Romans 11:4

Rom 11:4-6. But what saith the answer — Recollect the answer which God gave to this doleful complaint; I have reserved to myself — To maintain my honour and true worship, I have preserved by my providence and grace not fewer than seven thousand; who have not bowed the knee to Baal — Nor to the golden calves, nor complied with any of those idolatrous rites which have been established by iniquitous laws. Even so at this present time — As it was then, so it is now; bad as this generation of Israelites is, there is a remnant who continue faithful to God; according to the election of grace — According to that gracious purpose of God, whereby he hath chosen those, whether Jews or Gentiles, for his people, that break off their sins by repentance, and believe on Jesus, as the true Messiah and Saviour of the world, with their hearts unto righteousness. Among those who thus repented and believed, in the first age of Christianity, were many thousands of Jews. Of the election here spoken of, see notes on Rom 8:28-30. And if by grace, then it is no more of works — That is, of the merit of works, whether ceremonial or moral; whether of the Mosaic or any other law, except that of faith. In other words, it is no more an election according to any covenant of justice, like that made with our first parents before the fall, which required unsinning obedience, but according to the covenant of grace, made with man since the fall, which makes provision for pardoning his past sins, and renewing his fallen nature, and by which alone a sinful creature can be saved: otherwise grace is no more grace — The very nature of grace is lost. But if it be of the merit of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work — No longer deserving the name, or is no longer meritorious, but the very nature of it is destroyed. There is something so absolutely inconsistent between the being justified by grace, and the being justified by the merit of works, that if you suppose either, you of necessity exclude the other. For what is given to works is the payment of a debt; whereas grace implies an unmerited favour. So that the same benefit cannot, in the very nature of things, be derived from both.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 11:4. Κατέλιπον, I have left [Engl. Vers. not so well, reserved]) who were not to be slain by Hazael, Jehu, or Elisha. The LXX., 1Ki 19:18, have καὶ καταλέιψω ἐν Ἰσραὴλ ἑπτὰ χιλιάδας ἁνδρῶν πάντα γόνατα, ἃ οὐκ ὤκλασαν γόνυ τῷ Βάαλ. And I will have in Israel seven thousand men, all the knees, which have not bowed to Baal. From the verb λείπω [in κατέλιπον, I have left] we derive λεῖμμα a remnant [a portion left]; see what follows.—ἐμαυτῷ, to myself) Paul adds this for the sake of emphasis, in antithesis to the complaint of Elias about his being left alone. The Lord knows His own people.—ἑπτακισχιλίους, seven thousand) among a people, who had become reduced to a wonderfully small number, the number is not small, nay it was itself the whole people, 1Ki 20:15. From these the whole posterity of the ten tribes at least were descended. Heb. בל, i.e. purely such as these, without any admixture of the worshippers of Baal. I do not say, that they were the same individuals, who are mentioned in 1Ki 20:15; 1Ki 19:18; but the number is equal, viz., seven thousand, in 1Ki 20:15, and about seventy years afterwards, in ch. 1Ki 19:18, after the time of Hazael, Jehu and Elisha, comp. 2Ki 13:7; 2Ki 13:14.—ἄνδρας, men) Men were chiefly taken into account in reckoning, and were present at public worship; therefore their wives and children also are to be added to the seven thousand.—Τῇ Βάαλ) In the feminine gender, supplying εἰκόνι, the image of Baal, used by way of contempt, and antithetic to men. So the LXX. also Jdg 2:11, etc. Under the assertion of guiltlessness as to the worship of Baal, guiltlessness as to the worship of the golden calves[120] is included.

[120] Set up by Jeroboam in Dan and Bethel, 1Ki 12:29.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_11:4. Ἀλλά] But, although Elijah complained that he had been left sole survivor.

ὁ χρηματισμός] the divine oracular utterance (replying to this accusation). Found here only in N. T. (in the Apocrypha, 2Ma_2:4; 2Ma_11:17); but see Diod. Sic. i. 1, xiv. 7, and Suicer, Thes. II. p. 1532; and respecting χρηματίζω, on Mat_2:12.

