Hebrews 11:11-19

11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, ¹  he received the ability to procreate, ²  because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children ³  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 ⁴  on the seashore. ⁵  11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ⁶  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ⁷  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, ⁸  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, ⁹  yet he was ready to offer up ¹⁰  his only son. 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” ¹¹  11:19 and he reasoned ¹²  that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense ¹³  he received him back from there.

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.”

³ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

⁴ tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

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

⁵ tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

⁶ tn Or “sojourners.”

⁷ tn Grk “now.”

⁹ tn Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ tn Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.”

¹³ tn Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.

¹⁴ tn Grk “in/by a symbol.”