ἐκλογή

From the study of Romans 11:28

Range of meaning

"Choosing, selection": the act of picking out, and sometimes the group that was picked ("the elect," as in 11:7). In Paul it is always God's choosing, and it rests on his purpose and grace, not on what the chosen have done (9:11; 11:5).

Against the English

"Election" now suggests either voting or, in theology, debates over whether God predestines individual people to eternal salvation. Here the word points back to God's choice of Israel as a people, the choice of Deuteronomy 7:6–8.

How it drifted

From Augustine through the Reformation, Romans 9–11 became the main battleground for questions about individual predestination. That gave "election" a sense centred on individuals that Paul's argument about a people does not have here.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rom 9:11 ("God's purpose according to election"); 11:5 ("a remnant according to the election of grace"); 11:7 ("the elect obtained it"). The idea comes from the Hebrew bāḥar, "choose," in Deut 7:6; 10:15; 14:2, which the Septuagint renders with ἐκλέγομαι. The Qumran texts call their community "the chosen ones" (e.g. 1QpHab 10.13).

From the study of Romans 11:5

Range of meaning

The act of choosing or selecting, and by extension what is chosen. In secular Greek it can mean any selection (picking soldiers, choosing goods). In Jewish and Christian use it often means God's choosing of a people or a person for his purpose.

Against the English

'Election' to a modern ear first suggests voting, where people choose a leader. That is the reverse of the direction here: God does the choosing. Among Christians, 'election' often brings a whole later system of individual predestination to heaven or hell. Paul's word is simpler: God's act of selecting. How far it reaches is argued from context, not packed into the word.

How it drifted

In English, 'election' moved mainly into politics from the 17th–18th centuries onward. In theology, the term became a technical label in debates from Augustine through the Reformation, so readers often hear a finished doctrine rather than a verb of choosing.

Used elsewhere in the period

New Testament: Acts 9:15 (Paul as 'a chosen instrument', literally 'a vessel of choosing', chosen for a task); Romans 9:11; 11:5, 7, 28; 1 Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Peter 1:10. In Psalms of Solomon 9:4 it refers to human free choice ('our works are in the choosing of our soul'). Josephus uses it for ordinary selection. The idea behind it is Israel's election in Deuteronomy 7:6–8, where God chose Israel not because it was numerous but because he loved it.

From the study of Romans 11:7

Range of meaning

An act of choosing or selecting, and by extension the people or things chosen. BDAG gives both senses: (1) the special choice, selection; (2) that which is chosen, the chosen ones (abstract for concrete, as here). In Paul it is God's choosing: 'God's purpose according to election' (9:11); 'a remnant according to the election of grace' (11:5); and, strikingly, of Israel as a whole: 'as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers' (11:28).

Against the English

KJV 'the election' sounds to a modern ear like either a political vote or a technical doctrine. BSB/ESV 'the elect' and WEB/YLT 'the chosen' render the concrete sense. NIV's 'the elect among them' rightly shows these are Israelites.

How it drifted

Over centuries 'election' became a term of systematic theology for God's eternal decree about individuals' final destinies. Paul uses the word, but here the immediate referent is a historical group: the faithful Jewish remnant of his own day, like the 7,000 in Elijah's time (vv. 2–4).

Used elsewhere in the period

Not in the canonical LXX. Psalms of Solomon 18:5 speaks of 'the day of choosing (eklogē)' and 9:4 of choice in moral action. Josephus and papyri use it of selecting persons or goods. Elsewhere in the NT: Acts 9:15 (Paul as a 'vessel of choosing'); 1 Thess 1:4; 2 Pet 1:10.