κατέλιπον κ.τ.λ.] 1Ki_19:18, with free deviation, bearing on his object, both from the LXX. and from the original. It means: I have left remaining, so, namely, that they are not slaughtered with the rest. Comp. Xen. Anab. vi. 3. 5 : ὀκτῶ μόνους κατέλιπον (superstites, vivos reliquerunt); 1Ma_13:4. Hofmann incorrectly takes κατέλ. as the third person plural, having the same subject as ἀπέκτειναν. A groundless departure from the Hebrew text and from the LXX., according to which God is the subject. And it is God who has guided and preserved those who remained over.

ἐμαυτῷ] i.e. to myself as my property, and for my service, in contrast to the idolatrous abomination.

οἵτινες κ.τ.λ.] ita comparatos ut, etc.

γόνυ] Not a knee has been bowed by them; hence the singular, comp. Php_2:10.

τῇ Βάαλ] Dative of worship. Bernhardy, p. 86. Comp. Rom_14:11. The Phoenician divinity בַּעַל, the adoration of which was very widely diffused (Keil, § 91) amongst the Jews, especially under the later kings, though not of long subsistence (see Ewald, Alterth. p. 304), is most probably to be regarded as the sun-god (Movers, Phönicier, I. p. 169 ff.; J. G. Müller in Herzogs Encyklop. I. p. 639 f.), not as the planet Jupiter (Gesenius in the Hall. Encyklop. VIII. p. 384 ff.). It is remarkableseeing that בעל (according to different local and ritual forms also in the plural) is a masculine nounthat in the LXX. and in the Apocrypha it has sometimes, and most frequently, the masculine article (Num_22:41; Jdg_2:13; 1Ki_16:31, et al.), sometimes the feminine (Zep_1:4; Hos_2:8; 1Sa_7:4; always in Jer.; Tob_1:5, et al.). That the LXX. should have thought בעל to be of the common gender, and to denote also Astarte (Reiche), is not probable for this reason, that in the LXX. not merely are the masculine Baal and Astarte often mentioned together (Jdg_2:13; Jdg_10:6, et al.), but also the feminine Baal and Astarte (1Sa_7:4). The view that the feminine article was assigned to Βάαλ contemptuously (Gesenius, in Rosenmüllers Repert. I. p. 139), as also Tholuck and Ewald, Alterth. p. 302, assume, finds no sufficient supportseeing that בעל was a very well known divinityin the feminine designation of idols unknown to them in the LXX. at 2Ki_17:30-31; cannot be justified by comparison of the Rabbinical designation of idols as אֶלהוֹת; and cannot be made good in the particular passages where the LXX. have the masculine or the feminine. To refer the phenomenon solely to an opinion of the LXX., who held בעל to be the name of a god and also that of a goddess, and therefore, according to the supposed connection, used now the masculine and now the feminine article,the latter particularly, where the word occurs along with עַשְׁתָּרוֹת (Fritzsche), as in Jdg_2:13; Jdg_10:6, 1Sa_7:4,is improbable in itself (because of the unity of the Hebrew name), and cannot be maintained even in passages like Jdg_3:7, 2Ki_21:3 (comp. with 1Sa_12:10; Hos_2:10; Hos_2:15), without arbitrariness. An historical reason must prevail, and it appears the most feasible hypothesis that Baal was conceived as an androgynous divinity (Beyer, ad Selden. de Diis Syr. p. 273 f., Wetstein, Koppe, Olshausen, Philippi), although more precise historical evidence is wanting. The feminine article has been also explained by supplying a substantive (εἰκόνι by Erasmus, Luther, Beza, Grotius, Bengel, and others; στήλῃ by Glass, Estius; θρησκείᾳ by Cramer; even δαμάλει by Drusius, after Tob_1:5, but see Fritzsche on Tob.); but this is both erroneous and arbitrary, because at least the expression must have run τῇ τοῦ Βάαλ, since בעל has always the article. This linguistic incongruity van Hengel avoids only by the precarious conjecture that ἡ Βάαλ signifies the column of Baal, and ὁ Βάαλ the god Baal.

