Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Romans 11:1
ESV I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
NIV I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
NASB I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Far from it! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
CSB I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
NLT I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a member of the tribe of Benjamin.
KJV I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.

What does Romans 11:1 mean?

As Paul often does in Romans, he responds to his own statement with a question. In this case, Paul has just written that God has offered Himself to the non-Jewish nations through faith in Jesus, while Israel has rejected the gospel of faith in Christ.

Now Paul asks if this means that God has rejected His previously chosen people Israel. It's a question that expects a negative answer, and Paul gives that familiar answer: "By no means!" This again uses the phrasing mē genoito in the original Greek, a strong, emphatic "may it never be!"

Paul points to himself as the first evidence that God has not rejected Israel. After all, Paul is an Israelite and descendant of Abraham. More specifically, Paul writes that he belongs to the tribe of Benjamin. Paul may have become one of the most vocal promoters of Christianity of his day, but he still held on to his status as an Israelite. He insists that God's relationship with Israel as a nation continues.
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit