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Text -- Hebrews 11:40 (NET)

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Context
11:40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics

Dictionary Themes and Topics: PROVIDENCE, 1 | Law | JUSTIFICATION | HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE | FORGIVENESS | FINISHER | more
Table of Contents

Word/Phrase Notes
Robertson , Vincent , Wesley , JFB , Clarke , TSK

Word/Phrase Notes
Barnes , Poole , Gill

Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes , Geneva Bible

Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis , Combined Bible , MHCC , Matthew Henry , Barclay , Constable , College

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: Heb 11:40 - -- God having provided ( tou theou problepsamenou ). Genitive absolute with first aorist middle participle of problepō , late compound to foresee, her...

God having provided ( tou theou problepsamenou ).

Genitive absolute with first aorist middle participle of problepō , late compound to foresee, here only in the N.T.

Robertson: Heb 11:40 - -- Some better thing ( kreitton ti ). "Something better,""the better promises"of Heb 8:6.

Some better thing ( kreitton ti ).

"Something better,""the better promises"of Heb 8:6.

Robertson: Heb 11:40 - -- That apart from us they should not be made perfect ( hina mē chōris hēmōn teleiōthōsin ). Negative purpose clause with hina mē and th...

That apart from us they should not be made perfect ( hina mē chōris hēmōn teleiōthōsin ).

Negative purpose clause with hina mē and the first aorist passive subjunctive of teleioō . But this glorious and gracious purpose (foresight) of God is not due to any special merit in us. It is simply the fulness of the time in God’ s dispensation of grace of which we are the beneficiaries. But all the same and all the more ( noblesse oblige ), we should prove worthy of our heritage and of God’ s goodness to us and be loyal to Christ.

Vincent: Heb 11:40 - -- Having provided ( προβλεψαμένου ) N.T.o .

Having provided ( προβλεψαμένου )

N.T.o .

Vincent: Heb 11:40 - -- For us ( περὶ ἡμῶν ) The better thing is for us . It was not for them: they lived in the assurance of a future time better than th...

For us ( περὶ ἡμῶν )

The better thing is for us . It was not for them: they lived in the assurance of a future time better than their own, and in this assurance of faith, did their work and bore their burden in their own time. It is one of the achievements of faith to be cheerfully willing to be only a stage to some better thing which we cannot share.

Vincent: Heb 11:40 - -- That they without us should not be made perfect ( ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσιν ) Each successive stage of...

That they without us should not be made perfect ( ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσιν )

Each successive stage of history gathers up into itself the fruit of preceding stages. This passage teaches the solidarity of humanity in its work as well as in itself. The man of the present requires the work and suffering and achievement of the men of the past to complete him and his work. The future men will, in like manner, require the work and suffering and achievement of the men of today to complete them. The whole creation, in all its successive aeons, moves together toward

" The one far-off, divine event."

Wesley: Heb 11:40 - -- Namely, everlasting glory.

Namely, everlasting glory.

Wesley: Heb 11:40 - -- That is, that we might all be perfected together in heaven.

That is, that we might all be perfected together in heaven.

JFB: Heb 11:40 - -- With divine forethought from eternity (compare Gen 22:8, Gen 22:14).

With divine forethought from eternity (compare Gen 22:8, Gen 22:14).

JFB: Heb 11:40 - -- (Heb 7:19); than they had here. They had not in this world, "apart from us" (so the Greek is for "without us," that is, they had to wait for us for),...

(Heb 7:19); than they had here. They had not in this world, "apart from us" (so the Greek 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 souls also seem to have attained an increase of heavenly bliss on the death and ascension of Christ; and they shall not attain the full and final glory in body and soul (the regeneration of the creature), until the full number of the elect (including us with them) is completed. The Fathers, CHRYSOSTOM, &c., restricted the meaning of Heb 11:39-40 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 (Heb 11:39-40) is to warn Hebrew Christians against their tendency to relapse into Judaism. "Though the Old Testament worthies attained such eminence by faith, they are not above us in privileges, but the reverse." It is not we who are perfected with them, but rather they with us. They waited for His coming; we enjoy Him as having come (Heb 1:1; Heb 2:3). Christ's death, the means of perfecting what the Jewish law could not perfect, was reserved for our time. Compare Heb 12:2, "perfecter (Greek) of our faith." Now that Christ is come, they in soul share our blessedness, being "the spirits of the just made perfect" (Heb 12:23); so ALFORD; however, see on Heb 12:23. Heb 9:12 shows that the blood of Christ, brought into the heavenly holy place by Him, first opened an entrance into heaven (compare Joh 3:13). Still, the fathers were in blessedness by faith in the Saviour to come, at death (Heb 6:15; Luk 16:22).

