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Hebrews 11

1Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, conviction about things not seen. 2For by it the people of old received testimony in their favor. 3By faith we understand that the ages were formed by God's word, so that what is seen did not come into being from visible things.

4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he received testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts; and through it, though he died, he still speaks. 5By faith Enoch was taken away so that he would not see death, and he was not found because God had taken him away. For before he was taken away, he had received testimony that he had pleased God. 6And without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7By faith Noah, warned about things not yet seen, in reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household. Through this he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that accords with faith.

8By faith Abraham, when called, obeyed by going out to a place he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out without knowing where he was going. 9By faith he lived as a foreigner in the land of the promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. 10For he was awaiting the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11By faith, with Sarah herself, he received power to father offspring even beyond the time of life for it, because he considered the one who promised faithful. 12Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, there were born descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the countless sand along the seashore.

13All these died in faith without receiving the promises, but they saw them from far away and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. 14For those who speak in this way make clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15And if they have in mind the one from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better one, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when tested, offered Isaac, and the one who had welcomed the promises was offering his only son, 18even though Abraham had been told, “Through Isaac your seed will be named.” 19He reasoned that God was able even to raise the dead, and, figuratively speaking, he received him back from there. 20By faith Isaac also blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, spoke of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his bones.

23By faith Moses, when born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they did not fear the king's edict. 24By faith Moses, when grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25choosing instead to be mistreated with God's people rather than enjoy the temporary pleasure of sin. 26He considered the reproach of the Messiah greater wealth than Egypt's treasures, for he was looking toward the reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger, for he endured as though seeing the one who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch them.

29By faith they crossed the Red Sea as through dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted it, they were swallowed up. 30By faith Jericho's walls fell after they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who disobeyed, because she had welcomed the spies in peace.

32And what more shall I say? For time will fail me as I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David and Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, shut lions' mouths, 34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, and put foreign armies to flight. 35Women received their dead back by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36Still others experienced mockings and floggings, and also bonds and imprisonment. 37They were stoned, sawed in two, killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, in need, afflicted, mistreated—38the world was not worthy of them—wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the earth.

39And all, though receiving testimony in their favor through faith, did not receive the promise, 40since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be brought to completion apart from us.

Translation notes 7

11:1–3 — Faith and the unseen. “Assurance” can also be understood as the underlying reality or substantial basis of what is hoped for; “conviction” can also mean evidence or demonstration. The draft favors confidence in what is unseen, with the examples showing its practical force. This is not an added definition of faith as belief without grounds. “The ages,” as at 1:2, can encompass the created universe through time. The verse denies derivation from visible things without naming an alternative material.

11:4–7 — Testimony and faith. The repeated testimony language continues through the chapter and leads into the witnesses at 12:1. “Through which” and “through it” at verse 4 can refer to Abel's faith or his sacrifice. Likewise “through this” at verse 7 can point to Noah's faith or his building of the ark. These relationships are left open. The accounts recall Genesis 4–9; the passage presents Enoch as not seeing death.

11:8–12 — Abraham and Sarah. At verse 11 the Greek base prints Sarah's name in a form meaning “with Sarah herself,” leaving Abraham as the subject. Many editions instead print “Sarah herself” as subject, sometimes also adding “barren.” They can be rendered “By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive …” The expression for reproductive power more naturally describes fathering offspring; neither the textual forms nor their interpretation are undisputed. “Descendants” in verse 12 is supplied for those born. The star and sand images recall the promises to Abraham.

11:13–16 — Promises and homeland. “The promises” here means the promised realities; elsewhere the same noun means the assurances given. “All these” need not cancel the explicit exception about Enoch in verse 5; the immediate account concerns the patriarchs. Verse 15 follows the base's present “have in mind,” while many texts have a past tense. The argument says they seek a heavenly homeland, not that they secretly wish to return to the country they left.

11:17–22 — Isaac, staff, and bones. Isaac is the “only son” in his unique place within the promise; the expression is not a denial that Abraham had other children. “Was offering” portrays the action in progress without saying Isaac was killed. “From there” points to the dead, with the figurative qualification supplied by the author. The staff at verse 21 follows Hebrews' Greek wording of Genesis 47:31, rather than substituting the bed found in the Hebrew text. “Leaning” makes the posture explicit. Joseph's bones remain concrete, rather than becoming a general instruction about a funeral.

11:23–31 — Moses and the Messiah. “Parents” is the contextual sense of the plural word ordinarily meaning fathers. “The reproach of the Messiah” connects Moses' costly solidarity with God's people to the Messiah; it does not explain how much Moses consciously knew about Jesus. “Left Egypt” may refer to flight or to the exodus; the draft supplies neither and does not revise Exodus's account of Moses' fear. The account retains Rahab's description as a prostitute.

11:32–40 — Victory and suffering. Faith marks both deliverance and endurance without deliverance. “Worked righteousness” may include administering justice. The torture and hope of resurrection recall Jewish martyr traditions, particularly 2 Maccabees 6–7; not every unnamed example is securely identified. Some texts add “were tested” at verse 37. The base has only “sawed in two” at that point. The final nonreceipt of the promise concerns the common completion still in view, while verse 33 allows particular promises to have been obtained.