Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 11:7
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
7. What then? ] A phrase of resumption after the digression.
Israel ] Here, obviously, the nation. Cp. Rom 9:6.
hath not obtained ] Lit. did not obtain. The crisis of the offer of the Gospel to them is in view in the tense. So did obtain it, just below.
that which he seeketh for ] i.e. a Righteousness before God; a valid ground of acceptance. This was the aim of their efforts, as much when St Paul wrote as ever before; but the method was fatally wrong. Cp. Rom 10:3.
the election ] i.e. the company of the chosen. For a similar collective use of singular nouns, cp. the phrases (so frequent in this Epistle) “the circumcision,” “the uncircumcision.”
were blinded ] Better, were hardened. (So hardening, Rom 11:25, below.) The verb indicates failure of sensation; of which blindness is only a special instance. The best commentary is ch. 9. The verb rendered “harden” there is not the same, but the idea is the same. Here, as there, St Paul states this dark mystery of the Divine dealing with sinners with no attempt at explicit clearing up. He does not try to conjure away the cloud around the throne, but commits the mystery to “the Judge of all the earth.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
What then? – What is the proper conclusion from this argument? Israel hath not obtained. That is, the Jews as a people have not obtained what they sought. They sought the favor of God by their own merit; and as it was impossible to obtain it in that manner, they have, as a people, failed of obtaining his favor at all, and will be rejected.
That which he seeketh for – To wit, salvation by their own obedience to the Law.
The election hath – The purpose of choosing on the part of God has obtained, or secured, what the seeking on the part of the Jews could not secure. Or the abstract here may be put for the concrete, and the word election may mean the same as the elect. The elect, the reserved, the chosen part of the people, have obtained the favor of God.
Hath obtained it – That is, the favor, or mercy, of God.
The rest – The great mass of the people who remained in unbelief, and had rejected the Messiah.
Were blinded – The word in the original means also were hardened eporothesan. It comes from a word which signifies properly to become hard, as bones do which are broken and are then united; or as the joints sometimes do when they become callous or stiff. It was probably applied also to the formation of a hard substance in the eye, a cataract; and then means the same as to be blinded. Hence, applied to the mind, it means what is hard, obdurate, insensible, stupid. Thus, it is applied to the Jews, and means that they were blind and obstinate; see Mar 6:52, Their heart was hardened; Mar 8:17; Joh 12:40. The word does not occur in any other place in the New Testament. This verse affirms simply that the rest were hardened, but it does not affirm anything about the mode by which it was done. In regard to the election, it is affirmed that it was of God; Rom 11:4. Of the remainder, the fact of their blindness is simply mentioned, without affirming anything of the cause; see Rom 11:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 7. What then?] What is the real state of the case before us? Israel-the body of the Jewish people, have not obtained that which they so earnestly desire, i.e. to be continued, as they have been hitherto, the peculiar people of God; but the election hath obtained it-as many of them as have believed in Jesus Christ, and accepted salvation through him: this is the grand scheme of the election by grace; God chooses to make those his peculiar people who believe in his Son, and none other shall enjoy the blessings of his kingdom. Those who would not receive him are blinded; they have shut their eyes against the light, and are in the very circumstances of those mentioned by the Prophet Isaiah, Isa 29:10.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What then? q. d. My discourse comes to this, or this is the sum of it.
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; i.e. the body of the Jewish nation, seeking righteousness and life by the works of the law, have not obtained it, or they have not hit the mark; they aimed at it, but they shot wide; they took a great deal of pains to little or no purpose: see Rom 9:31.
The election; i.e. the elect; the abstract for the concrete: so before, circumcision for the circumcised.
The rest were blinded; i.e. those who are not elected; they are left, by Gods just judgment, to their own ignorance and obdurateness; as also to Satan, who doth increase it in them, 2Co 4:4. The antithesis requires that he should have said: The rest have not obtained; but he speaks this of purpose to show the cause of their not obtaining, i.e. their own blindness of mind and hardness of heart.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7-10. What then?How standsthe fact?
