Hebrews 11:9-40

11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner¹ in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs² of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,³ whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,⁴ he received the ability to procreate,⁵ because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children⁶ 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 sand⁷ on the seashore.⁸ 11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised,⁹ but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners¹⁰ 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,¹¹ 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,¹² yet he was ready to offer up¹³ his only son. 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”¹⁴ 11:19 and he reasoned¹⁵ that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense¹⁶ 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.¹⁷ 11:22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life,¹⁸ mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel¹⁹ and gave instructions about his burial.²⁰

11:23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him²¹ for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ²² to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on²³ the reward. 11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood,²⁴ so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 11:29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. 11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho²⁵ fell after the people marched around them²⁶ for seven days. 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of²⁷ the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. 11:33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice,²⁸ gained what was promised,²⁹ shut the mouths of lions, 11:34 quenched raging fire,³⁰ escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness,³¹ became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, 11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life.³² But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.³³ 11:36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 11:37 They were stoned, sawed apart,³⁴ murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 11:38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. 11:39 And these all were commended³⁵ for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.³⁶ 11:40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.³⁷

¹tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”

²tn Or “heirs with him.”

³tn Grk “that has foundations.”

⁴tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”

⁵tn 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.”

⁶tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

⁷tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

⁸sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).

⁹tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

¹⁰tn Or “sojourners.”

¹¹tn Grk “now.”

¹²tn Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.

¹³tn 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.

¹⁴tn Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.”

¹⁵tn Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.

¹⁶tn Grk “in/by a symbol.”

¹⁷tn Grk “worshiped on the top of his staff,” a quotation from Gen 47:31 (LXX).

¹⁸tn Grk “coming to an end,” “dying.”

¹⁹sn Joseph’s prophecy about the exodus of the sons of Israel is found in Gen 50:24.

²⁰tn Grk “about his bones,” which refers by metonymy to the disposition of his bones, i.e., his burial.

²¹tn Grk “Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents.”

²²tn Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”

²³tn Grk “he was looking away to.”

²⁴tn Grk “the pouring out of the blood.”

²⁵map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

²⁶tn Grk “after they had been encircled.”

²⁷tn Grk “did not perish together with.”

²⁸tn This probably refers to the righteous rule of David and others. But it could be more general and mean “did what was righteous.”

²⁹tn Grk “obtained promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

³⁰tn Grk “quenched the power of fire.”

³¹tn Or “recovered from sickness.”

³²tn Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”

³³tn Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”

³⁴tc The reading ἐπρίσθησαν (ejprisqhsan, “they were sawed apart”) is found in some important witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ [D* twice reads ἐπίρσθησαν, “they were burned”?] pc sy^p sa Or^pt Eus). Other mss have ἐπειράσθησαν (ejpeirasqhsan, “they were tempted”), either before “sawed apart” ([א] L P [048] 33 81 326 1505 pc sy^h), after “sawed apart” (Ì^13vid A D¹ Ψ 1739 1881 Ï lat bo Or^pt), or altogether in place of “sawed apart” (0150 vg^mss Cl). Since the two words ἐπρίσθησαν and ἐπειράσθησαν are so much alike in sight and sound, and since the position of “they were tempted” varies in the mss, it seems best to say that ἐπειράσθησαν is an accidental corruption of ἐπρίσθησαν or an intentional change to a more common word (the root of ἐπρίσθησαν [πρίζω, prizw] occurs only here in the NT, while the root of ἐπειράσθησαν [πειράζω, peirazw] occurs 38 times). The best reading here seems to be “sawed apart” without any addition before or after. (See TCGNT 603-4, for a discussion of emendations that scholars have proposed for this difficult problem.)

³⁵sn The expression these all were commended forms an inclusio with Heb 11:2: The chapter begins and ends with references to commendation for faith.

³⁶tn Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.

³⁷tn The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that they would not be made perfect without us.”