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180 lines
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Title = 'The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews';
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<p id="Chapter11" align="center">Commentary by A. R. FAUSSET<br>CHAPTER 11
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<p id="Heb11_1"><a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,'1-40');">Hbr 11:1-40</a>. DEFINITION OF THE FAITH JUST SPOKEN OF (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,39);">Hbr 10:39</a>): EXAMPLES FROM THE OLD COVENANT FOR OUR PERSEVERANCE IN FAITH.
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<p><b>1.</b> <i>Description</i> of the great things which <i>faith</i> (in its widest sense: not here restricted to <i>faith</i> in the Gospel sense) does for us. Not a full <i>definition</i> of faith in its whole nature, but a description of its great characteristics in relation to the subject of Paul's exhortation here, namely, to perseverance.
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<br><br><b>substance,</b> etc.—It substantiates promises of God which we hope for, as future in fulfilment, making them present realities to us. However, the <i>Greek</i> is translated in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',3,14);">Hbr 3:14</a>, "confidence"; and it also here may mean "sure confidence." So ALFORD translates. THOMAS MAGISTER supports <i>English Version,</i> "The whole thing that follows is virtually contained in the first principle; now the <i>first commencement</i> of the things hoped for is in us through the assent of faith, which virtually contains all the things hoped for." Compare <i>Note,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Hbr/Hbr006.html#Heb6_5">Heb 6:5</a>, "tasted...powers of the world to come." Through faith, the future object of Christian hope, <i>in its beginning,</i> is already present. True faith infers the reality of the objects believed in and honed for (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,6);">Hbr 11:6</a>). HUGO DE ST. VICTOR distinguished <i>faith</i> from <i>hope.</i> By <i>faith</i> alone we are sure of eternal things that they ARE: but by <i>hope</i> we are confident that WE SHALL HAVE them. All hope presupposes faith (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,25);">Rom 8:25</a>).
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<br><br><b>evidence</b>—"demonstration": convincing proof to the believer: the soul thereby seeing what the eye cannot see.
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<br><br><b>things not seen</b>—the whole invisible and spiritual world: not things future and things pleasant, as the "things hoped for," but also the past and present, and those the reverse of pleasant. "Eternal life is promised to us, but it is when we are dead: we are told of a blessed resurrection, but meanwhile we moulder in the dust; we are declared to be justified, and sin dwells in us; we hear that we are blessed, meantime we are overwhelmed in endless miseries: we are promised abundance of all goods, but we still endure hunger and thirst; God declares He will immediately come to our help, but He seems deaf to our cries. What should we do if we had not faith and hope to lean on, and if our mind did not emerge amidst the darkness above the world by the shining of the Word and Spirit of God?" [CALVIN]. Faith is an assent unto truths credible upon the testimony of God (not on the <i>reasonableness</i> of the thing revealed, though by this we may judge as to whether it be what it professes, a genuine revelation), delivered unto us in the writings of the apostles and prophets. Thus Christ's ascension is the cause, and His absence the crown, of our faith: because He ascended, we the more believe, and because we believe in Him who hath ascended, our faith is the more accepted [BISHOP PEARSON]. Faith believes what it sees not; for if thou seest there is no faith; the Lord has gone away so as not to be seen: He is hidden that He may be believed; the yearning desire by faith after Him who is unseen is the preparation of a heavenly mansion for us; when He shall be seen it shall be given to us as the reward of faith [AUGUSTINE]. As Revelation deals with spiritual and invisible things exclusively, faith is the faculty needed by us, since it is the evidence of things not seen. By faith we venture our eternal interests on the bare word of God, and this is altogether reasonable.
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<p id="Heb11_2"><b>2. For</b>—So high a description of faith is not undeserved; for...[ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>by it</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "in it": in respect to...in the matter of," it, "or, as <i>Greek</i> more emphatically, "this."
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<br><br><b>the elders</b>—as though still living and giving their powerful testimony to the reasonableness and excellence of faith (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,1);">Hbr 12:1</a>). Not merely <i>the ancients,</i> as though they were people solely of the past; nay, they belong to the one and the same blessed family as ourselves (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,39,40);">Hbr 11:39-40</a>). "<i>The</i> elders," whom we all revere so highly. "Paul shows how we ought to seek in all its fulness, under the veil of history, the essential substance of the doctrine sometimes briefly indicated" [BENGEL]. "The elders," as "the fathers," is a title of honor given on the ground of their bright faith and practice.
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<br><br><b>obtained a good report</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "were testified of," namely, favorably (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',7,8);">Hbr 7:8</a>). It is a phrase of Luke, Paul's companion. Not only men, but God, gave testimony to their faith (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,4,5,39);">Hbr 11:4-5, 39</a>). Thus they being testified of themselves have become "witnesses" to all others (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,1);">Hbr 12:1</a>). The earlier elders had their patience exercised for a long period of life: those later, in sharper afflictions. Many things which they hoped for and did not see, subsequently came to pass and were conspicuously seen, the event confirming faith [BENGEL].
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<p id="Heb11_3"><b>3. we understand</b>—We perceive with our spiritual intelligence the fact of the world's creation by God, though we see neither Him nor the act of creation as described in <a onclick="return mV('Gen',1,'1-31');">Gen 1:1-31</a>. The natural world could not, without revelation, teach us this truth, though it confirms the truth when apprehended by faith (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',1,20);">Rom 1:20</a>). Adam is passed over in silence here as to his faith, perhaps as being the first who fell and brought sin on us all; though it does not follow that he did not repent and believe the promise.
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<br><br><b>worlds</b>—literally, "ages"; all that exists in time and space, visible and invisible, present and eternal.
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<br><br><b>framed</b>—"fitly formed and consolidated"; including the creation of the single parts and the harmonious organization of the whole, and the continual providence which maintains the whole throughout all ages. As creation is the foundation and a specimen of the whole divine economy, so faith in creation is the foundation and a specimen of all faith [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>by the word of God</b>—not here, the <i>personal</i> word (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>logos,</i>" <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',1,1);">Jhn 1:1</a>) but <i>the spoken word</i> (<i>Greek,</i> "<i>rhema</i>"); though by the instrumentality of the personal word (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,2);">Hbr 1:2</a>).
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<br><br><b>not made,</b> etc.—Translate as <i>Greek,</i> "so that not out of things which appear hath that which is seen been made"; not as in the case of all things which we see reproduced from previously existing and visible materials, as, for instance, the plant from the seed, the animal from the parent, etc., has the visible world sprung into being from apparent materials. So also it is implied in the first clause of the verse that the invisible spiritual worlds were framed not from previously existing materials. BENGEL explains it by distinguishing "appear," that is, <i>begin to be seen</i> (namely, at creation), from <i>that which is seen</i> as already in existence, not merely <i>beginning</i> to be seen; so that the things seen were not made of the things which appear," that is, which <i>begin to be seen by us in the act of creation.</i> We were not spectators of creation; it is by faith we perceive it.