Clarke: Heb 11:40 - -- God having provided some better thing for us - This is the dispensation of the Gospel, with all the privileges and advantages it confers

God having provided some better thing for us - This is the dispensation of the Gospel, with all the privileges and advantages it confers

Clarke: Heb 11:40 - -- That they without us should not be made perfect - Believers before the flood, after the flood, under the law, and since the law, make but one Church...

That they without us should not be made perfect - Believers before the flood, after the flood, under the law, and since the law, make but one Church. The Gospel dispensation is the last, and the Church cannot be considered as complete till the believers under all dispensations are gathered together. As the Gospel is the last dispensation, the preceding believers cannot be consummated even in glory till the Gospel Church arrive in the heaven of heavens

There are a great variety of meanings put on this place, but the above seems the most simple and consistent. See Rev 6:11. "White robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."This time, and its blessings, are now upon the wing

TSK: Heb 11:40 - -- provided : or, foreseen better : Heb 7:19, Heb 7:22, Heb 8:6, Heb 9:23, Heb 12:24 they without : Heb 9:8-15, Heb 10:11-14; Rom 3:25, Rom 3:26 made : H...

provided : or, foreseen

better : Heb 7:19, Heb 7:22, Heb 8:6, Heb 9:23, Heb 12:24

they without : Heb 9:8-15, Heb 10:11-14; Rom 3:25, Rom 3:26

made : Heb 5:9, Heb 12:23; Rev 6:11; The apostle in the early part of the chapter having given us a general account of the grace of faith, proceeds to set before us some illustrious examples of it in Old Testament times. The leading instance and example of faith recorded, is that of righteous Abelcaps1 . ocaps0 ne of the first saints and the first martyr for religion - one who lived by faith and died for it, and therefore a fit pattern for the Hebrews to imitate. It is observable that the Holy Spirit has not thought fit to say anything here of the faith of our first parents; and yet the church of God has generally, by a pious charity, taken it for granted that God gave them repentance and faith in the promised seed; that he instructed them in the mystery of sacrificing, that they instructed their children in it, and that they found mercy with God, after they had ruined themselves and all their posterity. But God has left the matter still under some doubt, as a warning to all who have great talents given to them, and a great trust reposed in them, that they do not prove unfaithful, since God would not enrol our first parents among the number of believers in this blessed calendar. - Henry.

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Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Heb 11:40 - -- God having provided some better thing for us - Margin, "foreseen."That is, "God having provided, or determined on giving some better thing than...

God having provided some better thing for us - Margin, "foreseen."That is, "God having provided, or determined on giving some better thing than any of them realized, and which we are now permitted to enjoy."That is, God gave them promises; but they were not allowed to see their fulfillment. We are permitted now to see what they referred to, and in part, at least, to witness their completion; and though the promise was made to them, the fulfillment more particularly pertains to us.

That they without us should not be made perfect - That is, complete. The whole system of revelation was not complete at once, or in one generation. It required successive ages to make the system complete, so that it might be said that it was finished, or perfect. Our existence, therefore, and the developments in our times, were as necessary to the perfection of the system, as the promise made to the patriarchs. And as the system would not have been complete if the blessings had been simply conferred on us without the previous arrangements, and the long scheme of introductory measures, so it would not have been complete if the promises had been merely given to them without the corresponding fulfillment in our times. They are like the two parts of a tally. The fathers had one part in the promises, and we the other in the fulfullment, and neither would have been complete without the other. The "better things"then referred to here as possessed by Christians, are the privilege of seeing those promises fulfilled in the Messiah; the blessings resulting from the atonement; the more expanded views which they have under the gospel; the brighter hopes of heaven itself, and the clearer apprehension of what heaven will be, which they are permitted to enjoy. This, therefore, accords entirely with the argument which the apostle is pursuing - which is, to show that the Christians whom he addressed should not apostatize from their religion. The argument is, that in numerous instances, as specified, the saints of ancient times, even under fiery trials, were sustained by faith in God, and that too when they had not seen the fulfillment of the promises, and when they had much more obscure views than we are permitted to enjoy. If they, under the influence of the mere promise of future blessings, were enabled thus to persevere, how much more reason is there for us to persevere who have been permitted, by the coming of the Messiah, to wittess the perfection of the system!