Israel hath not obtained thatwhich he seeketh forbetter, “What Israel is in search of(that is, Justification, or acceptance with Godsee on Ro9:31); this he found not; but the election (the elect remnant ofIsrael) found it, and the rest were hardened,” or judiciallygiven over to the “hardness of their own hearts.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
What then?…. What can be said to the point the apostle is upon? it is as clear as the sun, out of all question, that God has not cast away all the people of the Jews, nor any whom he foreknew, any age or period of time; neither in the time Elijah, nor in the apostle’s, he always having a reserve of some for himself; which reserve is owing to a previous choice of them, and that previous choice to ascribed not to any works of theirs, but to his free grace and sovereign pleasure. Indeed
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; that is, carnal Israel, the body and bulk of that people; who sought for life and righteousness by their obedience to the law, and which they in general were in quest of, and pursuit after, but did not obtain, though, some of them might imagine they did; for the thing was impracticable and impossible, no life nor righteousness are ever to be had by the law of works; they did not obtain life and righteousness, because they sought them in a wrong place and in a wrong way; they sought them not by faith in Christ Jesus, where they are only to be had, but by their own works, which fall abundantly short of procuring them for them:
but the election hath obtained it. The apostle divides Israel into two parts, “the election and the rest”: by “the election” he means, elect men, the remnant among them, whom God had reserved for himself; just as “circumcision” designs circumcised persons, and “uncircumcision” uncircumcised persons, and “calling” called ones, and “righteousness” righteous men and women; see Ro 3:30 2Pe 3:13. Now these chosen ones obtained mercy, grace, life, and righteousness in Christ, as the apostle himself did, who was one of them; and that by virtue, and in consequence of their election, for which reason the word is here used; hence mercy was shown them, grace was bestowed upon them, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to them, faith was given them, holiness was wrought in them, and they entitled to, and made meet for eternal life: these among Israel then obtained such favours and blessings; and so God’s elect, in all ages and nations, obtain the same things, and will obtain; for the purpose of God according to election stands sure, his word and oath are immutable, his covenant inviolable, his grace inalienable, and his power omnipotent:
and the rest were blinded: the non-elect, or those who were not chosen and reserved, to whom Christ was “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence”; and who “stumbled at the word” of the Gospel, “being disobedient” to the divine revelation, “whereunto they were appointed”, 1Pe 2:8; hence they obtained no mercy, grace, faith, life, righteousness, and eternal salvation, but were “blinded”; left in that native blindness and ignorance, in which they were born and brought up; were blinded by themselves wilfully more and more; as they knew not the Messiah, so neither would they understand; they sinned wilfully against light knowledge; they shut their eyes against all that evidence and demonstration given, of Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah, by his doctrines and miracles; and they were blinded by Satan, the god of this world, by whom they were led captive; who wrought effectually in them, and stirred up the malice and enmity of their minds against Christ and his Gospel; for they were of their father the devil, and his lusts they would do; and they were also blinded by God himself, so that they could not believe; for after all this, it was but just with God to give them up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
What then? ( ?). Since God did not push Israel away (verse 1), what is true?
The election ( ). Abstract for concrete (the elect).
Obtained (). Second aorist active indicative of , old verb, to hit upon, only here in Paul. See 9:30-33 for the failure of the Jews.
Were hardened (). First aorist passive indicative of , late verb, to cover with thick skin (). See on 2Cor 3:14; Mark 3:5.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Obtained [] . The simple verb tugcanw means originally to hit the mark; hence to fall in with, light upon, attain.
The election [ ] . Abstract for concrete. Those elected; like hJ peritomh the circumcision for those uncircumcised (Eph 2:11. Compare thn katatomhn the concision, Phi 3:3).
Were blinded [] . Rev., correctly, hardened, though the word is used of blindness when applied to the eyes, as Job 17:7, Sept. See on hardness, Mr 3:5. Compare sklhrunei hardeneth, Rom 9:18.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
NATIONAL ISRAEL BLINDED IN JUDGMENT – V. 7-12
1 ) “What then?” (ti oun) (What therefore); How is the present situation of national, unbelieving Israel to be described in context of God’s sovereignty, covenants, commands, and mercies?
2) “Israel hath not obtained,” (touto ouk epetuchen Israel) “This (objective) Israel obtained not,” or has not (as yet) obtained, an earthly kingdom in peace and righteousness, for which she sought thru law-keeping, while rejecting the giver of righteousness, who came to fulfill the law, Rom 9:31; Rom 10:3-4; None will be in God’s future righteous kingdom, except he be born again first, Joh 3:3; Joh 3:5.
3) “That which he seeketh for”; (ho epizetei Israel) “What Israel seeks after”; Pursuing their own self righteousness they rejected Him who was made righteousness for them, to be accepted by and imputed to each by faith in Jesus Christ, Rom 4:4-8; Rom 4:16; 2Co 5:1.
4) “But the election hath obtained it,” (he de ekloge epetuchen) “Yet the outreasoned or purposed has obtained it”; those who received the Grace that was personified and manifested in Jesus Christ, Joh 1:11-14. The few, of the Jews, who received Jesus at his coming are referred to as the election, those who received and confessed him, many of whom were baptized, helped begin his church, Mat 4:13-20; Act 1:21-23.
5) “And the rest were blinded,” (hoi de loipoi eporothesan) “And the remaining (the hesitating, loitering, procrastinating ones) were hardened;” because they would not believe, Rom 9:31-32; Rom 10:3; 2Co 4:3-4. The hardening of the willfully unbelieving was as a result of their of obdurate choice of rejecting God’s will and call to them, 2Pe 3:9; Pro 1:22-30.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. What then? What Israel seeks, etc. As he is here engaged on a difficult subject, he asks a question, as though he was in doubt. He intended, however, by expressing this doubt, to render the answer, which immediately follows, more evident; for he intimates, that no other can be given; and the answer is, — that Israel in vain labored to seek salvation, because his attempt was absurd. Though he mentions here no cause, yet as he had expressed it before, he certainly meant it to be understood in this place. For his words are the same, as though he had said, — that it ought not to seem strange, that Israel gained nothing in striving after righteousness. And hence is proved what he presently subjoins concerning election, — For if Israel has obtained nothing by merit, what have others obtained whose case or condition was not better? Whence has come so much difference between equals? Who does not here see that it is election alone which makes the difference?