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<p id="Heb11_4"><b>4. more excellent sacrifice</b>—because offered in <i>faith.</i> Now <i>faith</i> must have some <i>revelation of God</i> on which it fastens. The revelation in this case was doubtless God's command to sacrifice <i>animals</i> ("the firstlings of the flock") in token of the forfeiture of men's life by sin, and as a type of the promised bruiser of the serpent's head (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',3,15);">Gen 3:15</a>), the one coming sacrifice: this command is implied in God's having made coats of skin for Adam and Eve (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',3,21);">Gen 3:21</a>): for these skins must have been taken from animals slain <i>in sacrifice:</i> inasmuch as it was not for <i>food</i> they were slain, animal food not being permitted till after the flood; nor for mere <i>clothing,</i> as, were it so, clothes might have been made of the fleeces without the needless cruelty of killing the animal; but a coat of skin put on Adam from a sacrificed animal typified the covering or atonement (the <i>Hebrew</i> for <i>atone</i> means to <i>cover</i>) resulting from Christ's sacrifice. The <i>Greek</i> is more literally rendered [KENNICOTT] by WYCLIFFE, "a <i>much more</i> sacrifice"; and by Queen Elizabeth's version "a greater sacrifice." A fuller, more ample sacrifice, that which partook more largely and essentially of the true nature and virtue of sacrifice [ARCHBISHOP MAGEE]. It was not any intrinsic merit in "the firstling of the flock" above "the fruit of the ground." It was God's appointment that gave it all its excellency as a sacrifice; if it had not been so, it would have been a presumptuous act of <i>will-worship</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Col',2,23);">Col 2:23</a>), and taking of a life which man had no right over before the flood (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',9,'1-6');">Gen 9:1-6</a>). The sacrifice seems to have been a holocaust, and the sign of the divine acceptance of it was probably the consumption of it by fire from heaven (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',15,17);">Gen 15:17</a>). Hence, "to accept" a burnt sacrifice is in <i>Hebrew</i> "to turn it to ashes" (<a onclick="return mV('Psa',20,3);">Psa 20:3</a>, <i>Margin</i>). A flame seems to have issued from the Shekinah, or flaming cherubim, east of Eden ("the presence of the Lord," <a onclick="return mV('Gen',4,16);">Gen 4:16</a>), where the first sacrifices were offered. Cain, in unbelieving self-righteousness, presented merely a <i>thank offering,</i> not like Abel feeling his need of the propitiatory sacrifice appointed on account of sin. God "had respect (first) unto Abel, and (then) to his offering" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',4,4);">Gen 4:4</a>). Faith causes the believer's person to be accepted, and then his offering. Even an animal sacrifice, though of God's appointment, would not have been accepted, had it not been offered in faith.
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<br><br><b>he obtained witness</b>—<i>God</i> by fire attesting His acceptance of him as "righteous by faith."
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<br><br><b>his gifts</b>—the common term for <i>sacrifices,</i> implying that they must be freely <i>given.</i>
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<br><br><b>by it</b>—by faith exhibited in his animal sacrifice.
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<br><br><b>dead, yet speaketh</b>—His <i>blood crying front the ground to God,</i> shows how precious, because of his "faith," he was still in God's sight, even when dead. So he becomes a witness to us of the blessed effects of faith.
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<p id="Heb11_5"><b>5.</b> <i>Faith</i> was the ground of his <i>pleasing God;</i> and his <i>pleasing God</i> was the ground of his <i>translation.</i>
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<br><br><b>translated</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',5,22,24);">Gen 5:22, 24</a>). Implying a <i>sudden</i> removal (the same <i>Greek</i> as in <a onclick="return mV('Gal',1,6);">Gal 1:6</a>) from mortality without death to immortality: such a CHANGE as shall pass over the living at Christ's coming (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('1Cr',15,51,52);">1Cr 15:51-52</a>).
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<br><br><b>had this testimony</b>—namely of Scripture; the <i>Greek</i> perfect implies that this testimony continues still: "he <i>has</i> been testified of."
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<br><br><b>pleased God</b>—The Scripture testimony virtually expresses that he <i>pleased God,</i> namely, "Enoch walked with God." The <i>Septuagint</i> translates the <i>Hebrew</i> for "walked with God," <a onclick="return mV('Gen',6,9);">Gen 6:9</a>, <i>pleased God.</i>
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<p id="Heb11_6"><b>6. without</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>apart from</i> faith": if one be destitute of faith (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',14,23);">Rom 14:23</a>).
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<br><br><b>to please</b>—Translate, as ALFORD does, the <i>Greek</i> aorist, "It is impossible to please God <i>at all</i>" (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,8);">Rom 8:8</a>). Natural amiabilities and "works done before the grace of Christ are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ; yea, rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin" [Article XIII, <i>Book of Common Prayer</i>]. Works not rooted in God are splendid sins [AUGUSTINE].
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<br><br><b>he that cometh to God</b>—as a worshipper (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',7,19);">Hbr 7:19</a>).
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<br><br><b>must believe</b>—<i>once for all: Greek</i> aorist tense.
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<br><br><b>that God is</b>—is the true self-existing Jehovah (as contrasted with all so-called gods, not gods, <a onclick="return mV('Gal',4,8);">Gal 4:8</a>), the source of all being, though he sees Him not (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,1);">Hbr 11:1</a>) as being "invisible" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,27);">Hbr 11:27</a>). So Enoch; this passage implies that he had not been favored with <i>visible</i> appearances of God, yet he <i>believed</i> in God's <i>being,</i> and in God's <i>moral government,</i> as the Rewarder of His diligent worshippers, in opposition to antediluvian skepticism. Also Moses was not so favored before he left Egypt the first time (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,27);">Hbr 11:27</a>); still he believed.
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<br><br><b>and...is</b>—a different <i>Greek</i> verb from the former "is." Translate, "is eventually"; <i>proves to be;</i> literally, "becomes."
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<br><br><b>rewarder</b>—renderer of reward [ALFORD]. So God proved to be to Enoch. The reward is <i>God Himself</i> diligently "sought" and "walked with" in partial communion here, and to be fully enjoyed hereafter. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Gen',15,1);">Gen 15:1</a>, "I am thy exceeding great reward."
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<br><br><b>of them</b>—and them only.
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<br><br><b>diligently seek</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "seek out" God. Compare "seek <i>early,</i>" <a onclick="return mV('Pro',8,17);">Pro 8:17</a>. Not only "ask" and "seek," but "knock," <a onclick="return mV('Mat',7,7);">Mat 7:7</a>; compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,12);">Hbr 11:12</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',13,24);">Luk 13:24</a>, "Strive" as in an agony of contest.
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<p id="Heb11_7"><b>7. warned of God</b>—The same <i>Greek,</i> <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',8,5);">Hbr 8:5</a>, "admonished of God."
