The episode is now live. The focus is the meaning of "all Israel" in Rom 11:25-26. It's not as easy as you think.
Naked Bible Podcast Episode 102 dives deep into one of Paul’s most debated phrases: “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). In this thoughtful and scholarly discussion, Dr. Michael Heiser and Trey Stricklin unpack four major interpretive views on the passage:
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Ecclesiastical Interpretation – “Israel” refers to the Church (common in Replacement Theology).
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Total National Elect View – All the elect from ethnic Israel will be saved through Christ.
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Two Covenant View – Jews are saved by the Old Covenant without needing Christ.
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Eschatological Miracle View – A future mass conversion of Jews before or at Christ’s return.
Heiser then critiques each view using the work of scholars like Christopher Zoccali and Jason Staples, emphasizing the importance of Jewish and Second Temple understandings of terms like “Israel,” “Jew,” and “all Israel.” He demonstrates that Paul's use of “all Israel” refers not to ethnicity but to a theological construct—the entirety of God’s covenant people, Jew and Gentile alike.
By comparing Paul’s theology with the Old Testament and Second Temple literature, Heiser dismantles both overly literal end-times readings and harsh replacement views, calling instead for a biblically grounded, nuanced understanding of covenant inclusion.
This episode is a must-listen for those grappling with Romans 11, Jewish-Christian relations, and eschatological hope in Paul’s theology.
thanks – Joe and his team did a great job, though it’s still a work in progress.
got it; thanks.
Replacement theology affirms the obvious (the church is the new Israel) and then extrapolates to the unnecessary (there is no role for national Israel at all in the eschaton).
I reject the latter idea. It overstates the data.
Mike, that puts it nicely, though I rather see it as “fulfillment theology,” as opposed to “replacement theology,” as “replacement” tends to legitimize the extrapolation you rightly reject.
Along the same lines: Any idea as to what Paul was doing with the Isaiah quotation, “The Deliverer will come from Zion…,” when the Masoretic has “to Zion” instead, and the Septuagint has “on behalf of Zion” (or thereabouts)? Any clue as to what Paul was doing here with “from Zion?” Where did he get this from? Some Aramaic targum? What do you think Paul was up to with this?
thanks — good reading choices for those who find the comment!
thanks — good reading choices for those who find the comment!