Advanced Commentary

Texts -- Hebrews 11:1-23 (NET)

Context
People Commended for Their Faith
11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for , being convinced of what we do not see . 11:2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation . 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command , so that the visible has its origin in the invisible . 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain , and through his faith he was commended as righteous , because God commended him for his offerings . And through his faith he still speaks , though he is dead . 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death , and he was not to be found because God took him up . For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God . 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards rewards those who seek him . 11:7 By faith Noah , when he was warned about things not yet seen , with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family . Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith . 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance , and he went out without understanding where he was going . 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country , living in tents with Isaac and Jacob , who were fellow heirs of the same promise . 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations , whose architect and builder is God . 11:11 By faith , even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old , he received the ability to procreate , because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy . 11:12 So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore . 11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised , but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth . 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland . 11:15 In fact , if they had been thinking of the land that they had left , they would have had opportunity to return . 11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is , a heavenly one . Therefore , God is not ashamed to be called their God , for he has prepared a city for them . 11:17 By faith Abraham , when he was tested , offered up Isaac . He had received the promises , yet he was ready to offer up his only son . 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name ,” 11:19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead , and in a sense he received him back from there . 11:20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future . 11:21 By faith Jacob , as he was dying , blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff . 11:22 By faith Joseph , at the end of his life , mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial . 11:23 By faith , when Moses was born , his parents hid him for three months , because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

more

Arts

Hymns

(Note: In "active" or "on" condition, the hymns music will be played automatically when mouse hover on a hymns title)
  • Abraham, Abraham [KJ.71]
  • Ada Kota Yang Indah Cerah [KJ.266] ( In the Sweet By and By / There's a Land That Is Fairer than Day )
  • Firman Allah Jayalah [KJ.49]
  • Hujan, Hujan [KJ.70]
  • Keluar Dari Kaum [KJ.342]
  • Tersembunyi Ujung Jalan [KJ.416]
  • Ya Tuhan, pada Saat Dibaptiskan [KJ.307]
  • Yerusalem, Mulia dan Kudus [KJ.261]
  • [Heb 11:1] Faith Of Our Fathers
  • [Heb 11:1] Faith Of Our Mothers
  • [Heb 11:1] Old-time Religion
  • [Heb 11:2] Marching With The Heroes
  • [Heb 11:6] Come Believing!
  • [Heb 11:7] Faith Means We’re Sure
  • [Heb 11:10] Built By Jehovah’s Hand
  • [Heb 11:10] O Thou Not Made With Hands
  • [Heb 11:10] Pearly White City, The
  • [Heb 11:13] Along The Path Of Life
  • [Heb 11:13] Come, Heaven-bound Pilgrims
  • [Heb 11:13] Far Off I See The Goal
  • [Heb 11:13] Happy Little Pilgrims
  • [Heb 11:13] I’m A Pilgrim (maxwell)
  • [Heb 11:13] I’m A Pilgrim (shindler)
  • [Heb 11:13] In Our Day Of Thanksgiving
  • [Heb 11:13] Now Rest, Ye Pilgrim Host
  • [Heb 11:13] Rise, O My Soul, Pursue The Path
  • [Heb 11:13] O How Blest To Be A Pilgrim
  • [Heb 11:13] Traveling Home
  • [Heb 11:13] We Are Pilgrims Of A Day
  • [Heb 11:16] My Own Dear Land
  • [Heb 11:16] My Soul, There Is A Country

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

What if God Had an Answering Machine?; Hebrews 11:1-6; Definitions of Faith; Without; Types in the Bible; Elements in Prayer; One Faith; Definition; Our Goal; How do we Please God?