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<br><br><b>moved with fear</b>—not mere slavish fear, but as in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',5,7);">Hbr 5:7</a>; see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Hbr/Hbr005.html#Heb5_7">Heb 5:7</a>; <i>Greek,</i> "reverential fear": opposed to the world's sneering disbelief of the revelation, and self-deceiving security. Join "by faith" with "prepared an ark" (<a onclick="return mV('1Pe',3,20);">1Pe 3:20</a>).
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<br><br><b>by the which</b>—faith.
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<br><br><b>condemned the world</b>—For since he believed and was saved, so might they have believed and been saved, so that their condemnation by God is by his case shown to be just.
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<br><br><b>righteousness which is by faith</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "according to faith." A Pauline thought. Noah is first called "righteous" in <a href= "#" onclick="return mV('Gen',6,9);">Gen 6:9</a>. Christ calls Abel so, <a onclick="return mV('Mat',23,35);">Mat 23:35</a>. Compare as to Noah's righteousness, <a onclick="return mV('Eze',14,14,20);">Eze 14:14, 20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('2Pe',2,5);">2Pe 2:5</a>, "a preacher of righteousness." Paul here makes <i>faith</i> the principle and ground of his righteousness.
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<br><br><b>heir</b>—the consequence of sonship which flows from faith.
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<p id="Heb11_8"><b>8.</b> From the antediluvian saints he passes to the patriarchs of Israel, to whom "the promises" belonged.
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<br><br><b>called</b>—by God (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',12,1);">Gen 12:1</a>). The oldest manuscripts and <i>Vulgate</i> read, "He that was called Abraham," his name being changed from Abram to Abraham, on the occasion of God's making with him and his seed a covenant sealed by circumcision, many years after his call out of Ur. "By faith, he who was (afterwards) called Abraham (<i>father of nations,</i> <a onclick="return mV('Gen',17,5);">Gen 17:5</a>, in order to become which was the design of God's bringing him out of Ur) obeyed (the command of God: to be understood in this reading), <i>so as to go out,</i>" etc.
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<br><br><b>which he should after receive</b>—He had not fully received even this promise when he went out, for it was not <i>explicitly</i> given him till he had reached Canaan (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',12,1,6,7);">Gen 12:1, 6-7</a>). When the promise of the land was given him the Canaanite was still in the land, and himself a stranger; it is in the new heaven and new earth that he shall receive his personal inheritance promised him; so believers sojourn on earth as strangers, while the ungodly and Satan lord it over the earth; but at Christ's coming that same earth which was the scene of the believer's conflict shall be the inheritance of Christ and His saints.
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<p id="Heb11_9"><b>9. sojourned</b>—as a "stranger and pilgrim."
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<br><br><b>in</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "into," that is, he went <i>into</i> it and sojourned there.
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<br><br><b>as in a strange country</b>—a country <i>not belonging to him,</i> but to others (so the <i>Greek</i>), <a onclick="return mV('Act',7,5,6);">Act 7:5-6</a>.
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<br><br><b>dwelling in tabernacles</b>—<i>tents:</i> as <i>strangers</i> and <i>sojourners</i> do: moving from place to place, as having no fixed possession of their own. In contrast to the abiding "city" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,10);">Hbr 11:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>with</b>—Their kind of dwelling being the same is a proof that their faith was the same. They all alike were content to wait for their good things hereafter (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',16,25);">Luk 16:25</a>). Jacob was fifteen years old at the death of Abraham.
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<br><br><b>heirs with him of the same promise</b>—Isaac did not inherit it from Abraham, nor Jacob from Isaac, but they all inherited it from God directly as "fellow heirs." In <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',6,12,15,17);">Hbr 6:12, 15, 17</a>, "the promise" means <i>the thing promised</i> as a thing in part <i>already attained;</i> but in this chapter "the promise" is of something still <i>future.</i> However, see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Hbr/Hbr006.html#Heb6_12">Heb 6:12</a>.
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<p id="Heb11_10"><b>10. looked for</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "he was expecting"; waiting for with eager expectation (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',8,19);">Rom 8:19</a>).
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<br><br><b>a city</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>the</i> city," already alluded to. Worldly Enoch, son of the murderer Cain, was the first to build his city here: the godly patriarchs waited for their city hereafter (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,16);">Hbr 11:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,22);">12:22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',13,14);">13:14</a>).
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<br><br><b>foundations</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>the</i> foundations" which the <i>tents</i> had not, nor even men's present cities have.
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<br><br><b>whose builder and maker</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>designer</i> [<a onclick="return mV('Eph',1,4);">Eph 1:4, 11</a>] and master-builder," or <i>executor of the design.</i> The city is worthy of its Framer and Builder (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,16);">Hbr 11:16</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',8,2);">Hbr 8:2</a>). Compare <i>Note,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Hbr/Hbr009.html#Heb9_12">Heb 9:12</a>, on "found."
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<p id="Heb11_11"><b>11. also Sara herself</b>—though being the weaker vessel, and though at first she doubted.
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<br><br><b>was delivered of a child</b>—omitted in the oldest manuscripts: then translate, "and that when she was past age" (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,19);">Rom 4:19</a>).
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<br><br><b>she judged him faithful who had promised</b>—after she had ceased to doubt, being instructed by the angel that it was no jest, but a matter in serious earnest.
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<p id="Heb11_12"><b>12. as good as dead</b>—literally, "deadened"; no longer having, as in youth, energetic vital powers.
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<br><br><b>stars...sand</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',22,17);">Gen 22:17</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_13"><b>13-16.</b> Summary of the characteristic excellencies of the patriarchs' faith
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<br><br><b>died in faith</b>—died as <i>believers,</i> waiting for, not actually <i>seeing</i> as yet their good things promised to them. They were true to this principle of <i>faith</i> even unto, and especially in, their dying hour (compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,20);">Hbr 11:20</a>).
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<br><br><b>These all</b>—beginning with "Abraham" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,8);">Hbr 11:8</a>), to whom <i>the promises were made</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',3,16);">Gal 3:16</a>), and who is alluded to in the end of <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,13);">Hbr 11:13</a> and in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,15);">Hbr 11:15</a> [BENGEL and ALFORD]. But the "ALL" can hardly but include Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Now as these did not receive the promise of entering literal Canaan, <i>some other promise made in the first ages,</i> and often repeated, must be that meant, namely, the promise of a coming Redeemer made to Adam, namely, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." Thus the promises cannot have been merely temporal, for Abel and Enoch mentioned here received no temporal promise [ARCHBISHOP MAGEE]. This promise of eternal redemption is the inner essence of the promises made to Abraham (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',3,16);">Gal 3:16</a>).
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<br><br><b>not having received</b>—It was this that constituted their "faith." If they had "received" THE THING PROMISED (so "the promises" here mean: the plural is used because of the <i>frequent renewal</i> of the promise to the patriarchs: <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,17);">Hbr 11:17</a> says he <i>did</i> receive the <i>promises,</i> but not <i>the thing promised</i>), it would have been <i>sight,</i> not <i>faith.</i>
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<br><br><b>seen them afar off</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',8,56);">Jhn 8:56</a>). Christ, as the Word, was preached to the Old Testament believers, and so became the seed of life to their souls, as He is to ours.
