“God hath not cast away his people which hee foreknew. Wote yee not what the Scripture saieth of Elias? how hee maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying,”
1611 King James Version (KJV)
11:2 God hath not rejected that part of his people whom he foreknew - Speaking after the manner of men. For, in fact, knowing and foreknowing are the same thing with God, who knows or sees all things at once, from everlasting to everlasting. Know ye not - That in a parallel case, amidst a general apostasy, when Elijah thought the whole nation was fallen into idolatry, God knew there was a remnant of true worshippers.
Ro 11:2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Israel was the people foreknown, "the chosen people". In Ro 11:1, "his people" refers to the nation; here it must mean the same, not individuals. The nation foreknown and chosen is not totally and eternally cast off. This is what Paul means, and what he devotes the rest of the chapter to proving. He first shows that a portion of Israel is saved. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? The passage referred to is found in 1Ki 19:10. How he maketh intercession to God against Israel. Elijah, a fugitive for his life, in his appeal to God, assumes that all Israel had fallen into the idol worship of Ahab and Jezebel. But there were true worshipers left, although the nation seemed to have fallen away. In what seemed a general apostasy, there were seven thousand left (1Ki 19:18). So, argues the apostle, there are faithful ones left now in Israel.