Text -- Hebrews 11:1-21 (NET)

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.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Heb 11:2

¹ tn Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”

² tn Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4-6 shows this to be from God.

NET Notes: Heb 11:3

¹ tn Grk “ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 1:2 for same usage.

² tn Grk “by God’s word.”

³ sn The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that what is seen did not come into being from things that are visible.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:4

¹ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”

² tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:7

¹ tn Cf. BDAG 407 s.v. εὐλαβέομαι 2, “out of reverent regard (for God’s command).”

NET Notes: Heb 11:9

¹ tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”

² tn Or “heirs with him.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:10

¹ tn Grk “that has foundations.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:11

¹ tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”

² tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:12

¹ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

² tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

³ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).

NET Notes: Heb 11:13

¹ tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

² tn Or “sojourners.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:16

¹ tn Grk “now.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:17

¹ tn Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.

² tn Grk “he was offering up.” The tense of this verb indicates the attempt or readiness to sacrifice Isaac without the actual completion of the deed.

NET Notes: Heb 11:18

¹ tn Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.”

sn A quotation from Gen 21:12.

NET Notes: Heb 11:19

¹ tn Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.

² tn Grk “in/by a symbol.”

NET Notes: Heb 11:21

¹ tn Grk “worshiped on the top of his staff,” a quotation from Gen 47:31 (LXX).