There is no part of the New Testament of more value than this chapter; none which deserves to be more patiently studied, or which may be more frequently applied to the circumstances of Christians. These invaluable records are adapted to sustain us in times of trial, temptation, and persecution; to show us what faith has done in days that are past, and what it may do still in similar circumstances. Nothing can better show the value and the power of faith, or of true religion, than the records in this chapter. It has done what nothing else could do. It has enabled people to endure what nothing else would enable them to bear, and it has shown its power in inducing them to give up, at the command of God, what the human heart holds most dear. And among the lessons which we may derive from the study of this portion of divine truth, let us learn from the example of Abel to continue to offer to God the sacrifice of true piety which he requires, though we may be taunted or opposed by our nearest kindred; from that of Enoch to walk with God, though surrounded by a wicked world, and to look to the blessed translation to heaven which awaits all the righteous; from that of Noah to comply with all the directions of God, and to make all needful preparations for the future events which he has predicted, in which we are to be interested - as death, judgment, and eternity - though the events may seem to be remote, and though there may be no visible indications of their coming, and though the world may deride our faith and our fears; from that of Abraham to leave country, and home, and kindred, if God calls us to, and to go just where he commands, through deserts and wilds, and among strange people, and like him also to be ready to give up the dearest objects of our earthly affection, even when attended with all that can try or torture our feelings of affection - feeling that God who gave has a right to require their removal in his own way, and that however much we may fix our hopes on a dear child, he can fulfil all his purposes and promises to us though such a child should be removed by death; from that of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to regard ourselves as strangers and pilgrims on earth, having here no permanent home. and seeking a better country; from that of Moses to be willing to leave all the pomp and splendour of the world, all our brilliant prospects and hopes, and to welcome poverty, reproach, and suffering, that we may identify ourselves with the people of God; by the remembrance of the host of worthies who met danger, and encountered mighty foes, aud vanquished them, let us learn to go forth in our spiritual conflicts against the enemies of our souls and of the church, assured of victory; and from the example of those who were driven from the abodes of human beings, and exposed to the storms of persecution, let us learn to bear every trial, and to be ready at any moment to lay down our lives in the cause of truth and of God. Of all those holy men who made these sacrifices, which of them ever regretted it, when he came calmly to look over his life, and to review it on the borders of the eternal world?

None. Not one of them ever expressed regret that he had given up the world; or that he had obeyed the Lord too early, too faithfully, or too long. Not Abraham who left his country and kindred; not Moses who abandoned his brilliant prospects in Egypt; not Noah who subjected himself to ridicule and scorn for an hundred and twenty years; and not one of those who were exposed to lions, to fire, to the edge of the sword, or who were driven away from society as outcasts to wander in pathless deserts or to take up their abodes in caverns, ever regretted the course which they had chosen. And who of them all now regrets it? Who, of these worthies, now looks from heaven and feels that he suffered one privation too much, or that he has not had an ample recompense for all the ills he experienced in the cause of religion? So we shall feel when from the bed of death we look over the present life, and look out on eternity.

Whatever our religion may have cost us, we shall not feel that we began to serve God too early, or served him too faithfully. Whatever pleasure, gain, or splendid prospects we gave up in order to become Christians, we shall feel that it was the way of wisdom, and shall rejoice that we were able to do it. Whatever sacrifices, trials, persecution, and pain, we may meet with, we shall feel that there has been more than a compensation in the consolations of religion, and in the hope of heaven, and that by every sacrifice we have been the gainers. When we reach heaven, we shall see that we have not endured one pain too much, and that through whatever trials we may have passed, the result is worth all which it has cost. Strengthened then in our trials by the remembrance of what faith has done in times that are past; recalling the example of those who through faith and patience have inherited the promises, let us go cheerfully on our way. Soon the journey of trials will be ended, and soon what are now objects of faith will become objects of fruition, and in their enjoyment, how trifling and brief will seem all the sorrows of our pilgrimage below!

Poole: Heb 11:40 - -- God having provided some better thing for us: the causes of their not receiving the promise, are summed up in this verse; the efficient of it is God&...