Now the meaning of the word election here is doubtful; for to some it seems that it ought to be taken in a collective sense, for the elect themselves, that there may be a correspondence between the two clauses. Of this opinion I do not disapprove, provided it be allowed that there is something more in the word than if he had said, the elect, even this, that he intimates that there was no other reason for obtaining their election, as though he said, — “They are not those who strive by relying on merits, but those whose salvation depends on the gratuitous election of God.” For he distinctly compares with the whole of Israel, or body of the people, the remnant which was to be saved by God’s grace. It hence follows, that the cause of salvation exists not in men, but depends on the good pleasure of God alone.
And the rest have been blinded (345) As the elect alone are delivered by God’s grace from destruction, so all who are not elected must necessarily remain blinded. For what Paul means with regard to the reprobate is, — that the beginning of their ruin and condemnation is from this — that they are forsaken by God.
The quotations which he adduces, collected from various parts of Scripture, and not taken from one passage, do seem, all of them, to be foreign to his purpose, when you closely examine them according to their contexts; for you will find that in every passage, blindness and hardening are mentioned as scourges, by which God punished crimes already committed by the ungodly; but Paul labors to prove here, that not those were blinded, who so deserved by their wickedness, but who were rejected by God before the foundation of the world.
You may thus briefly untie this knot, — that the origin of the impiety which provokes God’s displeasure, is the perversity of nature when forsaken by God. Paul therefore, while speaking of eternal reprobation, has not without reason referred to those things which proceed from it, as fruit from the tree or river from the fountain. The ungodly are indeed, for their sins, visited by God’s judgment with blindness; but if we seek for the source of their ruin, we must come to this, — that being accursed by God, they cannot by all their deeds, sayings, and purposes, get and obtain any thing but a curse. Yet the cause of eternal reprobation is so hidden from us, that nothing remains for us but to wonder at the incomprehensible purpose of God, as we shall at length see by the conclusion. But they reason absurdly who, whenever a word is said of the proximate causes, strive, by bringing forward these, to cover the first, which is hid from our view; as though God had not, before the fall of Adam, freely determined to do what seemed good to him with respect to the whole human race on this account, — because he condemns his corrupt and depraved seed, and also, because he repays to individuals the reward which their sins have deserved. (346)
(345) “ Excaecati fuerunt,” ἐπωρώθησαν; it means hardened, stupified, rendered callous or obdurate. Occalluerunt — “were hardened,” [ Beza ]; both [ Macknight ] and [ Doddridge ] render it, “blinded.” It is applied to the heart in Mar 6:52; Joh 12:40, — to the mind in 2Co 3:14. — Ed.
(346) The foregoing reasoning is not satisfactory: it goes beyond the evident meaning of the Apostle. He no doubt quoted the texts according to their original design, and to say he did not is to assert what is incapable of being proved, and what is even contrary to the Apostle’s reasoning throughout. The hardening or blinding spoken of by the Prophets, is stated uniformly as a punishment for previous unbelief and impenitence, as admitted by our author himself, and the obvious fact as to the Jews in the Apostle’s days, was an evidence of the same, and though he states not this fact here, he states it in the sequel of this Epistle. But why some were hardened, and others were softened, is what must be resolved altogether to the will of God. This, and no more than this, is what the Apostle evidently teaches here: and it is neither wise nor right to go beyond what is expressly taught, especially on a subject of a nature so mysterious and incomprehensible. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) What is the result? Not only did Israel fail to obtain the salvation which it sought, and which the select few succeeded in obtaining, but it was consigned to a state of complete spiritual apathy and torpor, and its very blessings became a curse and a snare.
Were blinded.An erroneous translation, arising from a confusion of two similar words. The correct rendering, were hardened, is given in the margin. So, too, were blinded, in 2Co. 3:14, and blindness, in Rom. 11:25 of this chapter and Eph. 4:18, should be changed to were hardened, hardness. The corresponding words in the Gospels are rightly translated. The term is one used in medicine for the forming of chalkstone, &c.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. What is the summary conclusion then?
The election
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘What then? What Israel seeks for, that he did not obtain, but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened,’
What then are we to conclude from this? The conclusion must be that Israel as a whole failed to obtain what ‘it is seeking for’ (compare Rom 9:31; Rom 10:3). Unbelieving Israel was, and still is, seeking for a righteousness which would make it acceptable to God, but it failed in its purpose. Only the election obtained such a righteousness, because they sought it by faith. The rest were instead ‘hardened’, that is, their hearts were covered over with a hard substance preventing them from responding. The word originally refers to hard substances which develop in the body. The use of the passive verb (‘were hardened’) often denotes the activity of God. The aim of using the passive tense was in order to prevent the use of God’s name unnecessarily. Thus as Rom 11:8 declares, it was God Who hardened them. ‘Whom He will He hardens’ (Rom 9:18; for although a different verb is used there, it contains a similar idea). This does not necessarily mean that they were hardened from birth, only that at some stage, because of their intransigence, God hastened the process, as He did with Pharaoh at the Exodus. God has so ordained that by proceeding in a course of action we form a habit hard to break. This was why so many of the Rabbis and Pharisees could not respond to Jesus. They were hardened in their ways.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The result of refusing God’s way of salvation:
v. 7. But the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
v. 8. (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see. and ears that they should not hear) unto this day.
