Romans 11:4-7

11:4 But what was the divine response ¹  to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people ²  who have not bent the knee to Baal.” ³ 

11:5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 11:6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ⁴  rest were hardened,

[11:4]  ¹ tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”

[11:4]  ² tn The Greek term here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which only exceptionally is used in a generic sense of both males and females. In this context, it appears to be a generic usage (“people”) since when Paul speaks of a remnant of faithful Israelites (“the elect,” v. 7), he is not referring to males only. It can also be argued, however, that it refers only to adult males here (“men”), perhaps as representative of all the faithful left in Israel.

[11:4]  ³ sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.

[11:7]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.