Romans 11:4

Answer of God. Gr. chrematismos, “the divine response,” the only occurrence of this word in the NT. It comes from the verb chrematizo, used in the NT to describe a divine communication or warning (see Matt. 2:12, 22; Luke 2:26; Acts 10:22; Heb. 8:5; 11:7).

Reserved to myself. Or, “left for myself.” The quotation is from 1 Kings 19:18.

To the image of Baal. Gr. te Baal, literally, “to Baal.” At times in the LXX (see Hosea 2:8; Zeph. 1:4) the name “Baal” in the Greek is preceded by the feminine definite article (te), though Baal was regarded as a male. One explanation is that even though Baal was a masculine deity, heathen images to the gods were often designated by the feminine, hence the translation “image of Baal.” Another possible explanation of Paul’s use of the feminine article is that the Jews, who came to have a strong aversion to pronouncing the name Baal, developed the custom of reading in its place the feminine word for “shame,” Heb. bosheth, Gr. aischune (see the LXX of 1 Kings 18:19, 25). Such a substitution may have been in Paul’s mind when he chose to use the feminine article.