What Does Romans 11:5 Mean?
So also now, in this present season, there is a remnant left behind, picked out by favor.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.THE KEY
What remains is not proof of human worth; it is the visible shape of favor.
THE MEANING
Even now, within Israel, a remnant remains, and its place is described as arising from God’s choosing in favor. The verse gives that continued presence a source: favor received rather than achieved. What remains is not evidence of human superiority but of favor at work in the present.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a people remain within God’s purpose only by proving themselves more deserving: this remnant’s standing comes from favor, not merit.
THE ROOT
χάρις
charis
GROWS FROM
χαρ-
char-
Favor or kindness freely bestowed.
“picked out by favor” in this verse is charis. The Greek word translated “grace” is favor, and its word family also names what favor grants. By saying the remnant is according to the election of favor, the verse makes favor the source of the choosing; the remnant does not produce itself.
ALSO GROWS
charizomai: Grant freely; show favor.
χαρίζομαι
This branch makes the gift in favor visible: what is granted comes from another’s generosity.
charisma: A gift freely given.
χάρισμα
It shows favor taking the form of something received, illuminating the remnant’s place as gift rather than achievement.
λεῖμμα
leimma
GROWS FROM
λειπ-
leip-
To leave behind, remain, or be lacking.
“remnant left behind” in this verse is leimma. The word carries both persistence and absence: a remnant is what remains after something is gone. Here it names a surviving portion without making that portion the cause of its own survival.
ALSO GROWS
leipō: Leave; remain; lack.
λείπω
The verb holds together what is left and what is missing, giving “remnant” its sense of presence amid loss.
ekleipō: Fail, cease, or disappear.
ἐκλείπω
This related verb brings the possibility of disappearance into view, sharpening the contrast with the remnant that remains.
ἐκλογή
eklogē
GROWS FROM
ἐκλεγ-
ekleg-
Choose or select.
“picked out by favor” in this verse is eklogē. The word belongs to the Greek family for choosing and selection. Joined to favor, it locates the remnant’s standing in a choice grounded in favor, not in a status the remnant claims for itself.
ALSO GROWS
eklegomai: Choose or select.
ἐκλέγομαι
This verb makes the act beneath “election” explicit: the remnant’s place is attributed to choosing.
eklektos: Chosen; selected.
ἐκλεκτός
This related word describes those marked by that choosing, reinforcing that the verse gives the remnant’s existence a source beyond its own achievement.
THE PATTERN
God’s continuing people are not secured by size or merit; their preservation rests on divine favor.
The LORD did not cling to you, nor choose you, because you outnumbered any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples."Yet I have left seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not knelt to Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him."For by favor you have been delivered through leaning your full weight, and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God.THE THREAD
And if it is by favor, then it is no longer from works, otherwise favor would no longer be favor. But if it is from works, then it is no longer favor, otherwise the work would no longer be work.The next verse repeats the same word, χάρις (charis), favor, and spells out what follows when the remnant is according to favor. Its standing cannot at the same time be wages earned through works.
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