learn from that about the dynamics of salvation that should move people away from thinking that a merely outward participation in the life of the covenant people is sufficient grounds for the hope of salvation (cf. Heb 6:1–8; Jude 5; etc.). Rather, “salvation belongs to the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).

did they stumble so as to fall?
This question opens with the Greek negative particle μή (mē), which, according to normal Greek usage, sets an expectation for a negative answer. This is why some translations structure the question, “They did not stumble…did they?” But the Greek does not require this translation. Also, to avoid adding words with do not appear in the Greek, the rhetorical question is simply translated with a familiar English structure. In this way, nothing external is added and the force of the question and the expected negative answer remains intact. A benefit of this translation is that the question’s form better matches the Greek, and this brings the idea of “falling” to the forefront before Paul continues on that theme by saying that God has wielded their transgression not only to bless the Gentiles but even to draw these sinful Israelites back to repentance.

May it never be!
Refer to the discussion on verse 1 above.

boast
The Greek word κατακαυχάομαι (katakauchaomai) is translated with “boast” rather than “be arrogant” to provide consistency for the καυχαομαι (kauchaomai) root throughout Romans. In Romans 2–5, Paul condemned the Jews for “boasting” (cf. 2:17, 23; 3:27; 4:2), but here he also condemns Gentiles for boasting. Neither Jew nor Gentile can boast in anything or against anyone. Rather, any boasting must be in human weakness (5:3) and the hope and strength that God provides highlight His glory alone (5:2, 11).

Quite right!
Throughout Romans, Paul makes arguments by proposing questions and conclusions from an imagined listener who is following his argumentation closely, and then provides his answer to those questions and conclusions. The primary example of this is the repeated use of a question followed by the exclamation, “May it never be!” Here, the same thing is happening, but the conclusion reached was exactly correct, and so the reply is, “Quite right!” (καλῶς; kalōs; lit. “Well [said]”). It is punctuated with an exclamation mark here to bring out Paul’s emphatic answer, and to set it off from his following explanation.

haughty
The Greek term for “haughty” is the same term used in Romans 12:16 (ὑψηλός; hypsēlos). Because it also appears in a similar construction, this translation better highlights the consistency of thought between the passages. In context, readers can detect how haughtiness is neither befitting of Gentiles in how they think of Israel, nor is it befitting of Christians in general in how they think of those of lower social standings. In both cases, haughtiness is inconsistent with someone who has tasted the goodness of grace in the gospel.

and wisdom
Some have interpreted the riches to refer only to the “wisdom and knowledge,” thereby getting the translation “the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge.” However, the Greek simply treats riches, wisdom, and knowledge as topics in a list, as now shown in this translation. The effect of this change is to show readers that Paul is not simply highlighting the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge, though he does that eventually. Rather, he is also drawing attention to the deep riches of God’s character and glory in general. This implicitly includes His mercy (cf. Rom 2:4), grace (Eph 2:7), and the rest of the unfathomable glories of Christ (Eph 3:8), but because he didn’t take time to spell those attributes out, Paul’s rhetorical emphasis lands upon the fact that God is “rich.” The point is that God is richer in character than we can possibly imagine, and the only proper response is awe and worship, which Paul models for readers here.

REPAID
“Repaid” is a more consistent translation of the Greek term ἀνταποδίδωμι (antapodidōmi; cf. Luke 14:14; Rom 12:19; etc.). The phrase “paid back to” is obviously a longer construction, whereas in the Greek and the Hebrew, the idea appears in just one word (cf. Job 41:11). For that reason, along with the fact that it better marks Job’s poetic contrast between “given” and “repaid,” the current translation is preferred.