v. 9. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and a recompense unto them;
v. 10. let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. Only the election, those that were elected according to God’s gracious decree, obtained salvation in Christ. But the rest, the great majority, the entire people of Israel as such, in fact, became hardened. They rejected God’s way of salvation, and therefore God rejected them; their willful resistance to God’s will and Word was the cause of this hardening; they were the sole cause of their own downfall. And this result had been foretold by the prophets. It had been predicted, as Paul writes by combining Deu 29:4 with Isa 29:9-12: God has given them a spirit of torpor, eyes not to see and ears not to hear, until the present day. They have become so stunned and stupid that they simply find it impossible to understand the Word of prophecy properly. The blinding and hardening of Israel began in the days of Isaiah, it may even be said to extend back to the days of Moses; but the prophecy was fulfilled in its terrible completeness in the time of Jesus and the apostles, Mat 13:14-15; Mar 4:12; Luk 8:10; Act 28:26-28. And the last quotation is from Psa 69:22, a Messianic prophecy, where the suffering, dying Messiah laments over the shame which He is forced to endure at the hands of His enemies: May their table become a snare, a trap or net, and to a stumbling-block and to a reward of punishment to them; let their eyes be darkened not to see, and bend their back together always. The table of the enemies of Christ, their joy, delight, and happiness, should turn into a snare for their feet, to a trap, in which their feet might be caught and cause them to fall, to a chase and destruction, as the hunt becomes to the game, to a retribution, by which God would punish them for their enmity against Christ. All this is meant, of course, in a spiritual sense. The punishment of the disobedient and hostile Jews was that they became so thoroughly blinded that they could no longer see the way of salvation; that their spiritual strength was taken from them that they could no longer walk in the way of God’s commandments. Thus God gave them up to their hardened mind and withdrew His Spirit and grace from them. And even so today the persistently disobedient and unbelieving enemies of Christ will be punished in the way they themselves chose: abandoned by God and His Spirit, they are altogether unfit to know the truth and to come to repentance, faith, and obedience.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Rom 11:7. That which he seeketh for Namely, that righteousness, whereby he was to continue the people of God. See ch. Rom 9:31. It may be observed, that St. Paul’s discourse being concerning the national privilege of continuing the people of God, he speaks here, and all along, of the Jews in the collective term Israel; and so likewise he calls by the name of election the remnant, which would remain his people, and incorporate with the converted Gentiles into one body of Christians; owning the dominion of the one true God in the kingdom that he had set up under his Son, and owned by God for his people. See the preceding note. How the rest were blinded, see 2Co 3:13; 2Co 3:18.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 11:7 . ] infers the result from Rom 11:5-6 . Since a has been constituted according to the election of grace, and therefore not possibly from the merit of works: accordingly Israel (as regards the mass) has not obtained that which it strives after (namely, , as is known from Rom 9:30 ff.) for it strives, in fact, the election, on the other hand , namely, that chosen , has obtained it (for they were the objects of the divine ); but the rest were hardened . In this manner the true state of the case is now set forth, in contrast to , without its being necessary on this account to refer to the whole preceding Rom 11:2-6 (de Wette, Fritzsche, Philippi, and others); since the reference to Rom 11:5-6 is quite sufficient, and quite in keeping with the logical progression. Reiche (comp. Lachm., who places a note of interrogation after and after ) makes the question extend to , to which question of wonder Paul then answers by . . . . But the futility of Israel’s endeavour has already been long (Rom 9:31-32 ) known to the reader, and is therefore not appropriate as the subject of such a question. Hofmann also takes as a question, but in the sense whether that which Israel has not obtained is the same thing as that to which its quest and striving tends (namely, its own righteousness)? To the self-evident negation of this question then relates in the sense of nevertheless , and after the second there is to be supplied, not . , but merely (namely, to be, out of grace, the people of salvation). This complete distortion of the sense falls to the ground from the very fact, that for the second , since is not appended, no other object can be thought of without the greatest arbitrariness than that of the first , namely ; and also, as respects the contents of the question, from the consideration, that if we should not be able to say that Israel has not obtained that for which it strove, this would stand in contradiction to the universal Pauline dogma of the impossibility of righteousness by the law.
does not denote the zealous pursuit (Fritzsche, Philippi), but its direction , correlative to . See on Mat 6:33 ; Phi 4:17 . By the present , the continuance of the endeavour is admitted.
The (on the accusative instead of the customary genitive, see Matthiae, 328; Ellendt, Lex. Soph . II. p. 861) has tragic emphasis: even this it has not reached.
] that is, here “reliquiae illius populi, quas per gratiam suam Deus elegit,” Estius. Comp. the use of , etc., Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 469.