We have to remark, moreover, that the LXX. have in our passage the masculine article; but Paul, acquainted with the use also of the feminine article, has, in quoting from memory, changed the article. According to Fritzsche and Ewald, he had found τῇ in his copy of the LXX.; but τῇ is now found only in more recent codd. of the LXX., into which it has found its way merely from our passage.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom 11:4 . ὁ χρηματισμός : the word is related to χρηματίζω (Mat 2:12 ; Mat 2:22 , Act 10:22 , Heb 8:5 ) as χρησμὸς to χράω : it means the oracle, or answer of God. Here only in N.T., but see Mal 2:4Mal 2:4 ; 2Ma 11:17 . The quotation is from 1Ki 19:18 with ἐμαυτῷ added, by which Paul suggests God’s interest in this remnant, and the fact that He has a purpose of His own identified with them. God has reserved the seven thousand; He has reserved them for Himself ; it is on this the proof depends that He has not cast off His people. The seven thousand are Israel to Him. Yet His unchanging faithfulness in keeping a people is not represented as a merely unconditional decree, having no relation to anything but His own will, for the seven thousand are described by their character: οἵτινες οὐκ ἔκαμψαν γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ . οἵτινες is qualitative: such were those whom God reserved for Himself, men who never bowed knee to Baal. Βάαλ takes the fem. art [3] because it was often replaced in reading by בּשֶׁת (LXX αἰσχύνη ).

[3] grammatical article.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rom_11:4

But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, etc. 1Ki_19:18. Here again the apostle gives the sense of the original, with slight variations both from the Hebrew and Greek. In the lxx, the future καταλείψω is used where Paul has the aorist κατέλιπον. Paul also inserts the pronoun (ἐμαυτῷ), which is neither in the Greek nor Hebrew. I have reserved for myself; i.e. as my own peculiar people. In Kings, God threatens the general destruction of the people, but promises to reserve seven thousand, who had not gone after false gods. No special stress is to be laid on the number seven, as the whole design of the apostle is to show that national destruction does not involve the destruction of the true people of God. He always has an invisible church within the visible; and the destruction or dispersion of the latter does not affect the former. Answer of God, χρηματισμός, divine response, or oracle. The verb χρηματίζω occurs in Heb_12:25; Heb_11:7; Mat_2:12; Luk_2:26; Act_10:22. Those who remained faithful in the time of Elias, were those who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Baal signifies lord, ruler, and is used as the designation of a Phoenician deity. Among the Chaldeans he was called Bel, or Belus. He was regarded as the generative, controlling principle, of which the sun or the planet of Jupiter was the symbol, and to the people the direct object of worship. With him was associated a female deity, Ashtaroth, the Greek Astarte, called queen of heaven, the moon. But as Baal was also associated with the planet Jupiter, so was Ashtaroth with Venus. In this passage the feminine article is used before Baal, τῇ Βάαλ. This is explained by our interpreters, by supposing that εἰκόνι, image, is omitted. But this is unsatisfactory, not only because if such ellipsis occurred, the expression would properly be, τῇ τοῦ Βάαλ; but also because in the lxx and the Apocrypha, Baal has repeatedly the feminine article. Zep_1:4; Hos_2:8; 1Sa_7:4. Some say this is done in the way of contempt, as with the Rabbins the feminine form is sometimes thus used. There is, however, no special indication of any such purpose in those cases where the feminine article occurs. It is more satisfactory to assume that, at least with the later Hebrews, both the active generative principle in nature, and the passive, or birth-giving principle, was expressed by the same word; so that Baal was really androgen, both male and female.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Baal signifieth as much as Master or patron, or one in whose power another is, which name the idolaters at this day give their idols, naming them patrons, and patronesses or Ladies.

He speaketh of remnants and reserved people which were chosen from everlasting, and not of remnants that should be chosen afterward: for they are not chosen, because they were not idolaters, but therefore they were not idolaters, because they were chosen and elect.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

seven thousand, that have not bowed the knee to Baal--not "the image of Baal," according to the supplement of our version.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 4. But what saith the answer of God] The answer which God made assured him that there were seven thousand, that is, several or many thousands; for so we must understand the word seven, a certain for an uncertain number. These had continued faithful to God; but, because of Jezebel's persecution, they were obliged to conceal their attachment to the true religion; and God, in his providence, preserved them from her sanguinary rage.

