Thomas Aquinas Commentary Romans 11:1-10

"I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 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: Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. What then? that which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened: according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto this very day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, And a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, And bow thou down their back always." — Romans 11:1-10 (ASV)

1. After showing that the fall of the Jews is deplorable, though not entirely excusable, the Apostle now shows that it is not universal.

He proceeds in three steps:

1. He raises a question.
2. He answers it with the words God forbid.
3. He draws a conclusion, beginning with what then.

2. First, therefore, he asks: I say then, has God cast away His people?—that is, the Jews, whom He calls unbelieving and contrary. Even the Psalmist asks, O God, why do you cast us off forever? (Psalms 74:1); and it is written, the Lord has scorned his altar (Lamentations 2:7).

3. Then, with the words God forbid, he answers the question and shows that God has not totally rejected the Jewish people. He means, God forbid that the Jewish people be rejected in their entirety. He proves this, first of all, with respect to himself, saying, For I also am an Israelite—one who is living in the faith of Christ. He is an Israelite by race, as he says elsewhere: Are they Israelites? So am I (2 Corinthians 11:22).

Because there were some proselytes among the people of Israel who were not descended physically from the patriarchs, Paul clarifies that this is not the case for him, adding, of the seed of Abraham. He confirms this elsewhere: Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I (2 Corinthians 11:23).

Furthermore, among the Jewish people, the tribes were distinguished according to the sons of Jacob, some of whom were sons of handmaids and some of wives. Joseph and Benjamin were sons of Rachel, Jacob’s most beloved wife. Paul thus shows his high standing among the Jewish people by saying, of the tribe of Benjamin, which he also states in another letter: of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin (Philippians 3:5). For this reason, some apply to Paul the prophecy from Genesis: Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning devouring the prey, and at evening dividing the spoil (Genesis 49:27).

4. Second, when he says, God has not cast away His people, he shows that His people have not been rejected by God, with respect to the many who are chosen.

1. He states his proposition.
2. He recalls a similar situation, introduced by do you not know.
3. He applies it to the present, beginning with even so then, at this present time.

5. First, therefore, he says that not only has he not been rejected, but God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew—that is, the predestined. As he wrote earlier, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined (Romans 8:29). The Apostle applies the verse, For the Lord will not reject His people (Psalms 94:14), to the predestined.

6. Then, with the words do you not know, he recalls a similar situation that occurred in the time of Elijah, when all the people seemed to have turned from the worship of the one God.

1. He presents Elijah’s plea.
2. He gives the Lord’s reply, introduced by but what does the divine answer say.

7. First, therefore, he says, Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah? This refers to the account in 1 Kings (1 Kings 19:10). The phrase of Elijah can also mean "in the book written about Elijah."

The entire book of Kings was written mainly to publicize the sayings and deeds of the prophets, which is why Jerome counts it among the prophetic books. The passage continues, showing how he—namely, Elijah himself—calls on God against Israel.

8. The words of Samuel seem to contradict this when he says, Far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you (1 Samuel 12:23). It would seem, then, that one should much less intervene against the people.

But it should be noted that prophets intervene against the people in three ways:

1. By conforming their wills to the divine will revealed to them, as it says in a psalm: The just will rejoice when he sees the vengeance (Psalms 58:10).
2. By intervening against the kingdom of sin, so that people’s sins might be destroyed, but not the people themselves.
3. By having their intervention or prayer be understood as a denunciation, as in Jeremiah: Let them that persecute me be confounded (Jeremiah 17:18), which is to say, "They will be confounded."

9. In this intervention, Elijah alleges two things against them.

First, he points to the impiety they committed against the worship of God. This was done by persecuting His ministers, to which he refers when he says, Lord, they have slain Your prophets. This is confirmed elsewhere: Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? (1 Kings 18:13); and, Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? (Acts 7:52).

They also committed impiety against God’s holy places, as it says, They set the sanctuary on fire (Psalms 74:7). In regard to this, Elijah says, They have dug down Your altars.

10. Here it should be noted what the Lord commanded: You shall seek the place which the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name and make His habitation there; there you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices (Deuteronomy 12:5).

However, before the temple was built, the people were allowed to build altars for divine worship in various places. Because this became illegal after the temple was built, the pious King Hezekiah destroyed all such altars. This is what is referenced in 2 Kings: Is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? (2 Kings 18:22).

Therefore, what Hezekiah did in a spirit of piety, Ahab and Jezebel did in a spirit of impiety, desiring to root out the worship of God entirely.

11. Third, Elijah alleges the impiety they intended to commit, saying, And I am left alone—that is, alone in worshipping the one God, because the rest did not clearly show that they were God’s worshipers. For it says of him, And Elijah the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch . He continues, And they seek my life, meaning they sought to kill him. For Jezebel had sent word to Elijah, saying, So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them (1 Kings 19:2), referring to the prophets of Baal whom Elijah had killed.

