Romans 9:1--11:36

Israel’s Rejection Considered

9:1 ¹ I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me ²  in the Holy Spirit – 9:2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³  9:3 For I could wish ⁴  that I myself were accursed – cut off from Christ – for the sake of my people, ⁵  my fellow countrymen, ⁶  9:4 who are Israelites. To them belong ⁷  the adoption as sons, ⁸  the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship, ⁹  and the promises. 9:5 To them belong the patriarchs, ¹⁰  and from them, ¹¹  by human descent, ¹²  came the Christ, ¹³  who is God over all, blessed forever! ¹⁴  Amen.

9:6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel, ¹⁵  9:7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.” ¹⁶  9:8 This means ¹⁷  it is not the children of the flesh ¹⁸  who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9:9 For this is what the promise declared: ¹⁹  “About a year from now ²⁰  I will return and Sarah will have a son.” ²¹  9:10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, ²²  our ancestor Isaac – 9:11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election ²³  would stand, not by works but by ²⁴  his calling) ²⁵  – 9:12 ²⁶  it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,” ²⁷  9:13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” ²⁸ 

9:14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 9:15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ²⁹  9:16 So then, ³⁰  it does not depend on human desire or exertion, ³¹  but on God who shows mercy. 9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ³²  “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” ³³  9:18 So then, ³⁴  God ³⁵  has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden. ³⁶ 

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 9:20 But who indeed are you – a mere human being ³⁷  – to talk back to God? ³⁸  Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ³⁹  9:21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay ⁴⁰  one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use? ⁴¹  9:22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects ⁴²  of wrath ⁴³  prepared for destruction? ⁴⁴  9:23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects ⁴⁵  of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory – 9:24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 9:25 As he also says in Hosea:

“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved, ⁴⁶  ‘My beloved.’” ⁴⁷ 

9:26 “And in the very place ⁴⁸  where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’

there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” ⁴⁹ 

9:27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children ⁵⁰  of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 9:28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.” ⁵¹  9:29 Just ⁵²  as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of armies ⁵³  had not left us descendants,

we would have become like Sodom,

and we would have resembled Gomorrah.” ⁵⁴ 

Israel’s Rejection Culpable

9:30 What shall we say then? – that the Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness obtained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith, 9:31 but Israel even though pursuing ⁵⁵  a law of righteousness ⁵⁶  did not attain it. ⁵⁷  9:32 Why not? Because they pursued ⁵⁸  it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. ⁵⁹  They stumbled over the stumbling stone, ⁶⁰  9:33 just as it is written,

“Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumble

and a rock that will make them fall, ⁶¹ 

yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ⁶² 

10:1 Brothers and sisters, ⁶³  my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites ⁶⁴  is for their salvation. 10:2 For I can testify that they are zealous for God, ⁶⁵  but their zeal is not in line with the truth. ⁶⁶  10:3 For ignoring the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking instead to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.

10:5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.” ⁶⁷  10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ⁶⁸  ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” ⁶⁹  (that is, to bring Christ down) 10:7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ⁷⁰  (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” ⁷¹  (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord ⁷²  and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness ⁷³  and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. ⁷⁴  10:11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ⁷⁵  10:12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. ⁷⁶ 

10:14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them ⁷⁷ ? 10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely ⁷⁸  is the arrival ⁷⁹  of those who proclaim the good news.” ⁸⁰  10:16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” ⁸¹  10:17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word ⁸²  of Christ. ⁸³ 

10:18 But I ask, have they ⁸⁴  not heard? ⁸⁵  Yes, they have: ⁸⁶  Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. ⁸⁷  10:19 But again I ask, didn’t Israel understand? ⁸⁸  First Moses says, “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke you to anger.” ⁸⁹  10:20 And Isaiah is even bold enough to say, “I was found by those who did not seek me; I became well known to those who did not ask for me.” ⁹⁰  10:21 But about Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to this disobedient and stubborn people!” ⁹¹ 

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. 11:2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 11:3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!” ⁹²  11:4 But what was the divine response ⁹³  to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand people ⁹⁴  who have not bent the knee to Baal.” ⁹⁵ 

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 ⁹⁶  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ⁹⁷ 

11:9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

and make their backs bend continually.” ⁹⁸ 

11:11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, ⁹⁹  did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel ¹⁰⁰  jealous. 11:12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration ¹⁰¹  bring?

