Romans 11:1

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.

Genesis 29:14

29:14 Then Laban said to him, “You are indeed my own flesh and blood.” ¹  So Jacob ²  stayed with him for a month. ³ 

Esther 8:6

8:6 For how can I watch the calamity that will befall my people, and how can I watch the destruction of my relatives?” ⁴ 

Acts 7:23-26

7:23 But when he was about forty years old, it entered his mind ⁵  to visit his fellow countrymen ⁶  the Israelites. ⁷  7:24 When ⁸  he saw one of them being hurt unfairly, ⁹  Moses ¹⁰  came to his defense ¹¹  and avenged the person who was mistreated by striking down the Egyptian. 7:25 He thought his own people ¹²  would understand that God was delivering them ¹³  through him, ¹⁴  but they did not understand. ¹⁵  7:26 The next day Moses ¹⁶  saw two men ¹⁷  fighting, and tried to make peace between ¹⁸  them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why are you hurting one another?’

Acts 13:26

13:26 Brothers, ¹⁹  descendants ²⁰  of Abraham’s family, ²¹  and those Gentiles among you who fear God, ²²  the message ²³  of this salvation has been sent to us.

[29:14]  ¹ tn Heb “indeed, my bone and my flesh are you.” The expression sounds warm enough, but the presence of “indeed” may suggest that Laban had to be convinced of Jacob’s identity before permitting him to stay. To be one’s “bone and flesh” is to be someone’s blood relative. For example, the phrase describes the relationship between Abimelech and the Shechemites (Judg 9:2; his mother was a Shechemite); David and the Israelites (2 Sam 5:1); David and the elders of Judah (2 Sam 19:12,); and David and his nephew Amasa (2 Sam 19:13, see 2 Sam 17:2; 1 Chr 2:16-17).

[29:14]  ² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[29:14]  ³ tn Heb “a month of days.”

[8:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “my kindred” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB “my race”; NIV “my family”; NLT “my people and my family.”

[7:23]  ⁵ tn Grk “heart.”

[7:23]  ⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” The translation “compatriot” is given by BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

[7:23]  ⁷ tn Grk “the sons of Israel.”

[7:24]  ⁸ tn Grk “And when.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[7:24]  ⁹ tn “Hurt unfairly” conveys a better sense of the seriousness of the offense against the Israelite than “treated unfairly,” which can sometimes refer to slight offenses, or “wronged,” which can refer to offenses that do not involve personal violence, as this one probably did.

[7:24]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “he defended,” “he retaliated” (BDAG 55 s.v. ἀμύνομαι).

[7:25]  ¹² tn Grk “his brothers.”

[7:25]  ¹³ tn Grk “was granting them deliverance.” The narrator explains that this act pictured what Moses could do for his people.

[7:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “by his hand,” where the hand is a metaphor for the entire person.

[7:25]  ¹⁵ sn They did not understand. Here is the theme of the speech. The people did not understand what God was doing through those he chose. They made the same mistake with Joseph at first. See Acts 3:17; 13:27. There is good precedent for this kind of challenging review of history in the ancient scriptures: Ps 106:6-46; Ezek 20; and Neh 9:6-38.

[7:26]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[7:26]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “saw them”; the context makes clear that two individuals were involved (v. 27).

[7:26]  ¹⁸ tn Or “tried to reconcile” (BDAG 964-65 s.v. συναλλάσσω).

[13:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Men brothers,” but this is both awkward and unnecessary in English.

[13:26]  ²⁰ tn Grk “sons”

[13:26]  ²¹ tn Or “race.”

[13:26]  ²² tn Grk “and those among you who fear God,” but this is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44. Note how Paul includes God-fearing Gentiles as recipients of this promise.

[13:26]  ²³ tn Grk “word.”