The , hardening (not blinding , as Hofmann thinks; see on 2Co 3:14 ), is the making unsusceptible in understanding and will as respects the appropriation of salvation in Christ. Fritzsche, ad Marc . p. 78; Winzer, Progr . 1828, p. 8. The subject who hardens is God . Comp. 2Co 3:14 , and on Rom 9:8 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Ver. 7. Israel ] i.e. The carnal Israelite.
He seeketh for ] viz. Righteousness and salvation by works.
Hardened ] By a judiciary hardness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7 .] What then (what therefore must be our conclusion from what has been stated? We have seen that God hath not cast off his own chosen nation, but that even now there is a remnant. This being so, what aspect do matters present? This he asks to bring out an answer which may set in view the )? That which Israel is in search of (viz. , see ch. Rom 9:31 ; Rom 10:1 ff.), this it (as a nation) found not (on w. an acc., see Matthi, Gr. Gr. 363 obs.), but the election (the abstract, because Israel has been spoken of in the abstract, and to keep out of view for the present the mere individual cases of converted Jews in the idea of an elected remnant ) found it:
Rom 11:7 . ; What then? How are we to describe the present situation, if not in the painful language of Rom 11:1 ? Thus: . . . What Israel is in quest of is : the present conveys more sympathetically than the impft. of some MSS. the Apostle’s sense of the seaseless and noble (though misdirected) efforts of his countrymen. : Jas 4:2 , Heb 6:15 . = = . : were hardened, 2Co 3:14 , Joh 12:40 , Mar 6:52 ; Mar 8:17 . Paul does not say how they were hardened or by whom: there is the same indefiniteness here as in in Rom 9:22 . It may be quite possible to give a true sense to the assertion that they were hardened by God ( cf. the following verse), although the hardening in this case is always regarded as a punishment for sin, that is, as a confirming in an obduracy which originally was not of God, but their own; as if the idea were, first they would not, and then, in God’s just reaction against their sin, they could not; but it is a mistake to import into the text a definiteness which does not belong to it. It is rather essential to Paul’s argument that he should not be bound down to one-sided interpretations of what he has intentionally left vague.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 11:7-10
7What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; 8just as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, Eyes to see not and ears to hear not, Down to this very day.” 9And David says, “Let their table become a snare and a trap, And a stumbling block and a retribution to them. 10″Let their eyes be darkened to see not, And bend their backs forever.”
Rom 11:7 “What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained” This is placed first in the Greek sentence to emphasize Paul’s thought. Many Jews were seeking to be right with God and they pursued this in the performance of religious ritual, racial privilege, and self-effort. They missed their goal! No flesh will glory before God (cf. 1Co 1:29; Eph 2:9).
NASB”but those who were chosen obtained it”
NKJV”but the elect have obtained it”
NRSV”The elect obtained it”
TEV”It was only the small group that God chose who found it”
NJB”but only the chosen few”
This is the OT concept of “remnant” (see Special Topic at Rom 9:27-28), here referring to the 7,000 of 1Ki 19:18. The key is not human effort, race, or religiosity (Rom 11:6), but the grace of God in election (cf. Eph 1:3-14).
“the rest were hardened” This is an aorist passive indicative (cf. 2Co 3:14). The implication is that God hardened them (cf. Rom 11:8-10). The agent of hardening is the evil one (cf. 2Co 4:4). “Hardened” (pro) is a medical term for callousness or blindness (cf. Rom 11:25; 2Co 3:14; Eph 4:18). This same term is used of the Apostles in Mar 6:52. It is a different Greek term from Rom 9:18 (sklrun) which is the opposite of mercy (cf. Heb 3:8; Heb 3:15; Heb 4:7).
This verse is very clear and is a summary of Rom 11:1-6. Some who were chosen believed, some who were not chosen were hardened. However, this verse was not written in isolation, as a theological slogan. It was part of a sustained theological argument. There is a tension between the truth stated so clearly in this verse and the universal invitations of Romans 10. There is mystery here. But the solution is not to negate or minimize either of the horns of the dilemma, the paradoxical poles.
Rom 11:8-10 These verses are quotes taken from Isa 29:10 (Rom 11:8 a), Deu 29:4 (Rom 11:8 b, but not from the MT or the LXX) and Psa 69:22-23 (Rom 11:9-10). They truly reflect the call and mission of Isaiah to a rebellious Israel in Rom 6:9-13. Isaiah would present God’s word, but God’s people could not, would not respond. Paul is giving OT attestation to God’s hardening of some as he did in Rom 9:13; Rom 9:15; Rom 9:17.
Rom 11:8
NASB, NKJV”God gave them a spirit of stupor”
NRSV, NJB”God gave them a sluggish spirit”
TEV”God made their minds and hearts dull”
This Greek word (katanuxis), used only here in the NT, is used of an insect bite that dulls the senses by inducing too much sensation.
Rom 11:10 “let their eyes be darkened to see not and bend their backs forever” This is an aorist passive imperative followed by an aorist active imperative. This is the mystery of God’s sovereignty and mankind’s necessary response. God is the source of all things, the initiator of all things, yet in His sovereign will He has decreed that humans, His ultimate creation, freely respond to Him. Those who do not respond in faith are hardened (i.e., their choice, finalized) in their unbelief.
