Charles Ellicott Commentary Romans 11:2

"God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against Israel:" — Romans 11:2 (ASV)

Which he foreknew.—This must not be pressed too far, as implying an absolute indefectibility of the divine favor. God, having in His eternal counsels set His choice upon Israel as His peculiar people, will not readily disown them. Nor is their case really so bad as it may seem. Now, as in the days of Elijah, there are a select few who have not shared in the general depravity.

Of Elias.—Literally, in Elias—that is, in the section which contains the history of Elias. So in Mark 12:26 and Luke 20:37, in the bush and at the bush mean, in the paragraph relating to the bush.