11:13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 11:14 if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 11:15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 11:16 If the first portion ¹⁰²  of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. ¹⁰³ 

11:17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in ¹⁰⁴  the richness of the olive root, 11:18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 11:19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 11:20 Granted! ¹⁰⁵  They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! 11:21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 11:22 Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God – harshness toward those who have fallen, but ¹⁰⁶  God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; ¹⁰⁷  otherwise you also will be cut off. 11:23 And even they – if they do not continue in their unbelief – will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 11:24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ¹⁰⁸  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ¹⁰⁹  until the full number ¹¹⁰  of the Gentiles has come in. 11:26 And so ¹¹¹  all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;

he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

11:27 And this is my covenant with them, ¹¹² 

when I take away their sins.” ¹¹³ 

11:28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 11:29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 11:30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 11:31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now ¹¹⁴  receive mercy. 11:32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. ¹¹⁵ 

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor? ¹¹⁶ 

11:35 Or who has first given to God, ¹¹⁷ 

that God ¹¹⁸  needs to repay him? ¹¹⁹ 

11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.

[9:1]  ¹ sn Rom 9:1–11:36. These three chapters are among the most difficult and disputed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans. One area of difficulty is the relationship between Israel and the church, especially concerning the nature and extent of Israel’s election. Many different models have been constructed to express this relationship. For a representative survey, see M. Barth, The People of God (JSNTSup), 22-27. The literary genre of these three chapters has been frequently identified as a diatribe, a philosophical discussion or conversation evolved by the Cynic and Stoic schools of philosophy as a means of popularizing their ideas (E. Käsemann, Romans, 261 and 267). But other recent scholars have challenged the idea that Rom 9–11 is characterized by diatribe. Scholars like R. Scroggs and E. E. Ellis have instead identified the material in question as midrash. For a summary and discussion of the rabbinic connections, see W. R. Stegner, “Romans 9.6-29 – A Midrash,” JSNT 22 (1984): 37-52.

[9:1]  ² tn Or “my conscience bears witness to me.”

[9:2]  ³ tn Grk “my sorrow is great and the anguish in my heart is unceasing.”

[9:3]  ⁴ tn Or “For I would pray.” The implied condition is “if this could save my fellow Jews.”

[9:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

[9:3]  ⁶ tn Grk “my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

[9:4]  ⁷ tn Grk “of whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[9:4]  ⁸ tn The Greek term υἱοθεσία (Juioqesia) was originally a legal technical term for adoption as a son with full rights of inheritance. BDAG 1024 s.v. notes, “a legal t.t. of ‘adoption’ of children, in our lit., i.e. in Paul, only in a transferred sense of a transcendent filial relationship between God and humans (with the legal aspect, not gender specificity, as major semantic component).” Although some modern translations remove the filial sense completely and render the term merely “adoption” (cf. NAB, ESV), the retention of this component of meaning was accomplished in the present translation by the phrase “as sons.”

[9:4]  ⁹ tn Or “cultic service.”

[9:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “of whom are the fathers.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[9:5]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from whom.” Here the relative pronoun has been replaced by a personal pronoun.

[9:5]  ¹² tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[9:5]  ¹³ tn Or “Messiah.” (Both Greek “Christ” and Hebrew and Aramaic “Messiah” mean “one who has been anointed.”)