In this context Paul asserts God’s eternal plan for redeeming all of Adam’s children. Jewish unbelief will open the door of faith to the Gentiles and through jealousy restore national Israel! It is a plan of inclusion (cf. Eph 2:11 to Eph 3:13), not exclusion! Hardening serves a greater harvest (i.e., Pharaoh)!
hath. Omit.
obtained. Greek. epitunchano. Only here, Heb 6:15; Heb 11:33. Jam 4:2.
rest. See Rom 1:13. App-124.
blinded = hardened. Greek. poroo. Here, 2Co 8:14, and three times in the Gospels. Compare Rom 11:25.
7.] What then (what therefore must be our conclusion from what has been stated? We have seen that God hath not cast off his own chosen nation, but that even now there is a remnant. This being so, what aspect do matters present? This he asks to bring out an answer which may set in view the )? That which Israel is in search of (viz. , see ch. Rom 9:31; Rom 10:1 ff.), this it (as a nation) found not (on w. an acc., see Matthi, Gr. Gr. 363 obs.), but the election (the abstract, because Israel has been spoken of in the abstract, and to keep out of view for the present the mere individual cases of converted Jews in the idea of an elected remnant) found it:
Rom 11:7. , the election) chiefly of the Israelites, the election, that is, the elected, inasmuch as being elected, obtain.
Rom 11:7
Rom 11:7
What then?-[What conclusion by way of result shall we draw from what has just been stated?]
That which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not;-Israel by the works of the law did not attain to the righteousness which he sought, and was not accepted of God.
but the election obtained it,-But those who by faith accepted the grace of God offered through Jesus Christ, and so were chosen of God, have attained it.
and the rest were hardened:-Hardened by refusing to believe in Jesus Christ.
What then: Rom 3:9, Rom 6:15, 1Co 10:19, Phi 1:18
Israel: Rom 9:31, Rom 9:32, Rom 10:3, Pro 1:28, Luk 13:24, Heb 12:17
but the election: That is, the elect, the abstract being used for the concrete. So the Jews or the circumcised people, are called Israel, or the circumcision. Rom 11:5, Rom 8:28-30, Rom 9:23, Eph 1:4, 2Th 2:13, 2Th 2:14, 1Pe 1:2
and the rest: Isa 6:10, Isa 44:18, Mat 13:14, Mat 13:15, Joh 12:40, 2Co 3:14, 2Co 4:4, 2Th 2:10-12
blinded: or, hardened, Rom 9:18
Reciprocal: Lev 14:45 – break down Num 26:56 – General Deu 28:29 – grope Deu 29:4 – General 2Ki 6:18 – Smite this people Isa 42:19 – Who is blind Isa 45:4 – Jacob Eze 12:2 – which Eze 20:26 – polluted Joe 2:32 – and in Amo 8:12 – shall run Zep 1:17 – they shall Zec 11:3 – for their Zec 11:11 – knew Zec 11:17 – the sword Mar 3:5 – hardness Luk 8:10 – that seeing Luk 19:42 – but Joh 8:27 – General Joh 9:39 – might be Joh 10:26 – because Joh 12:35 – lest Act 13:11 – thou Act 13:41 – for Act 13:48 – and as Act 19:9 – divers Rom 9:11 – according Rom 11:25 – blindness Rom 11:28 – but Gal 2:17 – while Gal 4:30 – Cast 1Th 5:9 – obtain 1Pe 2:10 – obtained
1:7
Rom 11:7. Paul concludes that Israel (as a whole) had not obtained what he sought for, namely, justification (because he thought to obtain it through the works of the law). But the election (verse 5) had obtained it through the faith of the Gospel. Rest were blinded. Israel as a whole was hardened by the national prejudice against Christ.
Rom 11:7. What then? The inference from Rom 11:5-6, is introduced by this question.
That which Israel (as a mass) is seeking for, now as formerly; chaps. Rom 9:31; Rom 10:3 show that righteousness is the object sought. Zealous searching is not necessarily indicated here.
He obtained not; did not attain unto; the idea of not finding is not suggested. The connection with Rom 11:5-6 shows that this took place, because the mass of the nation sought the end as of works (chap. Rom 9:32), a method opposed to grace.
But the election (the remnant, abstractly and vivaciously termed the election, rather than the elect) obtained it.
And the rest were hardened. Blinded is incorrect. The word denotes in its primary meaning: to deprive an organ of its natural sensibility; in the moral: to take from the heart the faculty of being touched by what is good or divine, from the intelligence the faculty of discerning between the true and the false, the good and the evil. The context will explain how it is possible that a similar effect can be attributed to divine agency (Godet). Comp. on chap. Rom 9:18. Gods agency is undoubtedly indicated here (comp. Rom 11:8-10), but nowhere is this spoken of in a way that implies a lessening of human responsibility. The parenthesis of the E. V. is unnecessary. It is designed to connect this clause with the last one of Rom 11:8.
Observe here, 1. What the apostle affirms concerning the main body of the Jewish nation, they obtained not what they sought after; that is, deliverance by the Messiah, justification and righteousness by the works of the law. This they sought, but found not; yet the election hath obtained it; that is, the chosen generation of believers, seeking righteousness and life in a gospel way, namely, by faith in Christ the Mediator, have obtained it. And the rest were blinded; by what, and by whom?