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<br><br><b>and were persuaded of them</b>—The oldest manuscripts omit this clause.
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<br><br><b>embraced them</b>—as though they were not "afar off," but within reach, so as to draw them to themselves and clasp them in their embrace. TRENCH denies that the Old Testament believers <i>embraced</i> them, for they only saw them <i>afar off:</i> he translates, "saluted them," as the homeward-bound mariner, recognizing from afar the well-known promontories of his native land. ALFORD translates, "<i>greeted</i> them." Jacob's exclamation, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',49,18);">Gen 49:18</a>) is such a <i>greeting</i> of salvation from afar [DELITZSCH].
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<br><br><b>confessed...were strangers</b>—so Abraham to the children of Heth (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',23,4);">Gen 23:4</a>); and Jacob to Pharaoh (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',47,9);">Gen 47:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',119,19);">Psa 119:19</a>). Worldly men hold fast the world; believers sit loose to it. <i>Citizens of the world</i> do not confess themselves "strangers on the earth."
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<br><br><b>pilgrims</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "temporary (literally, 'by the way') sojourners."
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<br><br><b>on the earth</b>—contrasted with "an heavenly" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,16);">Hbr 11:16</a>): "our <i>citizenship</i> is in heaven" (<i>Greek:</i> <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',10,34);">Hbr 10:34</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Psa',119,54);">Psa 119:54</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,20);">Phl 3:20</a>). "Whosoever professes that he has a Father in heaven, confesses himself a stranger on earth; hence there is in the heart an ardent longing, like that of a child living among strangers, in want and grief, far from his fatherland" [LUTHER]. "Like ships in seas while <i>in, above</i> the world."
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<p id="Heb11_14"><b>14. For</b>—proof that "faith" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,13);">Hbr 11:13</a>) was their actuating principle.
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<br><br><b>declare plainly</b>—make it plainly evident.
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<br><br><b>seek</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "seek <i>after</i>"; implying the direction towards which their desires ever tend.
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<br><br><b>a country</b>—rather as <i>Greek,</i> "a fatherland." In confessing themselves <i>strangers</i> here, they evidently imply that they regard not this as their home or fatherland, but seek after another and a better.
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<p id="Heb11_15"><b>15.</b> As Abraham, had he desired to leave his pilgrim life in Canaan, and resume his former fixed habitation in Ur, among the carnal and worldly, had in his long life ample opportunities to have done so; and so spiritually, as to all believers who came out from the world to become God's people, they might, if they had been so minded, have easily gone back.
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<p id="Heb11_16"><b>16.</b> Proving the truth that the old fathers did not, as some assert, "look only for transitory promises" [Article VII, <i>Book of Common Prayer</i>].
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<br><br><b>now</b>—as the case is.
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<br><br><b>is not ashamed</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "Is not ashamed of them." Not merely once did God call himself <i>their God,</i> but He is NOW not ashamed to have Himself called so, they being <i>alive</i> and abiding with Him where He is. For, by the law, God cannot come into contact with anything dead. None remained dead in Christ's presence (<a onclick="return mV('Luk',20,37,38);">Luk 20:37-38</a>). He who is Lord and Maker of heaven and earth, and all things therein, when asked, What is Thy name? said, omitting all His other titles, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" [THEODORET]. Not only is He <i>not ashamed,</i> but glories in the name and relation to His people. The "wherefore" does not mean that God's <i>good pleasure</i> is the meritorious, but the <i>gracious,</i> consequence of their obedience (that obedience being the result of His Spirit's work in them in the first instance). He first so "called" Himself, then they so called Him.
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<br><br><b>for</b>—proof of His being "<i>their</i> God," namely, "He hath prepared (in His eternal counsels, <a onclick="return mV('Mat',20,23);">Mat 20:23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',25,34);">25:34</a>, and by the progressive acts of redemption, <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',14,2);">Jhn 14:2</a>) for them a city," the city in which He Himself reigns, so that their yearning <i>desires</i> shall not be disappointed (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,14,16);">Hbr 11:14, 16</a>).
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<br><br><b>a city</b>—on its garniture by God (compare <a onclick="return mV('Rev',21,'10-27');">Rev 21:10-27</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_17"><b>17. offered up</b>—literally, "hath offered up," as if the work and its praise were yet enduring [ALFORD]. As far as His intention was concerned, he did sacrifice Isaac; and in actual fact "he offered him," as far as the presentation of him on the altar as an offering to God is concerned.
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<br><br><b>tried</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "tempted," as in <a onclick="return mV('Gen',22,1);">Gen 22:1</a>. <i>Put to the proof</i> of his faith. Not that God "tempts" <i>to sin,</i> but God "tempts" in the sense of <i>proving</i> or <i>trying</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jam',1,'13-15');">Jam 1:13-15</a>).
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<br><br><b>and</b>—and so.
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<br><br><b>he that had received</b>—rather as <i>Greek,</i> "accepted," that is, <i>welcomed</i> and embraced by faith, not merely "had the promises," as in <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',7,6);">Hbr 7:6</a>. This added to the difficulty in the way of his faith, that it was in Isaac's posterity the promises were to be fulfilled; how then could they be fulfilled if Isaac were sacrificed?
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<br><br><b>offered up</b>—rather as <i>Greek,</i> "was offering up"; he was in the act of offering.
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<br><br><b>his only-begotten son</b>—Compare <a onclick="return mV('Gen',22,2);">Gen 22:2</a>, "Take now thy son, thine only son." EUSEBIUS [<i>The Preparation of the Gospel,</i> 1.10, and 4.16], has preserved a fragment of a <i>Greek</i> translation of Sanchoniatho, which mentions a mystical sacrifice of the Phoenicians, wherein a prince in royal robes was the offerer, and his only son was to be the victim: this evidently was a tradition derived from Abraham's offering, and handed down through Esau or Edom, Isaac's son. Isaac was Abraham's "only-begotten son" in respect of Sarah and the promises: he sent away his other sons, by other wives (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',25,6);">Gen 25:6</a>). Abraham is a type of the Father not sparing His only-begotten Son to fulfil the divine purpose of love. God nowhere in the Mosaic law allowed human sacrifices, though He claimed the first-born of Israel as His.
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<p id="Heb11_18"><b>18. Of whom</b>—rather as <i>Greek</i> "He (<i>Abraham,</i> not Isaac) TO whom it was said" [ALFORD]. BENGEL supports <i>English Version.</i> So <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,7);">Hbr 1:7</a> uses the same <i>Greek</i> preposition, "unto," for "in respect to," or "of." This verse gives a definition of the "only-begotten Son" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,17);">Hbr 11:17</a>).