God having provided some better thing for us: the causes of their not receiving the promise, are summed up in this verse; the efficient of it is God’ s providence unto believers before and after the incarnation of the Messiah. God having from eternity foreknowledge of those who would believe in God the Son incarnate, Rom 8:29 , predestinated them to be called to the faith in him, and provided better for New Testament believers than for the Old ones, that what they had of Christ in types and veils, these should have in truth; what they had in promise, these should have in sight and possession; what they had in hope, as to his first coming, these should have it past, and as an earnest of his second coming; what they had by measure of his Spirit and grace, these should have in fulness, Luk 10:23,24 Joh 1:14,16 7:39 2Co 3:8 Eph 3:8-11 Tit 2:13 1Pe 1:12 .

That they without us should not be made perfect the final cause of this gracious providence was, that the former aud later believers might be completed together; they shall not reach that perfect state of grace and glory by a re-union of their bodies and souls until the general resurrection, when they shall not prevent us, nor we them; but as soon as the trumpet alarms the dead to rise, in the same moment, and twinkling of an eye, shall the living be changed, and all be caught up together in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall be ever with the Lord, 1Th 4:15-17 . The ground of which perfection of all believers in all ages being in the last time, is from his choosing them all to be but one body of Christ, and him their Head; so as one member cannot be perfected but in the perfection of the whole, Mat 8:11 Eph 4:4 . In which perfection of it, God is resolved to be all in all; not in one, or in some, but when Christ hath subdued all his enemies, and gathered all his members, then shall his body and kingdom be perfected, and God be all in all, 1Co 15:28 .

Gill: Heb 11:40 - -- God having provided some better thing for us,.... Not a better state of the church, in such respect, as to be free from suffering reproach and persecu...

God having provided some better thing for us,.... Not a better state of the church, in such respect, as to be free from suffering reproach and persecutions; for this is the case of saints under the New Testament as under the Old; nor the felicity of the soul after death; nor any greater degree of happiness in the other world; nor the perfection of blessedness in soul and body; things common to all believers; but Christ, as now exhibited in the flesh: Jesus Christ was the same in the yesterday of the Old Testament, as he is in the present day of the Gospel dispensation; he was slain from the foundation of the world; and the saints then were saved as now, by his grace and righteousness: only with this difference between them and us; they had Christ in the promise, we have him himself that was promised; they had him in type and shadow, we have him in reality and truth; they believed in, and were saved by Christ, who was to come; we believe in him, and are saved by him, as being come. Hence our case is, with respect to these circumstances, better than theirs; we have a better covenant, or a better administration of the covenant of grace; we have a better priesthood, and a better sacrifice; the Gospel is dispensed in a better manner, more dearly and fully: our condition is better than theirs; they were as children under tutors and governors, and were under a spirit of bondage; but we are redeemed from under the law, and are clear of its burdensome rites, as well as of its curse and condemnation; and have the spirit of liberty and adoption. And this God has provided for us in his council and covenant: for this denotes God's determination, designation, and appointment of Christ, to be the propitiatory sacrifice for sin; and has respect to the nature and circumstances of his death, which were fixed in the purposes of God; as well as the time of his coming into the world, and the season of his death; and in all this God has shown his great goodness, his amazing love, and the riches of his grace: and his end herein is,

that they without us should not be made perfect; the Old Testament saints are perfectly justified, perfectly sanctified, and perfectly glorified; but their perfection was not by the law, which made nothing perfect, but by Christ, and through his sacrifice, blood, and righteousness; and so were not made perfect without us; since their sins and ours are expiated together by the same sacrifice; their persons and ours justified together by the same righteousness; they and we make up but one church, and general assembly; and as yet all the elect of God among the Jews are not called, and so are not perfect in themselves, or without us. Jews and Gentiles will incorporate together in the latter day; and besides, they and we shall be glorified together, in soul and body, to all eternity.

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Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Heb 11:40 The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that they would not be made perfect without us.”

Geneva Bible: Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they ( z ) without us should not be made perfect. ( z ) For their salvation depended on Christ, wh...

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Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Heb 11:1-40 - --1 What faith is.6 Without faith we cannot please God.7 The worthy fruits thereof in the fathers of old time.

Combined Bible: Heb 11:39-40 - --Family of Faith    (Hebrews 11:39, 40)    "And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise...

MHCC: Heb 11:39-40 - --The world considers that the righteous are not worthy to live in the world, and God declares the world is not worthy of them. Though the righteous and...

