Romans 11:2

f. οὐκ ἀπώσατο : formal denial of what the heart has indignantly protested against in Romans 11:1. ὃν προέγνω must contain a reason which makes the rejection incredible or impossible. This excludes the interpretation of Weiss, who thinks that Paul means to say that God knew what Israel was before He chose it, and therefore cannot cast it off as if its unbelief had disappointed Him; He knew from the first what it would be. To plead thus for God is too paltry. We must take προέγνω as in Romans 8:29 : the meaning is, Israel stood before God's eyes from eternity as His people, and in the immutableness of the sovereign love with which He made it His lies the impossibility of its rejection. The idea is the same as in Romans 11:29 below. ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε : this is the alternative. He who says, God has cast off Israel, must be ignorant of what Scripture says ἐν Ἠλίᾳ in the passage which gives the history of Elijah. The sections of the Bible were designated, not as now by chapter and verse, but by some descriptive phrase: cf ἐπὶ τῆς βάτου, Mark 12:26 : and in Philo ἐν ταῖς ἀραῖς = Genesis 3:15. Many references are made in this form by Hebrew writers. For ἐντυγχάνειν κατὰ cf. 1Ma 8:32 : it means to plead (not intercede) with God against Israel. τὰ θυσιαστήρια is one of the indications that in Elijah's time there was no law requiring only one altar for Jehovah. The words are quoted from 1 Kings 19; Romans 11:10 or 14. In Elijah's mood, Paul might have said something similar of his own time, for their circumstances were not alike. The Apostle, like the prophet, was lonely and persecuted, and Israel as a whole seemed to have abandoned God or been abandoned by Him. But he understands God's way (and His faithfulness) better.