[9:5]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the Christ, who is over all, God blessed forever,” or “the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever!” or “the Messiah who is over all. God be blessed forever!” The translational difficulty here is not text-critical in nature, but is a problem of punctuation. Since the genre of these opening verses of Romans 9 is a lament, it is probably best to take this as an affirmation of Christ’s deity (as the text renders it). Although the other renderings are possible, to see a note of praise to God at the end of this section seems strangely out of place. But for Paul to bring his lament to a crescendo (that is to say, his kinsmen had rejected God come in the flesh), thereby deepening his anguish, is wholly appropriate. This is also supported grammatically and stylistically: The phrase ὁ ὢν (Jo wn, “the one who is”) is most naturally taken as a phrase which modifies something in the preceding context, and Paul’s doxologies are always closely tied to the preceding context. For a detailed examination of this verse, see B. M. Metzger, “The Punctuation of Rom. 9:5,” Christ and the Spirit in the New Testament, 95-112; and M. J. Harris, Jesus as God, 144-72.

[9:6]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “For not all those who are from Israel are Israel.”

[9:7]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “be called.” The emphasis here is upon God’s divine sovereignty in choosing Isaac as the child through whom Abraham’s lineage would be counted as opposed to Ishmael.

[9:8]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “That is,” or “That is to say.”

[9:8]  ¹⁸ tn Because it forms the counterpoint to “the children of promise” the expression “children of the flesh” has been retained in the translation.

[9:9]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “For this is the word of promise.”

[9:9]  ²⁰ tn Grk “About this time I will return.” Since this refers to the time when the promised child would be born, it would be approximately a year later.

[9:9]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Gen 18:10, 14.

[9:10]  ²² tn Or possibly “by one act of sexual intercourse.” See D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 579.

[9:11]  ²³ tn Grk “God’s purpose according to election.”

[9:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “not based on works but based on…”

[9:11]  ²⁵ tn Grk “by the one who calls.”

[9:12]  ²⁶ sn Many translations place this verse division before the phrase “not by works but by his calling” (NA²⁷/UBS⁴, NIV, NRSV, NLT, NAB). Other translations place this verse division in the same place that the translation above does (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ASV, RSV). The translation has followed the latter to avoid breaking the parenthetical statement.

[9:12]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Gen 25:23.

[9:13]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Mal 1:2-3.

[9:15]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 33:19.

[9:16]  ³⁰ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “So then, [it does] not [depend] on the one who desires nor on the one who runs.”

[9:17]  ³² sn Paul uses a typical rabbinic formula here in which the OT scriptures are figuratively portrayed as speaking to Pharaoh. What he means is that the scripture he cites refers (or can be applied) to Pharaoh.

[9:17]  ³³ sn A quotation from Exod 9:16.

[9:18]  ³⁴ sn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what he has been arguing.

[9:18]  ³⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:18]  ³⁶ tn Grk “So then, he has mercy on whom he desires, and he hardens whom he desires.”

[9:20]  ³⁷ tn Grk “O man.”

[9:20]  ³⁸ tn Grk “On the contrary, O man, who are you to talk back to God?”

[9:20]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 29:16; 45:9.

[9:21]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Or does not the potter have authority over the clay to make from the same lump.”

[9:21]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “one vessel for honor and another for dishonor.”

[9:22]  ⁴² tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:22]  ⁴³ tn Or “vessels destined for wrath.” The genitive ὀργῆς (orghs) could be taken as a genitive of destination.

[9:22]  ⁴⁴ tn Or possibly “objects of wrath that have fit themselves for destruction.” The form of the participle could be taken either as a passive or middle (reflexive). ExSyn 417-18 argues strongly for the passive sense (which is followed in the translation), stating that “the middle view has little to commend it.” First, καταρτίζω (katartizw) is nowhere else used in the NT as a direct or reflexive middle (a usage which, in any event, is quite rare in the NT). Second, the lexical force of this verb, coupled with the perfect tense, suggests something of a “done deal” (against some commentaries that see these vessels as ready for destruction yet still able to avert disaster). Third, the potter-clay motif seems to have one point: The potter prepares the clay.

[9:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “vessels.” This is the same Greek word used in v. 21.

[9:25]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and her who was not beloved, ‘Beloved.’”

[9:25]  ⁴⁷ sn A quotation from Hos 2:23.

[9:26]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “And it will be in the very place.”

[9:26]  ⁴⁹ sn A quotation from Hos 1:10.

[9:27]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “sons.”