Who have not bowed the knee] Baal was the god of Jezebel; or, in other words, his worship was then the worship of the state; but there were several thousands of pious Israelites who had not acknowledged this idol, and did not partake in the idolatrous worship.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(4) To the image of Baal.—The name “Baal” is here, as frequently in the LXX., in the feminine gender, and it is to account for this that our translators have inserted the word “image.” How the feminine really came to be used is uncertain. Some have thought that the deity was androgynous, others have conjectured that the feminine is used contemptuously. Baal was originally the sun-god. The sun, it may be remembered, is feminine in German and some other languages.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. the answer of God] Lit. the oracular answer. The words “of God” are an explanatory addition.

I have reserved, &c.] 1Ki_19:18. The Heb. is, “And I have left in Israel seven thousand; all the knees that have not bowed, &c.” (LXX. has “And thou shalt leave, &c.”)

4. It is hardly needful to point out how this metaphorical passage, like almost every other, secular or sacred, carries its qualifications and corrections with it. For example, the true Church of God existed ages before Abraham; it embraced Abel, Enoch, Noah. And no saint, however great, can be the “root” of the rest in the sense of being their source of life: the Divine Saviour alone can say “Abide in me.” And again, the figure here, if taken alone, would leave us with the impression that the Call of the Gentiles was an accident in the history of the Church, instead of being the great “Purpose of the Ages” (Eph_3:11) to which the privileges and work of the Elder Covenant were but the mighty prelude. But St Paul writes for those who will read his revelation in the full light of Gospel-truth; and therefore he securely leaves the details to self-explanation or self-correction. Carefully so read, the passage tells us not of a higher level of grace and glory hereafter for Jewish saints as above Gentile saints, but of a gracious welcome back, and a special work for God, for repenting and believing Israel.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But what saith the answer of God unto him?.... The divine response, or oracle, the , "Bath Kol", or voice from heaven; the still small voice of the Lord, which Elijah heard, Kg1 19:12,

I have reserved to myself; for his worship and service, to be partakers of his grace, inheritors of his kingdom, to show forth his praise, and for his name's sake, for his honour and glory: these he reserved in eternal election, in the council and covenant of peace; separated them in time from others by his grace, and preserved them from the general defection and apostasy: even

seven thousand men: meaning either that precise and exact number, which was but small in comparison of the very large multitude of persons that were in the ten tribes, or else a certain number for an uncertain:

who have not bowed the knee; a sign of reverence and adoration:

to the image of Baal; Jezebel's god, the god of the Zidonians; a name common to many of the "deities" of the Gentiles, and signifies "lord", or "master"; we read of "Baalim" in the plural number, for there were "lords many" of this name: in the Greek text the article is of the feminine gender, wherefore our translators have supplied the word image. This word has, in the Septuagint version, sometimes a feminine article as here; see Kg2 21:3; but in Kg1 19:18, from whence this passage is taken, the article is masculine, as it is also in Jdg 2:11, and in other places. This deity being either of both sexes, or of no distinguished sex; or it may be, the reason it has so often a feminine article is, because it was a young heifer, or in the form of one; so in the history of Tobias 1:5, it is said, that "all the tribes which apostatized together sacrificed", , "to Baal the heifer". The apostle's view in mentioning this instance is to show, that when the church and cause of God are at the lowest, God has always some true worshippers of him; and that he never casts away his foreknown people, whose numbers are generally more than they are thought to be by the saints themselves; good men, as Elijah, may be mistaken in this matter; all which he accommodates to the then present state of God's people, in Rom 11:5.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.

Ver. 4. The image of Baal] Τη Βααλ, to that lady, as our modern idolaters also call the Virgin Mary, whom they despight with seeming honours. They would persuade the world, that Christ by dying obeyed not his Father only, but his mother too, that she is the complement of the Trinity, that she entreateth not, but commandeth her Son, is the most imperious mother of our Judge, with many like horrid blasphemies, which I tremble to relate. {a}

{a} Salazar Jesuita in Pro 8:19; Pro 8:23; Pro 8:29.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The answer of God - ὁ χρηματισμός ho chrēmatismos. This word is used no where else in the New Testament. It means an oracle, a divine response. It does not indicate the manner in which it was done, but implies only that it was an oracle, or answer made to his complaint by God. Such an answer, at such a time, would be full of comfort, and silence every complaint. The way in which this answer was in fact given, was not in a storm, or an earthquake, but in a still, small voice; 1Ki 19:11-12.