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • "The subject matter of the theology in Genesis is certainly God's work in establishing Israel as the means of blessing the families of the earth. This book forms the introduction to the Pentateuch's main theme of the founding...
  • There are three major views concerning the relationship of 1:1 to the rest of the creation account.1. Verse 1 describes an original creation of the universe. God began fashioning the earth as we know it in verse 2 or verse 3....
  • 1:3 The world came into being by God's word (cf. Ps. 33:9; Heb. 11:3). Each of the six creative days began with God speaking.55Jesus Christ, the Word of God, was the Creator (John 1:3). The theme of God's word (spoken, writte...
  • Chapter 4 shows the spread of sin from Adam's family to the larger society that his descendants produced. Not only did sin affect everyone, but people became progressively more wicked as time passed. Verses 1-16 show that the...
  • 6:9-12 "The same explanation for Enoch's rescue from death (he walked with God') is made the basis for Noah's rescue from death in the Flood: he walked with God' (6:9). Thus in the story of Noah and the Flood, the author is a...
  • 12:1 This section begins with a wawdisjunctive in the Hebrew text translated "Now"in the NASB. It introduces an independent circumstantial clause (cf. 1:2). Probably the revelation in view happened in Ur. The NIV captures thi...
  • 12:4 Possibly Abram viewed Lot as his heir (cf. 11:27-32; 12:4-5; 13:1-2)."Since Mesopotamian law-codes allowed for the adoption of an heir in the case of childlessness, this becomes an attractive hypothesis with respect to L...
  • In obedience to God's command Abraham took his promised heir to Moriah to sacrifice him to the Lord. Because Abraham was willing to slay his uniquely begotten son God restrained him from killing Isaac and promised to bless hi...
  • Isaac would have been 75 years old and Jacob 15 when Abraham died (v. 7; cf. 21:5; 25:26).617"It is one thing to live a long life. It is another thing to live a long life that is also a happy life. This obituary notice about ...
  • The events recorded in the last three chapters of Genesis deal with the last days of Jacob and Joseph. In these last chapters there are many other references to earlier episodes in the book."This constant harking back to earl...
  • "Whilst Pharaoh was urging forward the extermination of the Israelites, God was preparing their emancipator."34". . . among other things, the Pentateuch is an attempt to contrast the lives of two individuals, Abraham and Mose...
  • One of the great messages of the Bible is that God desires to bless people through a relationship with Himself. The message of the Pentateuch is that people can experience this blessing through trust and obedience. Each of th...
  • The Angel of the Lord again appeared (cf. 6:11). This time He announced to a barren Danite woman that she would bear a son (cf. Gen. 16:11; Luke 1:26-38). Samson's birth by a barren woman indicated God's supernatural provisio...
  • This is the central unit of chapters 5-20, and its central focus is the judgment that Hushai's advice was better than Ahithophel's (17:14). This advice is the pivot on which the fortunes of David swung in his dealings with Ab...
  • 49:13-14 The writer marvelled at the folly of the proud wicked. How silly it is to live only for the present. Death will end it all. The wicked may dominate the upright in this life, but a new day is coming in which God will ...
  • The trust of the wise son (vv. 5-6) comes from heeding sound teaching (vv. 1-4), and it leads to confident obedience (vv. 7-9)."Teaching"(v. 1, Heb. torah) means "law"or, more fundamentally, "direction."Here the context sugge...
  • 29:1 This is another dated prophecy. It came to Ezekiel in the year before his first oracle against Tyre (26:1), namely, in 587 B.C.29:2 The Lord directed His prophet to turn his attention to the south, to Pharaoh king of Egy...
  • Stephen began his defense by going back to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, and to the Abrahamic Covenant, God's foundational promises to the Jews.7:2-3 Stephen called for the Sanhedrin's attention addressing his hea...
  • The Jews believed that they had a claim on Abraham that Gentiles did not have. Obviously he was the father of their nation, and this did place him in a unique relationship to his physical descendants. However, they incorrectl...
  • 4:16 In view of the reasons just sited, the apostle restated that he did not lose heart (cf. v. 1). However, Paul's sufferings, while not fatal, were destroying his body. Nevertheless even this did not discourage him for even...
  • 3:20 The reason we should follow Paul's example and not that of these sensualists is that as Christians we have a citizenship in heaven as well as one on earth. Our heavenly citizenship and destiny are far more important than...
  • We could summarize the message of this epistle in the following words. We will only realize our full eternal reward as believers if we appreciate the greatness of Jesus Christ and continue to trust God rather than turning awa...
  • I. The culminating revelation of God 1:1-2:18A. The agent of God's final revelation 1:1-4B. The superiority of the Son 1:5-14C. The danger of negligence (the first warning) 2:1-4D. The humiliation and glory of God's Son 2:5-9...
  • Hebrews is a sermon reduced to writing (cf. 13:22; James). Indications of this fact are the writer's references to speaking and hearing (cf. 2:5; 5:11; 8:1; 9:5; 11:32). His epistle is more typical of speech than of writing.V...
  • The writer began his epistle with an affirmation of Jesus Christ's greatness to introduce his readers to his subject. This section is one sentence in the Greek text. It contrasts God's old revelation with the new, specificall...
  • The writer proceeded to explain the exaltation of Jesus Christ to help his readers appreciate the fact that He fulfilled Old Testament prophecy concerning the Son of David. He did this so they would appreciate Him properly an...
  • The writer returned again from exhortation to exposition. He now posed the alternatives of rest and peril that confronted the new people of God, Christians.127The writer warned his readers so they would not fail to enter into...