[9:28]  ⁵¹ tc In light of the interpretive difficulty of this verse, a longer reading seems to have been added to clarify the meaning. The addition, in the middle of the sentence, makes the whole verse read as follows: “For he will execute his sentence completely and quickly in righteousness, because the Lord will do it quickly on the earth.” The shorter reading is found largely in Alexandrian mss (Ì⁴⁶ א* A B 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), while the longer reading is found principally in Western and Byzantine mss (א² D F G Ψ 33 Ï lat). The longer reading follows Isa 10:22-23 (LXX) verbatim, while Paul in the previous verse quoted the LXX loosely. This suggests the addition was made by a copyist trying to make sense out of a difficult passage rather than by the author himself.

[9:29]  ⁵² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[9:29]  ⁵³ tn Traditionally, “Lord of hosts”; Grk “Lord Sabaoth,” which means “Lord of the [heavenly] armies,” sometimes translated more generally as “Lord Almighty.”

[9:29]  ⁵⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 1:9.

[9:31]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “who pursued.” The participle could be taken adverbially or adjectivally.

[9:31]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “a legal righteousness,” that is, a righteousness based on law. This translation would treat the genitive δικαιοσύνης (dikaiosunh") as an attributed genitive (see ExSyn 89-91).

[9:31]  ⁵⁷ tn Grk “has not attained unto the law.”

[9:32]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “Why? Because not by faith but as though by works.” The verb (“they pursued [it]”) is to be supplied from the preceding verse for the sake of English style; yet a certain literary power is seen in Paul’s laconic style.

[9:32]  ⁵⁹ tc Most mss, especially the later ones (א² D Ψ 33 Ï sy), read νόμου (nomou, “of the law”) here, echoing Paul’s usage in Rom 3:20, 28 and elsewhere. The qualifying phrase is lacking in א* A B F G 6 629 630 1739 1881 pc lat co. The longer reading thus is weaker externally and internally, being motivated apparently by a need to clarify.

[9:32]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “the stone of stumbling.”

[9:33]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.”

[9:33]  ⁶² sn A quotation from Isa 28:16; 8:14.

[10:1]  ⁶³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[10:1]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “on behalf of them”; the referent (Paul’s fellow Israelites) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:2]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “they have a zeal for God.”

[10:2]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “in accord with knowledge.”

[10:5]  ⁶⁷ sn A quotation from Lev 18:5.

[10:6]  ⁶⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 9:4.

[10:6]  ⁶⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 30:12.

[10:7]  ⁷⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 30:13.

[10:8]  ⁷¹ sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.

[10:9]  ⁷² tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.

[10:10]  ⁷³ tn Grk “believes to righteousness.”

[10:10]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”

[10:11]  ⁷⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.

[10:13]  ⁷⁶ sn A quotation from Joel 2:32.

[10:14]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “preaching”; the words “to them” are supplied for clarification.

[10:15]  ⁷⁸ tn The word in this context seems to mean “coming at the right or opportune time” (see BDAG 1103 s.v. ὡραῖος 1); it may also mean “beautiful, attractive, welcome.”

[10:15]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “the feet.” The metaphorical nuance of “beautiful feet” is that such represent timely news.

[10:15]  ⁸⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 52:7; Nah 1:15.

[10:16]  ⁸¹ sn A quotation from Isa 53:1.

[10:17]  ⁸² tn The Greek term here is ῥῆμα (rJhma), which often (but not exclusively) focuses on the spoken word.

[10:17]  ⁸³ tc Most mss (א¹ A D¹ Ψ 33 1881 Ï sy) have θεοῦ (qeou) here rather than Χριστοῦ (Cristou; found in Ì^46vid א* B C D* 6 81 629 1506 1739 pc lat co). External evidence strongly favors the reading “Christ” here. Internal evidence is also on its side, for the expression ῥῆμα Χριστοῦ (rJhma Cristou) occurs nowhere else in the NT; thus scribes would be prone to change it to a known expression.

[10:18]  ⁸⁴ tn That is, Israel (see the following verse).