I have reserved - The Hebrew is, “I have caused to remain,” or to be reserved. This shows that it was of God that this was done. Amidst the general corruption and idolatry he had restrained a part, though it was a remnant. The honor of having done it he claims for himself, and does not trace it to any goodness or virtue in them. So in the case of all those who are saved from sin and ruin, the honor belongs not to man, but to God.

To myself - For my own service and glory. I have kept them steadfast in my worship, and have not suffered them to become idolaters.

Seven thousand men - Seven is often used in the Scriptures to denote an indefinite or round number. Perhaps it may be so here, to intimate that there was a considerable number remaining. This should lead us to hope that even in the darkest times in the church, there may be many more friends of God than we suppose. Elijah supposed he was alone; and yet at that moment there were thousands who were the true friends of God; a small number, indeed, compared with the multitude of idolaters; but large when compared with what was supposed to be remaining by the dejected and disheartened prophet.

Who have not bowed the knee - To bow or bend the knee is an expression denoting worship; Phi 2:10; Eph 3:14; Isa 45:23.

To Baal - The word “Baal” in Hebrew means Lord, or Master. This was the name of an idol of the Phenicians and Canaanites, and was worshipped also by the Assyrians and Babylonians under the name of Bel; (compare the Book of Bel in the Apocrypha.) This god was represented under the image of a bull, or a calf; the one denoting the Sun, the other the Moon. The prevalent worship in the time of Elijah was that of this idol.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The answer of God; the word properly signifieth the oracle, or answer of God given in the tabernacle from the mercy-seat; but it is generally taken for any Divine answer, or direction received from God: see Mat 2:12; Heb 11:7, where the same word is used. The apostle doth not repeat the whole answer of God, as it is recorded in 1Ki 19:15-18, but so much only as was pertinent to his purpose.

I have reserved to myself; he saith not: They have reserved themselves, but, I have reserved them: q.d. Of my own free grace I have kept them from idolatry and apostacy.

Seven thousand men; a certain number for an uncertain. There were doubtless women amongst them; but they are noted by the more worthy sex.

Who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal; the word image is not in the Greek; but the article being of the feminine gender, it was necessarily understood.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Not I have reserved, as our version, nor I have kept, as Alford misrepresents it; but I have left, that is, I have not cast away, on account of their true faith.

To myself—Instead of to Baal.

Image of Baal—The words image of, as the italics indicate, are not in the Greek, but interpolated by the English translators. The word Baal here is in the feminine, a fact for which commentators are puzzled to account. The most probable opinion seems to be that this deity was of either sex.

4. Finally, what is the condition of the infant at birth, or rather at the first instant of personal existence, under the headship of Christ.

On this point we may note:

1. As descended from Adam, separated from the tree of life, he inherits Adam’s mental and bodily nature, and is thus (as described in our notes on Rom_5:12) a sinner, as being sure, under a full probation, to sin; and a mortal as being sure in the conditions to suffer and die. Thus far he is in the position of condemnation, yet never liable, before actual apostasy, to damnation.

2. Under Christ he is (as said by Dr. Fisk as quoted on Rom_5:18) in a position of non-condemnation or justification unto life; he is endowed even in infancy with the blessed spirit, (Luk_1:15; Luk_1:44; he possesses, as Watson says, “a seed of life;” and, living or dying, is an heir of heaven.

3. Our seventeenth Article of Faith pronounces him entitled to receive baptism as the “sign of regeneration”—baptism being the “outward sign of an inward grace.” (Note Luk_1:59.) He is thus held a virtual believer. He is entitled to all the privileges of a believer so fast as he shows himself, in time, fitted and desirous to take upon himself the responsibilities of a believer.