12. Then, beginning with but what does, he gives the divine reply: But what does the divine answer say to him?—that is, to Elijah. The answer is this: I have left for Myself—meaning, for My worship, by not permitting them to fall into sin—seven thousand men (this definite number is used for an indefinite one, because seven and thousand are perfect numbers) who have not bowed their knees to Baal. This means they have not abandoned the worship of God, as it is written: all who call on my name, whom I created for my glory (Isaiah 43:17).

13. Then, with the words even so then, he applies all this to the present situation.

First, he presents the application, saying, Even so then, at this present time also, when a multitude of people seems to have gone astray, there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace. This means it is according to the free choice of God, as Jesus said: You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you (John 15:16).

Second, he draws a conclusion from this: And if by grace they have been saved, it is no longer by works. As he says elsewhere, He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy (Titus 3:5).

Third, he shows that this conclusion follows from the premises when he says, Otherwise—that is, if grace were based on works—grace is no longer grace. It is called grace precisely because it is freely given, as in the phrase, being justified freely by His grace (Romans 3:24).

14. Then, with the words what then, he draws his intended conclusion.

First, he states it: What follows from what has been said? This: Israel has not obtained that which it sought—namely, righteousness—as far as the greater part of its people was concerned. This is how one must interpret what was said before: But Israel, by following after the law of righteousness, has not come to the law of righteousness (Romans 9:31). And as Jesus said, You shall seek Me, and shall not find Me (John 7:34).

Nevertheless, the election—that is, the elect among the Jews—has obtained it, as it is written: He chose us in Him, that we should be holy (Ephesians 1:4). But the rest—the remainder of the people—have been blinded because of their malice: Their own malice blinded them .

15. Then, with the words as it is written, he clarifies the first part of the conclusion:

1. First, using the authority of Isaiah.
2. Second, using the authority of David, introduced by and David says.

16. Regarding the first point, it should be noted that the Apostle bases his argument on two passages from Isaiah. For it says in Isaiah, The Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of deep sleep (Isaiah 29:10). In reference to this, Paul says, God has given them the spirit of compunction, which relates to a perversity of emotion.

For "compunction" implies a piercing of the heart, or sorrow. There is a good compunction, by which one grieves over one's own sins, as it says in a psalm: You have made us drunk with the wine of compunction (Psalms 60:3). There is also an evil compunction—the compunction of envy—by which one grieves over the good fortune of another.

Therefore, God gave them this spirit of compunction, or envy, not by instilling malice but by withdrawing grace, as was said before: I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a nation (Romans 10:19).

17. Likewise, it says in Isaiah, Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears (Isaiah 6:10). In regard to this, Paul points to their weakened power of knowing when he adds, eyes that they should not see the miracles Christ performed in their presence, and ears that they should not hear the teachings of Christ and the apostles fruitfully. This is similar to another passage: You that see many things, will you not observe them? You that have ears open, will you not hear? (Isaiah 42:20).

To this, the Apostle adds on his own, until this present day, because they will see and hear at the end of the world, when the hearts of the children will be converted to their fathers, as it says in Malachi 4:5.

18. Then, with the words and David says, he presents the authority of David on the same point.

First, he touches on the things that occasioned the fall of the Jews, quoting David. He says, Let their table... This "table" can be interpreted as the malice with which sinners are nourished, as in Job: Though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue (Job 20:12). This table is "before them" when they sin with malice aforethought.

This table then becomes a snare, which is a temptation to sin (he who comes out of the pit shall be caught in the snare, Isaiah 24:18); and a trap, when they succumb to the pleasure of that temptation (they shall be trapped and taken, Isaiah 8:15); and a stumbling block, when they fall from one sin into another (unlike those who have much peace... and it is not a stumbling block to them, Psalms 119:165); and a retribution to them, when they are finally punished for their sins. This retribution can also be understood as the very act of God permitting them to fall: Render to the proud their deserts (Psalms 94:2).

Alternatively, the table is the Sacred Scripture placed before the Jews, as in Proverbs: She has set forth her table (Proverbs 9:2). In this case, Scripture becomes a snare when something ambiguous is encountered; a trap when it is not correctly understood; a stumbling block when it leads to obstinate error; and a retribution, as explained above.

19. Second, he mentions the weakening of their power to understand when he says, Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see. This should be understood more as a prediction than a desire, as in the phrase, having their understanding darkened (Ephesians 4:18). He then mentions the effect: and their backs bow down always. "Their backs" can be interpreted as their free choice, which carries them toward good or evil. To "bow down always" means to be bent away from eternal things toward temporal things, and from the path of righteousness to iniquity, as it is written: Bow down, that we may pass over (Isaiah 51:23).