Answer 1. By their own sin and prejudice; and then,
2. By the just judgment of God, leaving them to their own ignorance and obstinacy, for shutting their eyes against the clear light of the gospel; and by giving them over to Satan, the god of this world, who blindeth the eyes of them that believe not, 2Co 4:4.
Observe, 2. The direful judgment which followed upon this dreadful sin; they shut their eyes, and said, they will not see; God closed their eyes, and said, they shall not see. Because they would not obey the Spirit of God, which would have awakened and enlightened them, God gave them up to a spirit of slumber, stupidity, and blindness; that is, he permitted them to continue and lie under those prejudices against the true Messiah, which they had taken up and entertained in their minds.
Learn hence, That no greater judgment can befall a people, than a sottish stupidity of mind and insensibility of spirit; whereby they are drowsily careless of their salvation, and know not the things belonging to their peace, although they be before their eyes. This was the case with the chief body of the Jewish nation, and continues to be still their case: they have eyes, and see not; ears, but hear not, unto this day.
Rom 11:7-10. What then What is the conclusion from the whole? It is this, that Israel, in general, hath not obtained that which he seeketh Namely, justification, acceptance with God, and the blessings consequent thereon. But the election Those of them only who repent and believe, and therefore are chosen of God to be his people; have obtained it, and the rest were blinded By their own wilful prejudice, arising from their worldly spirit, which caused them to reject Jesus on account of his poverty, mean appearance, and state of suffering. The word , here rendered, were blinded, signifies properly, were hardened, being a metaphorical expression taken from the skin of the hand, made hard by labour. In general it denotes, in Scripture, both hardness of heart, and blindness of understanding. The apostles meaning is, that the unbelieving Jews, through the influence of their own evil dispositions, were so blinded, that they did not discern the force of the evidence by which God confirmed the mission of his Son, and so were excluded from his covenant and church. Macknight. According as it is written Here the apostle refers to two passages of Isaiah, chap. Isa 29:10; Rom 6:9, &c. God hath given them the spirit of slumber Or deep sleep, as the word signifies, being used with an allusion to the stupifying potions which were sometimes given to persons who were to suffer torture or death, to render them insensible. The meaning here is, God hath at length withdrawn his Spirit, and for their wilful impenitence, unbelief, and obstinacy, hath given them up to a state of blindness and insensibility, whereby they slumber, as it were, on the brink of ruin, and are careless about their salvation; while the wrath of God hangs over theft heads, and the divine judgments are ready to break forth upon them, in a most awful manner. Eyes that they should not see Here the apostle alludes to Deu 29:4, where see the note. As if the apostle had said, Being forsaken of God, they are like to a man bereft of his senses: or he has given them up to such stupidity of mind, that though they have eyes yet they see not. Unto this day So it was then, and so it is still. And To show the causes and consequences of that spiritual blindness; David saith Speaking prophetically of the Messiahs enemies; Let their table be made a snare Or, as the words may be rendered, Their table shall be for a snare to them, &c. That is, the plentiful provision God has made for the supply of their wants, ghostly or bodily, being abused, shall become an occasion of sin and mischief to them; and their blessings shall be turned into curses, by reason of their depravity. The metaphors of a snare and a trap are taken from birds and beasts, which are allured into snares and traps to their destruction, by meat laid in their way. Stumbling-blocks occasion falls, which sometimes wound to death. And a recompense A punishment as a recompense of their preceding wickedness. Thus sin is punished by sin; and thus the gospel, which should have fed and strengthened their souls, becomes a means of destroying them. Let their eyes, &c. As if he had said, And in them the following words are also fulfilled: Their eyes shall be darkened Not the eyes of their bodies, (for in that sense the prediction was neither fulfilled in Davids nor in Christs enemies,) but of their minds, so that they will not discern Gods truth nor their own duty, nor the way of peace and salvation. And bow down their back alway Under a perpetual weight of sorrows, which they will not be able to support, and which will be a just punishment upon them for their having rejected so easy a yoke. The darkening of the eyes, and the bowing down of the back, denote the greatest affliction. For grief is said to make the eyes dim, Lam 5:17; and a most miserable slavery is represented by walking with the back bowed down, as under a yoke or heavy burden, Psa 146:8. They loved darkness rather than light, and therefore were permitted by the righteous judgment of God to go on in darkness, while the blind led the blind. And such still continues to be the state of the Jews, notwithstanding the intolerable load of wo which in all ages, since their rejection of the Messiah, has bowed down their backs to the earth. By quoting these prophecies, the apostle showed the Jews that their rejection and punishment for crucifying the Messiah, was long ago foretold in their own Scriptures. It is justly observed by Macknight here, that Gods ancient Israel, given up to deep sleep, to blind eyes, and deaf ears, and with the back bowed down continually, is an example which ought to terrify all who enjoy the gospel, lest by abusing it they bring themselves into the like miserable condition.