4. Hence it is essentially the doctrine of our best writers, in beautiful harmony with Arminian theology, that all actual sinners are actual apostates from a state of grace. Thus Dr. Fisk says that “sin is not imputed” until their “making their depravity the object of their choice.”

Fletcher (who explicitly teaches infant regeneration) says they “have sinned away the justification of infants.” And Wesley (who also taught the regeneration of baptized infants, and implied that of all others) says, “Children who are baptized, dying before they commit actual sin, are saved;” so that by actual sin they fall from a state of grace.

Have mercy upon all—God never (as predestination affirms) concluded all under eternal damnation, or compulsory desert of hell, in order that he might, of his own “mere good pleasure,” from pure “divine sovereignty,” pick out a part and leave the rest to their awful, unavoidable fate. Nor does it avail to tell us that these so left deserve nothing at the hand of God. Every creature deserves at least justice at the hand of God. (Note on Rom_11:35.)

The divine idea is mercy upon all, by mercy being placed within the power of all through Christ; or, as the parallel passage reads, “that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

To Baal - Nor to the golden calves.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

4. “But what saith the divine response to him? I have left unto myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 . [Jezebel and Ahab, in their zeal for the Phoenician god, Baal, had apparently exterminated the worship of the true God. At least, Elijah was deceived into so thinking. But the answer of God corrected his mistake. Paul inserts the words "for myself." "I. e.," says Meyer, "to myself as my property, and for my service, in contrast to the idolatrous abomination," or service of idols. The feminine article te is inserted before Baal, and this has greatly puzzled expositors, for the LXX. have the masculine article. It has been explained in various ways; Erasmus and others by supposing a feminine noun such as eikoni (image) to be understood; Estius, etc., by supposing stele (statue) to be supplied, or, as Lightfoot and Alford think, damalei (calf); or, according to Reiche, that there was a female Baal; or, as Wetstein and Olshausen, that Baal was androgynous (an hermaphrodite); or, as Gesenius and Tholuck, that the feminine was used of idols in contempt; or, as Fritsche, Ewald and Barmby, that Paul may have happened upon a copy of the LXX. which gave the feminine instead of the masculine. Of the above we prefer to supply damalei, calf, following the reasoning of Lightfoot. Baal was both a specific name for the Phoenician god, and also a common name for idols, hence the plural, Baalim. Of idols it the time referred to, Israel had two of great prominence: 1. The idol to the Phoenician god Baal, whose image was a bull. 2. The golden calves set up by Jeroboam, at Bethel and Dan. Now, it would avail nothing if Israel rejected one of these idols, yet worshipped the other, as in the case of Jehu, who rooted out the Phoenician, but accepted the calf of Jeroboam. But calf Baal would be an inclusive expression, striking at both forms of idolatry. (Comp. also 1Ki_19:18 with Hos_13:2 ) Moreover, the Phoenician worship was but recently re-established and had received a terrific blow at the hand of Elijah, while Jeroboam's calves were old and popular, hence we find in Tobit the expression, "And all the tribes that revolted together, sacrificed to the calf Baal" (literally. te Baal, te damalei; to Baal, to the calf-- Tob. 1:5). Here we have an instance where the word damalei is actually supplied, and that by a Hebrew writer, and "where," as Alford adds, "the golden calves of the ten tribes seem to be identified with Baal, and were a curious addition in [the manuscript] Aleph refers expressly to their establishment by Jeroboam.]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

4. Not bowed the knee to Baal. Baal was the principal deity of the Phoenicians, and represented the sun. Jezebel, the queen of Ahab, was a Phoenician, and sought to supplant the worship of Jehovah with the worship of Baal. Though it seemed as though she had succeeded, still there were those left who had not bowed the knee to the false God.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

But what does God's answer say to him?

Paul is using this question to bring the reader to his next point. AT: "How does God answer him?" (See: Rhetorical Question)

him

The pronoun "him" refers to Elijah.

seven thousand men

"7,000 men" (See: Numbers)

remnant

Here this means a small part of people whom God chose to receive his grace.

translationWords

God

Baal

remnant

grace

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

4. ὁ χρηματισμός subst.: here only in N. T.; cf. v[208] Mat 2:12; Act 10:22; Heb 12:25; LXX[209] 2Ma 2:4, app. in the sense of an oracle = χρησμός: but here, in direct reference to ἐντυγχάνειν, = reply; cf. Deissmann B. S. p. 118, “ἕντευξις is a technical term for a petition to a king, χρηματίζειν the t.t. for the reply”; cf. Milligan, Grk Pap. 5, 5, 21; Polyb. 28. 14, 10 = answers to ἐντεύξεις of ambassadors (Schw. Lex.).

