What Does Romans 11:1 Mean in the King James?
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The answer to rejection is carried in the speaker’s identity: he remains an Israelite, so rejection of the whole people cannot be the final word.
THE MEANING
The question of whether God has cast away his people receives an emphatic no. Belonging remains concrete in the speaker’s stated identity, as an Israelite, Abraham’s seed, and from Benjamin’s tribe, rather than an abstract assurance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that Israel’s failure means God has permanently discarded Israel.
THE ROOT
ἀπώσατο
apōsato
GROWS FROM
ἀπό + ὠθέω (ōtheō)
The verbal base ὠθέω means to push or thrust; ἀπό adds the sense away, yielding “push away” or “reject.”
“cast away” in this verse is apōsato. The Greek verb pictures pushing someone out, a force the English phrase can make sound like a settled verdict. Paul sets his named belonging against that image, and the next verse repeats the same verb to state the answer directly.
ALSO GROWS
ōtheō: Push, thrust.
ὠθέω
This is the verbal base beneath “cast away,” bringing the physical image of a forceful push into the question.
apōtheō: Push away, thrust away; reject.
ἀπωθέω
This compound form appears again in Romans 11:2, where the possibility of God pushing his people away is directly denied.
THE PATTERN
A fear of rejection is answered with a concrete declaration that belonging remains.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.THE THREAD
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,Romans 11:2 repeats the same Greek verb rendered “cast away,” turning the answer in verse 1 into an explicit statement. The question and its answer share one action: the possibility of pushing away is met by its direct denial.
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