[10:18]  ⁸⁵ tn Grk “they have not ‘not heard,’ have they?” This question is difficult to render in English. The basic question is a negative sentence (“Have they not heard?”), but it is preceded by the particle μή (mh) which expects a negative response. The end result in English is a double negative (“They have not ‘not heard,’ have they?”). This has been changed to a positive question in the translation for clarity. See BDAG 646 s.v. μή 3.a.; D. Moo, Romans (NICNT), 666, fn. 32; and C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans (ICC), 537, for discussion.

[10:18]  ⁸⁶ tn Here the particle μενοῦνγε (menounge) is correcting the negative response expected by the particle μή (mh) in the preceding question. Since the question has been translated positively, the translation was changed here to reflect that rendering.

[10:18]  ⁸⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 19:4.

[10:19]  ⁸⁸ tn Grk “Israel did not ‘not know,’ did he?” The double negative in Greek has been translated as a positive affirmation for clarity (see v. 18 above for a similar situation).

[10:19]  ⁸⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 32:21.

[10:20]  ⁹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 65:1.

[10:21]  ⁹¹ sn A quotation from Isa 65:2.

[11:3]  ⁹² sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:10, 14.

[11:4]  ⁹³ tn Grk “the revelation,” “the oracle.”

[11:4]  ⁹⁴ 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]  ⁹⁵ sn A quotation from 1 Kgs 19:18.

[11:7]  ⁹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ⁹⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ⁹⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.

[11:11]  ⁹⁹ tn Grk “that they might fall.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Grk “them”; the referent (Israel, cf. 11:7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:12]  ¹⁰¹ tn Or “full inclusion”; Grk “their fullness.”

[11:16]  ¹⁰² tn Grk “firstfruits,” a term for the first part of something that has been set aside and offered to God before the remainder can be used.

[11:16]  ¹⁰³ sn Most interpreters see Paul as making use of a long-standing metaphor of the olive tree (the root…the branches) as a symbol for Israel. See, in this regard, Jer 11:16, 19. A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul’s Technique and Theology, 121-24, cites rabbinic use of the figure of the olive tree, and goes so far as to argue that Rom 11:17-24 is a midrash on Jer 11:16-19.

[11:17]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Grk “became a participant of.”

[11:20]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Grk “well!”, an adverb used to affirm a statement. It means “very well,” “you are correct.”

[11:22]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[11:22]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Grk “if you continue in (the) kindness.”

[11:25]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ¹¹⁰ tn Grk “fullness.”

[11:26]  ¹¹¹ tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).

[11:27]  ¹¹² sn A quotation from Isa 59:20-21.

[11:27]  ¹¹³ sn A quotation from Isa 27:9; Jer 31:33-34.

[11:31]  ¹¹⁴ tc Some important Alexandrian and Western mss (א B D*^,c 1506 pc bo) read νῦν (nun, “now”) here. A few other mss (33 365 pc sa) have ὕστερον (Justeron, “finally”). mss that lack the word are Ì⁴⁶ A D² F G Ψ 1739 1881 Ï latt. External evidence slightly favors omission with good representatives from the major texttypes, and because of the alliance of Alexandrian and Byzantine mss (with the Byzantine going against its normal tendency to embrace the longer reading). Internally, scribes could have added νῦν here to give balance to the preceding clause (οὗτοι νῦν ἠπείθησαν…αὐτοὶ νῦν ἐλεηθῶσιν [|outoi nun hpeiqhsan…autoi nun elehqwsin; “they have now been disobedient…they may now receive mercy”]). However, it seems much more likely that they would have deleted it because of its seeming inappropriateness in this context. That some witnesses have ὕστερον presupposes the presence of νῦν in their ancestors. A decision is difficult, but νῦν is slightly preferred, since it is the more difficult reading and is adequately represented in the mss.

[11:32]  ¹¹⁵ tn Grk “to all”; “them” has been supplied for stylistic reasons.

[11:34]  ¹¹⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.

[11:35]  ¹¹⁷ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:35]  ¹¹⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:35]  ¹¹⁹ sn A quotation from Job 41:11.