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<br><br><b>in Isaac shall thy seed be called</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',21,12);">Gen 21:12</a>). The posterity of Isaac alone shall be accounted as the seed of Abraham, which is the heir of the promises (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',9,7);">Rom 9:7</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_19"><b>19.</b> Faith answered the objections which reason brought against God's command to Abraham to offer Isaac, by suggesting that what God had promised He both could and would perform, however impossible the performance might seem (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,20,21);">Rom 4:20-21</a>).
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<br><br><b>able to raise <i>him</i></b>—rather, in general, "able to raise from the dead." Compare <a onclick="return mV('Rom',4,17);">Rom 4:17</a>, "God who quickeneth the dead." The quickening of Sarah's dead womb suggested the thought of God's power to raise even the dead, though no instance of it had as yet occurred.
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<br><br><b>he received him</b>—"received him back" [ALFORD].
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<br><br><b>in a figure</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "in a parable." ALFORD explains, "Received him back, risen from that death which he had undergone in, under, <i>the figure of the ram.</i>" I prefer with BISHOP PEARSON, ESTIUS, and GREGORY OF NYSSA, understanding the <i>figure</i> to be the representation which the whole scene gave to Abraham of Christ in His death (typified by Isaac's offering in intention, and the ram's actual substitution answering to Christ's vicarious death), and in His resurrection (typified by Abraham's receiving him back alive from the jaws of death, compare <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',1,9, 10);">2Cr 1:9, 10</a>); just as on the day of atonement the slain goat and the scapegoat together formed one joint rite representing Christ's death and resurrection. It was then that Abraham saw Christ's day (<a onclick="return mV('Jhn',8,56);">Jhn 8:56</a>): accounting God was able to raise even from the dead: from which state of the dead he received him back <i>as a type of the resurrection in Christ.</i>
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<p id="Heb11_20"><b>20.</b> Jacob is put before Esau, as heir of the chief, namely, the <i>spiritual</i> blessing.
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<br><br><b>concerning things to come</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>even</i> concerning things to come": not only concerning things present. Isaac, <i>by faith,</i> assigned to his sons things future, as if they were present.
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<p id="Heb11_21"><b>21. both the sons</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>each</i> of the sons" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',47,29);">Gen 47:29</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gen',48,'8-20');">48:8-20</a>). He knew not Joseph's sons, and could not distinguish them by sight, yet <i>he did distinguish them by faith,</i> transposing his hands intentionally, so as to lay his right hand on the younger, Ephraim, whose posterity was to be greater than that of Manasseh: he also adopted these grandchildren as his own sons, after having transferred the right of primogeniture to Joseph (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',48,22);">Gen 48:22</a>).
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<br><br><b>and worshipped</b>—This did not take place in immediate connection with the foregoing, but before it, when Jacob made Joseph swear that he would bury him with his fathers in Canaan, not in Egypt. The assurance that Joseph would do so filled him with pious gratitude to God, which he expressed by raising himself on his bed to an attitude of <i>worship.</i> His faith, as Joseph's (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,22);">Hbr 11:22</a>), consisted in his so confidentially anticipating the fulfilment of God's promise of Canaan to his descendants, as to desire to be buried there as his proper possession.
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<br><br><b><i>leaning</i> upon the top of his staff</b>— <a onclick="return mV('Gen',47,31);">Gen 47:31</a>, <i>Hebrew</i> and <i>English Version,</i> "upon the bed's head." The <i>Septuagint</i> translates as Paul here. JEROME justly reprobates the notion of modern Rome, that Jacob <i>worshipped the top of Joseph's staff,</i> having on it an image of Joseph's power, to which Jacob bowed in recognition of the future sovereignty of his son's tribe, the father bowing to the son! The <i>Hebrew,</i> as translated in <i>English Version,</i> sets it aside: <i>the bed</i> is alluded to afterwards (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',48,2);">Gen 48:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Gen',49,33);">49:33</a>), and it is likely that Jacob turned himself in his <i>bed</i> so as to have his face toward the pillow, <a onclick="return mV('Isa',38,2);">Isa 38:2</a> (there were no <i>bedsteads</i> in the East). Paul by adopting the <i>Septuagint</i> version, brings out, under the Spirit, <i>an additional fact,</i> namely, that the aged patriarch used <i>his own</i> (not Joseph's) <i>staff</i> to lean on in worshipping on his bed. The <i>staff,</i> too, was the <i>emblem of his pilgrim state</i> here on his way to his heavenly city (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,13,14);">Hbr 11:13-14</a>, wherein God had so wonderfully supported him. <a onclick="return mV('Gen',32,10);">Gen 32:10</a>, "With my <i>staff</i> I passed over Jordan, and now I am become," etc. (compare <a onclick="return mV('Exd',12,11);">Exd 12:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mar',6,8);">Mar 6:8</a>). In <a onclick="return mV('1Ki',1,47);">1Ki 1:47</a>, the same thing is said of David's "bowing on his bed," an act of adoring thanksgiving to God for God's favor to his son before death. He omits the more leading blessing of the twelve sons of Jacob; because "he plucks only the flowers which stand by his way, and leaves the whole meadow full to his readers" [DELITZSCH in ALFORD].
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<p id="Heb11_22"><b>22. when he died</b>—"when dying."
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<br><br><b>the departing</b>—"the exodus" (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',50,24,25);">Gen 50:24-25</a>). Joseph's eminent position in Egypt did not make him regard it as his home: in faith he looked to God's promise of Canaan being fulfilled and desired that his bones should rest there: testifying thus: (1) that he had no doubt of his posterity obtaining the promised land: and (2) that he believed in the resurrection of the body, and the enjoyment in it of the heavenly Canaan. His wish was fulfilled (<a onclick="return mV('Jos',24,32);">Jos 24:32</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Act',4,16);">Act 4:16</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_23"><b>23. parents</b>—So the <i>Septuagint</i> has the plural, namely, Amram and Jochebed (<a onclick="return mV('Num',26,59);">Num 26:59</a>); but in <a onclick="return mV('Exd',2,2);">Exd 2:2</a>, the mother alone is mentioned; but doubtless Amram sanctioned all she did, and secrecy. being their object, he did not appear prominent in what was done.
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<br><br><b>a proper child</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "a comely child." <a onclick="return mV('Act',7,20);">Act 7:20</a>, "exceeding fair," <i>Greek,</i> "fair to God." The "faith" of his parents in saving the child must have had some divine revelation to rest on (probably at the time of his birth), which marked their "exceeding fair" babe as one whom God designed to do a great work by. His <i>beauty</i> was probably "the sign" appointed by God to assure their faith.
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<br><br><b>the king's commandment</b>—to slay all the males (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',1,22);">Exd 1:22</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_24"><b>24.</b> So far from <i>faith</i> being opposed to <i>Moses,</i> he was an eminent example of it [BENGEL].