  • Again the change in genre, this time from exhortation to exposition, signals a new literary unit within the epistle. Here the writer proceeded to expound the reliability of God's promise to Christians through Jesus Christ's h...
  • From this point on in the epistle the writer made application from the great truths concerning Jesus Christ that he had now finished explaining. He followed his exposition of Jesus Christ's superior high priestly ministry (6:...
  • "In chapter 10:22-25 there were three exhortations, respectively to Faith, Hope and Love. These are elaborated in turn: chapter 11 dealing with Faith; chapter 12 with Hope; chapter 13 with Love."338In this fourth major sectio...
  • The writer encouraged his readers in chapter 11 by reminding them of the faithful perseverance of selected Old Testament saints. The section is expository in form but parenetic in function, inviting the readers to emulate the...
  • The writer began by stating three facts about faith. These are general observations on the nature of faith, some of its significant features. He then illustrated God's approval of faith with examples from the antediluvian era...
  • 11:8-10 Like Abraham we should look forward to our inheritance in the coming world and should live as strangers and pilgrims in this world (1 Pet. 1:1).360"Abraham's faith accepted God's promises and acted on them even though...
  • "Moses and Abraham hold the most prominent places in the roll of faith; and the central event of both their lives, as Hebrews presents them, is a journey."36711:23 Faith confronts hostility in a characteristic way that the wr...
  • 11:32 The Old Testament is full of good examples of persevering, living faith. The writer selected these few for brief mention along with what such faith accomplished.372Each individual that the writer mentioned was less than...
  • One writer posited a chiastic structure for verses one and two."Therefore we,[A] having seated around aboutus such a cloud of witnesses,[B] setting asideevery weight and every clinging sin. . .[C] with patient endurance . . ....
  • The writer proceeded to explain the superiority of the New Covenant by comparing it with the Old Covenant using the figure of two mountains: Sinai and Zion.12:18-21 These verses describe the giving of the Old Covenant at Mt. ...
  • The writer concluded his written sermon with specific exhortations, requests, and greetings to enable his readers to continue to worship God acceptably under the New Covenant (cf. 12:28)."The emphasis in this last section of ...
  • "Within the structure of 13:7-19, vv 7-9 and vv 17-19 constitute the literary frame for the central unit of explanatory parenesis in vv 10-16."43713:7 The example of our spiritual leaders is one we should follow (cf. 12:1; 13...
  • Andersen, Ward. "The Believer's Rest (Hebrews 4)."Biblical Viewpoint24:1 (April 1990):31-38.Bailey, Mark L., and Thomas L. Constable. The New Testament Explorer. Nashville: Word Publishing Co., 1999.Barclay, William. The Lett...
  • Peter began this epistle in the manner that was customary in this day.9He introduced himself and his original readers, and he wished God's blessing on them to prepare them for what he had to say. He prepared them for dealing ...
  • Peter explained what Christian conduct should be negatively (v. 11) and positively (v. 12). Then he expounded more specifically what it should be positively in 2:13-4:11.2:11 "Beloved, I [or we] urge you"frequently marks off ...
  • Peter warned his readers about the activity of mockers preceding the Lord's return to enable them to deal with this test of their faith."Peter finally brings together two of the most important issues in the letter: the false ...
  • 21:2 In the same vision, John next saw a city descending out of heaven from God (cf. v. 10; 3:12; Heb. 11:13-16). It was holy in contrast to the former Jerusalem (cf. 11:8; Isa. 52:1; Matt. 4:5; 27:53). As the old Jerusalem w...
  • 21:11 This city obviously appeared extremely impressive to John. The first and most important characteristic that John noted was its radiant glow. It shone with the splendor of God Himself because He was in it (cf. Exod. 40:3...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Much ingenuity has been spent on the question why Abel's offering was accepted and Cain's rejected. But the narrative itself shows in the words of Jehovah, If thou doest well, is there not acceptance?' that the reason lay in ...
  • He is faithful, worthy to be trusted, as His deeds show. Faith is our attitude corresponding to His faithfulness. Faith is the germ of all that He requires from us. How much we need it! How firm it might be! How blessed it wo...
  • Judges 7:13-23To reduce thirty-two thousand to three hundred was a strange way of preparing for a fight; and, no doubt, the handful left felt some sinking of their courage when they looked on their own small number and then o...
  • He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.'--Heb. 11:6.THE writer has been pointing to the patriarch Enoch as the second of these examples of the power of faith in the Old Covenant; and it occurs to him that there is ...
  • By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.'--Heb. 11:7.THE creed of these Old Testament saints was a very short one, and very different from ours...
  • Dwelling in tabernacles, for he looked for a city.'--Heb. 11:9-10.THE purpose of the great muster-roll of the ancient heroes of Judaism in this chapter is mainly to establish the fact that there has never been but one way to ...
  • These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.'--Heb. 11:13 (R.V.).THE great roll-call of h...
  • They that say such things declars plainly that they seek a country.' Heb. 11:14.WHAT things? Evidently those which the writer has just been saying that the patriarchs of old said,' as stated in the previous words--They confes...
  • Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city.'--Heb. 11:16.THESE are bold words. They tell us that unless God has provided a future condition of social blessedness for those whom H...
  • And also elevation. It may have been naturally suggested by the thought of the saints of the Old Testament (of whom the previous chapter has been so nobly speaking) as exalted to heaven, and hovering far above and far away li...
Back to Commentary Page


TIP #14: Use the Discovery Box to further explore word(s) and verse(s). [ALL]
created in 0.10 seconds
powered by
bible.org - YLSA