[208] vb verb

[209] LXX. the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament

τῇ Βάαλ, on the fem. (LXX[210] τῷ) cf. S. H.: “the feminine article with the masc. name was due to the desire to avoid the utterance of the forbidden name Baal (Hos 2:16-17) and the substitution in reading of αἰσχύνη, just as the name Jehovah was written with the pointing of Adonai; usage most common in Jeremiah, occurs also in 1 and 2 Kings, Chronicles, and other Prophets; not in Pentateuch” (summarised).

[210] LXX. the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4.] But what saith the divine response to him (χρηματισμός, see reff. and reff. to the verb, Act 10:22)? I have left to myself (here the Apostle corrects a mistake of the LXX, who have for κατέλιπον—καταλείψεις,—in the Complut. ed. κατλείψω. He has added to the Heb. הִשְׁאַרְתִּי,—‘I have left,’ ‘kept as a remainder,’—ἐμαυτῷ, a simple and obvious filling up of the sense) seven thousand men, who (the sense of the saying, as far as regards the present purpose, viz. to shew that all these were faithful men; in the original text and LXX, it is implied that these were all the faithful men,—ἑπτὰ χιλιάδας ἀνδρῶν, πάντα γόνατα ἃ οὐκ ὤκλασαν γόνυ (om. γόνυ A) τῷ B. κ. πᾶν στόμα ὃ οὐ προσεκύνησεν (προσκυνήσει A) αὐτῷ. But this was not necessary to be brought out here) never bowed knee to Baal. “Here the LXX, according to the present text, have τῷ, not τῇ Βάαλ: but elsewhere (see reff.) they write the fem.: and probably the Apostle read it so in his copy.” Fritz. According to this Commentator, they wrote the fem., taking Baal for a female deity; according to Beyer, Addit. ad Seld. de diis Syr., Wetst., Koppe, Olsh., Meyer,—because Baal was an androgynous deity;—according to Gesenius, in Rosenmüller, Rep. i. 39, to designate feebleness, compare the Rabbinical אֱלוֹהוֹת, ‘false gods,’ and other analogous expressions in Tholuck. “The regarding τῇ Βάαλ as put for τῇ τοῦ Βάαλ, scil. εἰκόνι or στήλῃ, as Erasm., Beza, Grot., Estius, al., and Bretschneider, is perfectly arbitrary.” De Wette. In Tobit 1:5 , we have, πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ αἱ συναποστᾶσαι ἔθυον τῇ Βάαλ τῇ δαμάλει,—where the golden calves of the ten tribes seem to be identified with Baal, and where a curious addition in (in this part published by Tischdf. as Codex Friderico-Augustanus) refers expressly to their establishment by Jeroboam.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. ὁ χρηματισμός: ‘the oracle.’ An unusual sense for the word, which occurs here only in the N. T., but is found in 2 Macc. 2:4; Clem.Rom; xvii. 5 and occasionally elsewhere. The verb χρηματίζειν meant (1) originally ‘to transact business’; then (2) ‘to consult,’ ‘deliberate’; hence (3) ‘to give audience,’ ‘answer after deliberation’; and so finally (4) of an oracle ‘to give a response, taking the place of the older χράω; and so it is used in the N. T. of the Divine warning Mat 2:12, Mat 2:22 χρηματισθέντες κατʼ ὄναρ: Luk 2:26; Act 10:22; Heb 8:5; 11:7: cf. Jos. Antt. V. i. 14; X. i. 3; XI. iii. 4. From this usage of the verb χρηματίζω was derived χρηματισμός, as the more usual χρησμός from χράω. See also p. 173.

τῇ Βάαλ: substituted by St. Paul (as also by Justin Martyr, loc. cit.) for the LXX τῷ Βάαλ, according to a usage common in other passages in the Greek Version.

