Bible Strands
Romans 11:1
I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Roman believers, immediately grounding his rhetorical question in his own ethnic identity as an Israelite and Benjaminite.
The words — The Greek μὴ (mē) paired with ἀπώσατο (apōsato) creates a rhetorical question that literally expects a negative answer to "Did God reject the people?"
The thread — Paul's self-identification mirrors 2 Corinthians 11:22, while the theme of God's refusal to abandon His chosen people aligns with 1 Samuel 12:22 and the reported claim in Jeremiah 33:24.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to accept God's ongoing commitment to Israel before examining the theological explanation that follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 11:22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I.
- 1 Samuel 12:22 Indeed, for the sake of His great name, the LORD will not abandon His people, because He was pleased to make you His own.
- Jeremiah 33:24 “Have you not noticed what these people are saying: ‘The LORD has rejected the two families He had chosen’? So they despise My people and no longer regard them as a nation.
- Philippians 3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
- Acts 26:4 Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from my earliest childhood among my own people, and also in Jerusalem.
- Amos 9:8 Surely the eyes of the Lord GOD are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth. Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” declares the LORD.
- Psalms 94:14 For the LORD will not forsake His people; He will never abandon His heritage.
- Hosea 9:17 My God will reject them because they have not obeyed Him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
- Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
- Jeremiah 31:36 “Only if this fixed order departed from My presence, declares the LORD, would Israel’s descendants ever cease to be a nation before Me.”