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<br><br><b>refused</b>—in believing self-denial, when he might possibly have succeeded at last to the throne of Egypt. Thermutis, Pharaoh's daughter, according to the tradition which Paul under the Spirit sanctions, adopted him, as JOSEPHUS says, with the consent of the king. JOSEPHUS states that when a child, he threw on the ground the diadem put on him in jest, a presage of his subsequent formal rejection of Thermutis' adoption of him. Faith made him to prefer the adoption of the King of kings, unseen, and so to choose (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,25,26);">Hbr 11:25-26</a>) things, the very last which flesh and blood relish.
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<p id="Heb11_25"><b>25.</b> He balanced the best of the world with the worst of religion, and decidedly chose the latter. "Choosing" implies a deliberate resolution, not a hasty impulse. He was forty years old, a time when the judgment is matured.
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<br><br><b>for a season</b>—If the world has "pleasure" (<i>Greek,</i> "enjoyment") to offer, it is but "for a season." If religion bring with it "affliction," it too is but for a season; whereas its "pleasures are for evermore."
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<p id="Heb11_26"><b>26. Esteeming</b>—Inasmuch as he esteemed.
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<br><br><b>the reproach of Christ</b>—that is, the reproach which falls on the Church, and which Christ regards as His own reproach, He being the Head, and the Church (both of the Old and New Testament) His body. Israel typified Christ; Israel's sufferings were Christ's sufferings (compare <a onclick="return mV('2Cr',1,5);">2Cr 1:5</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Col',1,24);">Col 1:24</a>). As uncircumcision was Egypt's <i>reproach,</i> so circumcision was the badge of Israel's expectation of Christ, which Moses especially cherished, and which the Gentiles reproached Israel on account of. Christ's people's reproach will ere long be their great glory.
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<br><br><b>had respect unto,</b> etc.—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>turning his eyes away from</i> other considerations, <i>he fixed them on</i> the (eternal) recompense" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,39,40);">Hbr 11:39-40</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_27"><b>27. not fearing the wrath of the king</b>—But in <a onclick="return mV('Exd',2,14);">Exd 2:14</a> it is said, "Moses feared, and fled from the face of Pharaoh." He was <i>afraid,</i> and fled from the danger where no duty called him to stay (to have stayed without call of duty would have been to tempt Providence, and <i>to sacrifice his hope of being Israel's future deliverer according to the divine intimations;</i> his great aim, see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Hbr/Hbr011.html#Heb11_23">Heb 11:23</a>). He <i>did not fear the king</i> so as to neglect his duty and not return when God called him. It was <i>in spite of the king's prohibition he left Egypt,</i> not fearing the consequences which were likely to overtake him if he should be caught, after having, in defiance of the king, left Egypt. If he had stayed and resumed his position as adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, his slaughter of the Egyptian would doubtless have been connived at; but his resolution to take his portion with oppressed Israel, which he could not have done had he stayed, was the motive of his flight, and constituted the "faith" of this act, according to the express statement here. The exodus of Moses with Israel cannot be meant here, for it was made, not in defiance, but by the desire, of the king. Besides, the chronological order would be broken thus, the next particular specified here, namely, the institution of the <i>Passover,</i> having taken place <i>before the exodus.</i> Besides, it is Moses' <i>personal</i> history and faith which are here described. The faith of the people ("THEY passed") is not introduced till <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,29);">Hbr 11:29</a>.
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<br><br><b>endured</b>—steadfast in faith amidst trials. He had fled, <i>not</i> so much from <i>fear of Pharaoh,</i> as from a revulsion of feeling in finding God's people insensible to their high destiny, and from disappointment at not having been able to inspire them with those hopes for which he had sacrificed all his earthly prospects. This accounts for his strange reluctance and despondency when commissioned by God to go and arouse the people (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',3,15);">Exd 3:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Exd',4,1,'10-12');">4:1, 10-12</a>).
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<br><br><b>seeing him...invisible</b>—as though he had not to do with men, but only with God, ever before his eyes by faith, though <i>invisible</i> to the bodily eye (<a onclick="return mV('Rom',1,20);">Rom 1:20</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',1,17);">1Ti 1:17</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ti',6,16);">6:16</a>). Hence he feared not the wrath of <i>visible</i> man; the characteristic of <i>faith</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,1);">Hbr 11:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',12,4,5);">Luk 12:4-5</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_28"><b>28. kept</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "<i>hath</i> kept," the Passover being, in Paul's day, still observed. His <i>faith</i> here was his belief in the invisible God's promise that the destroying angel should <i>pass over,</i> and not <i>touch</i> the inmates of the blood-sprinkled houses (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',12,23);">Exd 12:23</a>). "He acquiesced in the bare word of God where the thing itself was not apparent" [CALVIN].
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<br><br><b>the first-born</b>—<i>Greek</i> neuter; <i>both of man and beast.</i>
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<p id="Heb11_29"><b>29. they</b>—Moses and Israel.
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<br><br><b>Red Sea</b>—called so from its red seaweed, or rather from Edom (meaning "red"), whose country adjoined it.
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<br><br><b>which...assaying to do</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "of which (Red Sea) the Egyptians having made experiment." <i>Rashness</i> and <i>presumption</i> mistaken by many for <i>faith;</i> with similar rash presumption many rush into eternity. The same thing when done by the believer, and when done by the unbeliever, is not the same thing [BENGEL]. What was <i>faith</i> in Israel, was <i>presumption</i> in the Egyptians.
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<br><br><b>were drowned</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "were swallowed up," or "engulfed." They sank in the sands as much as in the waves of the Red Sea. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Exd',15,12);">Exd 15:12</a>, "the <i>earth</i> swallowed them."
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<p id="Heb11_30"><b>30.</b> The soundings of trumpets, though one were to sound for ten thousand years, cannot throw down walls, but <i>faith</i> can do all things [CHRYSOSTOM].
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<br><br><b>seven days</b>—whereas sieges often lasted for years.
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<p id="Heb11_31"><b>31.</b> Rahab showed her "faith" in her confession, <a onclick="return mV('Jos',2,9, 11);">Jos 2:9, 11</a>, "I know that Jehovah hath given you the land; Jehovah your God, is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath."
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<br><br><b>the harlot</b>—Her former life adds to the marvel of her repentance, faith, and preservation (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',21,31,32);">Mat 21:31-32</a>).
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<br><br><b>believed not</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "were disobedient," namely, to the will of God manifested by the miracles wrought in behalf of Israel (<a onclick="return mV('Jos',2,'8-11');">Jos 2:8-11</a>).
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<br><br><b>received</b>—in her house (<a onclick="return mV('Jos',2,1,4,6);">Jos 2:1, 4, 6</a>).