Matthew Henry: Heb 11:32-40 - -- The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and actings of their faith reco...

Barclay: Heb 11:35-40 - --In this passage the writer to the Hebrews is intermingling different periods of history. Sometimes he takes his illustrations from the Old Testament ...

Constable: Heb 11:1--12:14 - --IV. THE PROPER RESPONSE 11:1--12:13 "In chapter 10:22-25 there were three exhortations, respectively to Faith, H...

Constable: Heb 11:1-40 - --A. Perseverance in Faith ch. 11 The writer encouraged his readers in chapter 11 by reminding them of the...

Constable: Heb 11:32-40 - --4. Faith in subsequent eras 11:32-40 11:32 The Old Testament is full of good examples of persevering, living faith. The writer selected these few for ...

College: Heb 11:1-40 - --HEBREWS 11 VII. GOD EXPECTS US TO SHOW FAITH (11:1-40) A. THE NATURE OF FAITH (11:1-3) 1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of...

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Introduction / Outline

Robertson: Hebrews (Book Introduction) The Epistle to the Hebrews By Way of Introduction Unsettled Problems Probably no book in the New Testament presents more unsettled problems tha...

JFB: Hebrews (Book Introduction) CANONICITY AND AUTHORSHIP.--CLEMENT OF ROME, at the end of the first century (A.D), copiously uses it, adopting its words just as he does those of the...

JFB: Hebrews (Outline) THE HIGHEST OF ALL REVELATIONS IS GIVEN US NOW IN THE SON OF GOD, WHO IS GREATER THAN THE ANGELS, AND WHO, HAVING COMPLETED REDEMPTION, SITS ENTHRONE...

TSK: Hebrews 11 (Chapter Introduction) Overview Heb 11:1, What faith is; Heb 11:6, Without faith we cannot please God; Heb 11:7, The worthy fruits thereof in the fathers of old time.

Poole: Hebrews 11 (Chapter Introduction) CHAPTER 11

MHCC: Hebrews (Book Introduction) This epistle shows Christ as the end, foundation, body, and truth of the figures of the law, which of themselves were no virtue for the soul. The grea...

MHCC: Hebrews 11 (Chapter Introduction) (Heb 11:1-3) The nature and power of faith described. (Heb 11:4-7) It is set forth by instances from Abel to Noah. (Heb 11:8-19) By Abraham and his ...

Matthew Henry: Hebrews (Book Introduction) An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Epistle to the Hebrews Concerning this epistle we must enquire, I. Into the divine authority of it...

Matthew Henry: Hebrews 11 (Chapter Introduction) The apostle having, in the close of the foregoing chapter, recommended the grace of faith and a life of faith as the best preservative against apos...

Barclay: Hebrews (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTER TO THE HEBREWS God Fulfils Himself In Many Ways Religion has never been the same thing to all men. "God," as Tennyson sai...

Barclay: Hebrews 11 (Chapter Introduction) The Christian Hope (Heb_11:1-3) The Faith Of The Acceptable Offering (Heb_11:4) Walking With God (Heb_11:5-6) The Man Who Believed In God's Messag...

Constable: Hebrews (Book Introduction) Introduction Historical background The writer said that he and those to whom he wrote ...

Constable: Hebrews (Outline)

Constable: Hebrews Hebrews Bibliography Andersen, Ward. "The Believer's Rest (Hebrews 4)." Biblical Viewpoint 24:1 (April 1990):31...

Haydock: Hebrews (Book Introduction) THE EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE, TO THE HEBREWS. INTRODUCTION. The Catholic Church hath received and declared this Epistle to be part of ...

Gill: Hebrews (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS That this epistle was written very early appears from hence, that it was imitated by Clement of Rome, in his epistle to the...

Gill: Hebrews 11 (Chapter Introduction) INTRODUCTION TO HEBREWS 11 The apostle having, in the preceding chapter, spoken in commendation of the grace, and life of faith, and of its usefuln...

College: Hebrews (Book Introduction) INTRODUCTION It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Hebrews for understanding the nature of the new covenant. No other document in the N...

College: Hebrews (Outline) OUTLINE I. JESUS IS SUPERIOR TO THE ANGELS - 1:1-14 A. The Preeminence of the Son - 1:1-4 B. The Son Superior to the Angels - 1:5-14 II. ...

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