What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
Parallel translations
- WEB What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.
- BSB What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
- NKJV What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
- NASB What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened;
- NLT So this is the situation: Most of the people of Israel have not found the favor of God they are looking for so earnestly. A few have—the ones God has chosen—but the hearts of the rest were hardened.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel as a whole did not obtain the righteousness it sought; the elect obtained it, while the rest were hardened.
Overview
Paul summarizes the situation: national Israel pursued righteousness yet missed it because it sought it by works rather than faith (Romans 9:31-32). The 'chosen ones' received it by grace, while 'the rest were hardened,' a sobering divine judicial act. The verse holds together human responsibility and God's sovereignty without resolving the tension into either fatalism or human autonomy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Rom 9:18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
- 2 Cor 4:4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
- Rom 11:5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
- Rom 11:25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
- Rom 9:31–32But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
- 2 Th 2:10–14And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- Rom 9:23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
- 2 Cor 3:14But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
- Rom 8:28–30And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
- Eph 1:4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
- 1 Cor 10:19What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
- Rom 10:3For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
- Matt 13:14–15And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
- Rom 3:9What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;
- Phil 1:18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
- Rom 6:15What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
- Prov 1:28Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me:
- Isa 6:10Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
- Isa 44:18They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
- John 12:40He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
- Luke 13:24Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
- 1 Pet 1:2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
- Heb 12:17For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 11:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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