Vv. 7, 8. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, while the election hath obtained it; but the rest were hardened. According as it is written, God hath given them a spirit of torpor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this day.
By the question: What then? Paul means: If Israel are not really rejected, what then? What has happened? As he has elucidated this question in chap. 10, he confines himself to summing up in a word all that he has explained above regarding the foolish conduct of Israel. The object of their search, the justification to be obtained from God, having been pursued by them in a chimerical way (by means of human works), they have not attained the end which the elect have reached without trouble by faith. The present , seeketh, for which there must not be substituted, with the oldest translations (see the critical note), the imperf. sought, indicates what Israel has done and is still doing at the very moment when the apostle is writing.
The elect then being once excepted, it is quite true that all the rest, , have been rejected, and that in the severest way: a judgment of hardening with which God has visited them. The term , to harden, signifies in the strict sense: to deprive an organ of its natural sensibility; morally: to take away from the heart the faculty of being touched by what is good or divine, from the understanding, the faculty of discerning between the true and the false, the good and the bad. The sequel will explain how it is possible for such an effect to be ascribed to divine operation.
What then? [What results from the facts just stated? If God only acknowledges covenant relations with a remnant, and with them only by grace, surely you expect me to make some statement as to the status of the bulk of Israel. My statement is this:] That which Israel [the bulk or main body of the nation] seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened [The search spoken of is that with which we are already familiar; viz., the endeavor to obtain justification before God. All Israel sought this treasure. Those seeking it by the works of the law (the vast majority of the nation) failed to find it, but the remnant, seeking it by faith in Christ, found themselves chosen of God or elected to it. “The Jew, he says, fights against himself. Although seeking righteousness, he does not choose to accept it” (Chrysostom). If he could not find it by his own impossible road of self-righteousness and self-sufficiency, he would have none of it, though the apostle showed how easily it might be obtained by pointing out those who made it theirs by receiving it as a free gift from God through faith in Christ. But for those despising this rich gift, God had another gift, even that of hardening, which means the depriving of any organ of its natural sensibility. The calloused finger loses the sense of touch; the cataractous eye no longer sees clearly; the hardened mind loses its discernment between things good and bad, and readily believes a specious lie (2Th 2:9-12); the hardened heart becomes obdurate like that of Pharaoh’s, and is not touched or softened by appeals to pity, mercy, etc. We have seen, in the case of Pharaoh, that the hardness was the joint act of God and Pharaoh. The same is shown to be the case of the Jews, for Paul here attributes it to God, while it is elsewhere charged against the Jews themselves (Mat 13:14-15). Of course God’s part is always merely permissive, and Satan is the active agent. “God,” says Lard, “never yet hardened any man to keep him from doing right, or in order to lead him to do wrong. He is not the author of sin. He may permit other agencies, as Satan and the wickedness of men, to harden them, but he himself never does it”]:
7-10. Here Paul deplores the sad apostasy of Israel, incurring judicial blindness, deafness and stupidity, forfeiting their inheritance, meanwhile the election received it all right.
Verse 7
Israel; Israel in general.–He seeketh for; looketh for; that is, the justification which he expects on account of his alleged obedience of the law.–Were blinded; were blind, as some say, in order to avoid the necessity of supposing any agency on the part of Jehovah in respect to the moral character of wicked men. But the expression in the Romans 11:8, “God has given them the spirit of slumber,” seems very unequivocal. They, however, who cannot submit to the doctrine which it seems to teach, shelter themselves from it by saying that God is represented in the Scriptures as doing that which he does not interpose to prevent. And it must be conceded that this interpretation is confirmed by the form in which the passage originally occurs in the book from which it is quoted here. (Romans 11:8; Deuteronomy 29:4.) The Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear.
Romans 11:11,12. The rejection of the gospel by the Jews, under the preaching of the apostles, almost every where resulted in turning the apostles to the Gentiles, and was thus the occasion of promoting the wider extension of Christianity.–Their fulness; their general acceptance of the gospel.
11:7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were {f} blinded
(f) See Mr 3:5 .
Rom 11:7-10 summarize the argument (Rom 11:7) with supporting Old Testament quotations (Rom 11:8-10). Rom 11:7 ties back to Rom 10:3.
The Greek word translated "hardened" (eporothesan) is not the same one Paul used in Rom 9:18 (sklerunei). The one he used in Rom 9:18 simply pictures a hardening. The one he used here describes hardening with the result that the hardness renders the person more difficult to get through to from then on. It is as though a callus built up over the Israelites that made them less sensitive to God. [Note: H. P. Liddon, Explanatory Analysis of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, pp. 199-200.]
". . . God’s hardening permanently binds people in the sin that they have chosen for themselves." [Note: Moo, p. 681.]
"This postponement in Israelite history is not so much an interruption of redemption as an extension of predicted hardening (Rom 11:7-10). The Exile, which was a punishment for national disobedience, has therefore been prolonged during the present age until the appointed time for Israel’s national (and spiritual) restoration (Act 1:7; Act 3:21; Rom 11:25-27)." [Note: J. Randall Price, "Prophetic Postponement in Daniel 9 and Other Texts," in Issues in Dispensationalism, p. 136.]
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)