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<br><br><b>with peace</b>—peaceably; so that they had nothing to fear in her house. Thus Paul, quoting the same examples (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,17, 31);">Hbr 11:17, 31</a>) for the power of <i>faith,</i> as James (<a onclick="return mV('Jam',2,21,25);">Jam 2:21, 25</a; see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Jam/Jam002.html#Jas2_21">Jas 2:21</a>; JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Jam/Jam002.html#Jas2_25">Jas 2:25</a>) does for justification by <i>works</i> evidentially, shows that in maintaining justification by faith alone, he means not a dead faith, but "faith which <i>worketh</i> by love" (<a onclick="return mV('Gal',5,6);">Gal 5:6</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_32"><b>32. the time</b>—suitable for the length of an Epistle. He accumulates collectively some out of many examples of faith.
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<br><br><b>Gideon</b>—put before Barak, not chronologically, but as being more celebrated. Just as Samson for the same reason is put before Jephthae. The mention of Jephthae as an example of "faith," makes it unlikely he sacrificed the <i>life</i> of his daughter for a rash vow. David, the warrior king and prophet, forms the transition from warrior chiefs to the "prophets," of whom "Samuel" is mentioned as the first.
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<p id="Heb11_33"><b>33. subdued kingdoms</b>—as David did (<a href= "#" onclick="return mV('2Sa',8,1);">2Sa 8:1</a>, etc.); so also Gideon subdued Midian (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',7,'1-25');">Jdg 7:1-25</a>).
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<br><br><b>wrought righteousness</b>—as Samuel did (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',8,9);">1Sa 8:9</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',12,'3-23');">12:3-23</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',15,33);">15:33</a>); and David (<a onclick="return mV('2Sa',8,15);">2Sa 8:15</a>).
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<br><br><b>obtained promises</b>—as "the prophets" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,32);">Hbr 11:32</a>) did; for through them the promises were given (compare <a onclick="return mV('Dan',9,21);">Dan 9:21</a>) [BENGEL]. Rather, "obtained <i>the fulfilment</i> of promises," which had been previously the object of their <i>faith</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Jos',21,45);">Jos 21:45</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Ki',8,56);">1Ki 8:56</a>). Indeed, Gideon, Barak, etc., also <i>obtained</i> the things which God promised. Not "<i>the</i> promises," which are still future (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,13,39);">Hbr 11:13, 39</a>).
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<br><br><b>stopped the mouths of lions</b>—Note the words, "because he <i>believed</i> in his God." Also Samson (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',14,6);">Jdg 14:6</a>), David (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',17,'34-37');">1Sa 17:34-37</a>), Benaiah (<a onclick="return mV('2Sa',23,20);">2Sa 23:20</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_34"><b>34. Quenched the violence of fire</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',3,27);">Dan 3:27</a>). Not merely "quenched the fire," but "quenched the power (so the <i>Greek</i>) of the fire." <a onclick="return mV('Dan',3,'19-30');">Dan 3:19-30</a> record the last miracles of the Old Testament. So the martyrs of the Reformation, though not escaping <i>the fire,</i> were delivered from its having <i>power</i> really or lastingly to hurt them.
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<br><br><b>escaped...sword</b>—So Jephthah (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',12,3);">Jdg 12:3</a>); and so David escaped Saul's sword (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',18,11);">1Sa 18:11</a>; <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',19,10,12);">19:10, 12</a>); Elijah (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',19,1);">1Ki 19:1</a>, etc. <a onclick="return mV('2Ki',6,14);">2Ki 6:14</a>).
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<br><br><b>out of weakness...made strong</b>—Samson (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',16,28);">Jdg 16:28</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Jdg',15,19);">15:19</a>). Hezekiah (<a onclick="return mV('Isa',37,'1-');">Isa 37:1 - 38:22</a>). MILTON says of the martyrs, "They shook the powers of darkness with the irresistible power of weakness."
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<br><br><b>valiant in fight</b>—Barak (<a onclick="return mV('Jdg',4,14,15);">Jdg 4:14-15</a>). And the Maccabees, the sons of Matthias, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, who delivered the Jews from their cruel oppressor, Antiochus of Syria.
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<br><br><b>armies</b>—literally, "camps" referring to <a onclick="return mV('Jdg',7,21);">Jdg 7:21</a>. But the reference may be to the Maccabees having put to flight the Syrians and other foes.
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<p id="Heb11_35"><b>35. Women received their dead raised</b>—as the widow of Zarephath (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',17,'17-24');">1Ki 17:17-24</a>). The Shunammite (<a onclick="return mV('2Ki',4,'17-35');">2Ki 4:17-35</a>). The two oldest manuscripts read. "They received women of aliens by raising their dead." <a onclick="return mV('1Ki',17,24);">1Ki 17:24</a> shows that the raising of the widow's son by Elijah led her to the faith, so that he thus <i>took</i> her into fellowship, an <i>alien</i> though she was. Christ, in <a onclick="return mV('Luk',4,26);">Luk 4:26</a>, makes especial mention of the fact that Elijah was sent to an alien from Israel, a woman of Sarepta. Thus Paul may quote this as an instance of Elijah's faith, that at God's command he went to a Gentile city of Sidonia (contrary to Jewish prejudices), and there, as the fruit of faith, not only raised her dead son, but <i>received</i> her as a convert into the family of God, as <i>Vulgate</i> reads. Still, <i>English Version</i> may be the right reading.
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<br><br><b>and</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "but"; in contrast to those raised again to life.
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<br><br><b>tortured</b>—"broken on the wheel." Eleazar (<u>2 Maccabees 6:18</u>, end; <u>2 Maccabees 19:20,30</u>). The sufferer was stretched on an instrument like a drumhead and scourged to death.
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<br><br><b>not accepting deliverance</b>—when offered to them. So the seven brothers, <u>2 Maccabees 7:9, 11, 14, 29, 36</u>; and Eleazar, <u>2 Maccabees 6:21, 28, 30</u>, "Though I might have been delivered from death, I endure these severe pains, being beaten."
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<br><br><b>a better resurrection</b>—than that of the women's children "raised to life again"; or, than the resurrection which their foes could give them by delivering them from death (<a onclick="return mV('Dan',12,2);">Dan 12:2</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',20,35);">Luk 20:35</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Phl',3,11);">Phl 3:11</a>). The fourth of the brethren (referring to <a onclick="return mV('Dan',12,2);">Dan 12:2</a>) said to King Antiochus, "To be put to death by men, is to be chosen to look onward for the hopes which are of God, to be raised up again by Him; but for thee there is no resurrection to life." The writer of Second Maccabees <i>expressly disclaims inspiration,</i> which prevents our mistaking Paul's allusion here to it as if it sanctioned the Apocrypha as inspired. In quoting Daniel, he quotes a book <i>claiming inspiration,</i> and so tacitly sanctions that claim.
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<p id="Heb11_36"><b>36. others</b>—of a <i>different</i> class of confessors for the truth (the <i>Greek</i> is different from that for "others," <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,35);">Hbr 11:35</a>, <i>alloi, heteroi</i>).
