The Election of Israel

What remains of God’s promises to the Jews now that the Messiah has come and the Jews from whom and for whom he came have, for the most part, failed to recognize him? That is the theme of Romans 9–11. Finding the exact term to describe Paul’s discussion of the theme is somewhat difficult. On the one hand, Romans 9–11 is more or less an excursus complete in itself. The beginning declaration (9:1) and the concluding doxology (11:33–36) delimit it clearly from the remainder of the epistle. The chapters are thematically coherent, with an uncharacteristic reliance on quotation (thirty percent of 9–11 is quoted from the OT, of which forty percent comes from Isaiah). The numerous studies and monographs devoted to Romans 9–11 further evince a history of interpretation uniqu…