The word Baal, which means ‘Lord,’ appears to have been originally used as one of the names of the God of Israel, and as such became a part of many Jewish names, as for example Jerubbaal (Jud 1:6:32; Jud 1:7:1), Eshbaal (1Ch 9:39), Meribbaal (1Ch 9:40), &c. But gradually the special association of the name with the idolatrous worship of the Phoenician god caused the use of it to be forbidden. Hos 2:16, Hos 2:17 ‘and it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of the Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.’ Owing to this motive a tendency arose to obliterate the name of Baal from the Scriptures: just as owing to a feeling of reverence ‘Elohim’ was substituted for ‘Jehovah’ in the second and third books of the Psalms. This usage took the form of substituting Bosheth, ‘abomination,’ for Baal. So Eshbaal (1Ch 8:33, 1Ch 9:39) became Ishbosheth (2Sa 2:8; 2Sa 3:8); Meribbaal (1Ch 9:40) Mephibosheth (2Sa 9:6 ff.); Jerubbaal Jerubbesheth (2Sa 11:21). See also Hos 9:10; Jer 3:24; Jer 11:13. Similarly in the LXX αἰσχύνη represents in one passage Baal of the Hebrew text, 3 Kings 18:19, 25. But it seems to have been more usual to substitute αἰσχύνη in reading for the written Βάαλ, and as a sign of this Qeri the feminine article was written; just as the name Jehovah was written with the pointing of Adonai. This usage is most common in Jeremiah, but occurs also in the books of Kings, Chronicles, and other Prophets. It appears not to occur in the Pentateuch. The plural ταῖς occurs 2Ch 24:7; 2Ch 33:3. This, the only satisfactory explanation of the feminine article with the masculine name, is given by Dillmann, Monatsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaft zu Berlin, 1881, p. 601 ff. and has superseded all others.

The LXX version is again shortened in the quotation, and for καταλείψω is substituted κατέλιπον ἐμαυτῷ, which is an alternative and perhaps more exact translation of the Hebrew.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vv. 4, 5. “But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to 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.”—Χρηματισμός: the direction of a matter, and hence: a decision of authority; then: a divine declaration, an oracle (Mat 2:12).

It is impossible to apply the words: “I have reserved to myself,” to the temporal preservation of this elect body of pious Israelites, in the midst of the judgments which are soon to burst on Israel. It is in the spiritual sense, as faithful worshippers in the midst of reigning idolatry, that God reserves them to Himself. They are the leaven kept by His faithfulness in the midst of His degenerate people.

It is impossible to understand what leads Hofmann to take κατέλιπον as the third person plural: “They (the persecutors) have left me seven thousand men.” This cannot be the meaning in the Hebrew, where the grammar is opposed to it; and as little the sense meant by Paul, where the words to myself and according to the election of grace, Rom 11:5, prove that he is speaking of the action of God Himself. The pronoun to myself does not belong to the Hebrew text; it is added by Paul to bring more into relief the settled purpose of grace in this preservation.

The substantive Βάαλ, Baal, is preceded by the feminine τῇ: “the (female) Baal.” This form is surprising, for Baal, the god of the sun among the Phoenicians, was a masculine divinity, to whom Astarte, the goddess of the moon, corresponded, as the female divinity. By the LXX. the name Baal is sometimes used as feminine, sometimes as masculine. In our passage this version uses it in the latter way. To explain the female form as used here by Paul, it has been thought that Baal was sometimes regarded as a hermaphrodite divinity. But in 1Sa 7:4, we find Baal put along with Astarte, and both in the feminine form. It seems to us more natural simply to understand the feminine substantive εἰκόνι, the image, in the sense of: “the statute Baal.” Meyer objects that in that case the article τοῦ would be required before Βάαλ. But the Jews took pleasure in identifying false gods with their images, as if to say that the god was nothing more than his material representation. The Rabbins, in this same contemptuous spirit, had invented the term Elohoth to designate idols, a feminine plural of Elohim, and several have been thereby led to suppose that our feminine article might be explained by a feeling of the same kind. This explanation is not impossible, but the previous one seems to me the more simple.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.