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<br><br><b>trial</b>—testing their <i>faith.</i>
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<br><br><b>imprisonment</b>—as Hanani (<a onclick="return mV('2Ch',16,10);">2Ch 16:10</a>), imprisoned by Asa. Micaiah, the son of Imlah, by Ahab (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',22,26,27);">1Ki 22:26-27</a>).
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<p id="Heb11_37"><b>37. stoned</b>—as Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (<a onclick="return mV('2Ch',24,'20-22');">2Ch 24:20-22</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Mat',23,35);">Mat 23:35</a>).
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<br><br><b>sawn asunder</b>—as Isaiah was said to have been by Manasseh; but see my JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Isa/Isa000.html"><i>Introduction</i></a> to Isaiah.
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<br><br><b>tempted</b>—<i>by their foes,</i> in the midst of their tortures, to renounce their faith; the most bitter aggravation of them. Or else, <i>by those of their own household,</i> as Job was [ESTIUS]; or by the fiery darts of Satan, as Jesus was in His last trials [GLASSIUS]. Probably it included all three; they were <i>tempted</i> in every possible way, by friends and foes, by human and satanic agents, by caresses and afflictions, by words and deeds, to forsake God, but in vain, through the power of faith.
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<br><br><b>sword</b>—literally, "they died in the murder of the sword." In <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,34);">Hbr 11:34</a> the contrary is given as an effect of <i>faith,</i> "they escaped the edge of the sword." Both alike are marvellous effects of faith. In both accomplishes great things and suffers great things, without counting it suffering [CHRYSOSTOM]. Urijah was so slain by Jehoiakim (<a onclick="return mV('Jer',26,23);">Jer 26:23</a>); and <i>the prophets</i> in Israel (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',19,10);">1Ki 19:10</a>).
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<br><br><b>in sheepskins</b>—as Elijah (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',19,13);">1Ki 19:13</a>, <i>Septuagint</i>). They were <i>white;</i> as the "goat-skins" were <i>black</i> (compare <a onclick="return mV('Zec',13,4);">Zec 13:4</a>).
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<br><br><b>tormented</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "in evil state."
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<p id="Heb11_38"><b>38. Of whom the world was not worthy</b>—So far from their being unworthy of living in the world, as their exile in deserts, etc., might seem to imply, "the world was not worthy of them." The world, in shutting them out, shut out from itself a source of blessing; such as Joseph proved to Potiphar (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',39,5);">Gen 39:5</a>), and Jacob to Laban (<a onclick="return mV('Gen',30,27);">Gen 30:27</a>). In condemning them, the world condemned itself.
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<br><br><b>caves</b>—literally, "chinks." Palestine, from its hilly character, abounds in <i>fissures</i> and caves, affording shelter to the persecuted, as the fifty hid by Obadiah (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',18,4,13);">1Ki 18:4, 13</a>) and Elijah (<a onclick="return mV('1Ki',19,8,13);">1Ki 19:8, 13</a>); and Mattathias and his sons (<u>1 Maccabees 2:28, 29</u>); and Judas Maccabeus (<u>2 Maccabees 5:27</u>).
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<p id="Heb11_39"><b>39. having obtained a good report</b>—<i>Greek,</i> "being borne witness of." <i>Though</i> they were so, yet "they received not the promise," that is, the <i>final completion</i> of "salvation" <i>promised</i> at Christ's coming again (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,28);">Hbr 9:28</a>); "the eternal inheritance" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,15);">Hbr 9:15</a>). Abraham did <i>obtain</i> the very thing <i>promised</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',6,15);">Hbr 6:15</a>) <i>in part,</i> namely, blessedness <i>in soul</i> after death, by virtue of faith in Christ about to come. The <i>full</i> blessedness of body and soul shall not be till the full number of the elect shall be accomplished, and all together, no one preceding the other, shall enter on the full glory and bliss. Moreover, in another point of view, "It is probable that some accumulation of blessedness was added to holy souls, when Christ came and fulfilled all things even as at His burial many rose from the dead, who doubtless ascended to heaven with Him" [FLACIUS in BENGEL]. (Compare <i>Note,</i> see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Eph/Eph004.html#Eph4_8">Eph 4:8</a>). The <i>perfecting</i> of believers in title, and in respect to conscience, took place once for all, at the death of Christ, by virtue of His being made by death <i>perfect</i> as Saviour. Their <i>perfecting in soul</i> at, and ever after Christ's death, took place, and takes place at their death. But the universal and final perfecting will not take place till Christ's coming.
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<p id="Heb11_40"><b>40. provided</b>—with divine forethought from eternity (compare <a onclick="return mV('Gen',22,8, 14);">Gen 22:8, 14</a>).
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<br><br><b>some better thing for us</b>— (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',7,19);">Hbr 7:19</a>); than they had here. They had not in this world, "apart from us" (so the <i>Greek</i> is for "without us," that is, they had to wait for us for), the clear revelation of the promised salvation actually accomplished, as we now have it in Christ; in their state, beyond the grave their <i>souls</i> also seem to have attained an increase of <i>heavenly</i> bliss on the death and ascension of Christ; and they shall not attain the full and final <i>glory in body and soul</i> (the regeneration of the creature), until the full number of the elect (including us with them) is completed. The Fathers, CHRYSOSTOM, etc., restricted the meaning of <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,39,40);">Hbr 11:39-40</a> to this last truth, and I incline to this view. "The connection is, You, Hebrews, may far more easily exercise patience than Old Testament believers; for they had much longer to wait, and are still waiting until the elect are all gathered in; you, on the contrary, have not to wait for them" [ESTIUS]. I think his object in these verses (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',11,39,40);">Hbr 11:39-40</a>) is to warn Hebrew Christians against their tendency to relapse into <i>Judaism.</i> "Though the Old Testament worthies attained such eminence by faith, they are not above us in privileges, but the reverse." It is not <i>we</i> who are perfected <i>with them,</i> but rather <i>they with us.</i> They <i>waited</i> for His coming; we enjoy Him as having come (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',1,1);">Hbr 1:1</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',2,3;">2:3</a>). Christ's death, the means of <i>perfecting</i> what the Jewish <i>law could not perfect,</i> was reserved for our time. Compare <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,2);">Hbr 12:2</a>, "<i>perfecter</i> (<i>Greek</i>) of our faith." Now that Christ is come, they in soul share our blessedness, being "the spirits of the just made perfect" (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',12,23);">Hbr 12:23</a>); so ALFORD; however, see on JFB for <a href="./Comm/jfb/Hbr/Hbr012.html#Heb12_23">Heb 12:23</a>. <a onclick="return mV('Hbr',9,12);">Hbr 9:12</a> shows that the blood of Christ, brought into the heavenly holy place by Him, first opened an entrance into heaven (compare <a onclick="return mV('Jhn',3,13);">Jhn 3:13</a>). Still, the fathers were in blessedness by faith in the Saviour to come, at death (<a onclick="return mV('Hbr',6,15);">Hbr 6:15</a>; <a onclick="return mV('Luk',16,22);">Luk 16:22</a>).
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