Analysis Of The Chapter In the close of the previous chapter Hebrews 10, the apostle had incidentally made mention of faith Hebrews 10:38, and said that the just should live by faith. The object of the whole argument in this Epistle was to keep those to whom it was addressed from apostatizing from t... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR - On the general nature of faith, see the notes on Mark 16:16. The margin here is, “ground or confidence.” There is scarcely any verse of the New Testament more important than this, for it states what is the nature of all true faith, and is the only def... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR BY IT - That is, by that faith which gives reality to things hoped for, and a certain persuasion to the mind of the existence of those things which are not seen. THE ELDERS - The ancients; the Hebrew patriarchs and fathers. OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT - Literally, “were witnessed of;” that is, an ho... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH FAITH WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORLDS WERE FRAMED - The first instance of the strength of faith which the apostle refers to is that by which we give credence to the declarations in the Scriptures about the work of creation; Genesis 1:1. This is selected first, evidently because it is the first... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH ABEL OFFERED - see Genesis 4:4. In the account in Genesis of the offering made by Abel, there is no mention of “faith” - as is true also indeed of most of the instances referred to by the apostle. The account in Genesis is, simply, that Abel “brought of the firstlings of his flock, and the... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH ENOCH WAS TRANSLATED - The account of Enoch is found in Genesis 5:21. It is very brief, and is this, that “Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him.” There is no particular mention of his “faith,” and the apostle attributes this to him, as in the case of Abel, either because it... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM - Without “confidence” in God - in his fidelity, his truth, his wisdom, his promises. And this is as true in other things as in religion. It is impossible for a child to please his father unless he has confidence in him. It is impossible for a wife to... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH NOAH - It is less difficult to see that Noah must have been influenced “by faith” than that Abel and Enoch were. Everything which Noah did in reference to the threatened deluge, was done in virtue of simple faith or belief of what God said. It was not because he could show from the course o... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH ABRAHAM - There is no difficulty in determining that Abraham was influenced by faith in God. The case is even stronger than that of Noah, for it is expressly declared, Genesis 15:6, “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Compare notes, Romans 4:1. In the... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH HE SOJOURNED IN THE LAND OF PROMISE, AS IN A STRANGE COUNTRY - The land of Canaan that had been promised to him and his posterity. He resided there as if he were a stranger and sojourner. He had no possessions there which he did not procure by honest purchase; he owned no land in fee-simple... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE LOOKED FOR A CITY WHICH HATH FOUNDATIONS - It has been doubted to what the apostle here refers. Grotius and some others suppose, that he refers to Jerusalem, as a permanent dwelling for his posterity, in contradistinction from the unsettled mode of life which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob led. Bu... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH FAITH ALSO SARAH HERSELF RECEIVED STRENGTH TO CONCEIVE SEED - The word “herself” here - αὐτὴ autē - implies that there was something remarkable in the fact that “she” should manifest this faith. Perhaps there may be reference here to the incredulity with which she at first received the an... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE SPRANG THERE EVEN OF ONE - From a single individual. What is observed here by the apostle as worthy of remark, is, that the whole Jewish people sprang from one man, and that, as the reward of his strong faith he was made the father and founder of a nation. AND HIM AS GOOD AS DEAD - So far... [ Continue Reading ]
THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH - That is, those who had been just mentioned - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah. It was true of Abel and Noah also that they died in faith, but they are not included in “this” declaration, for the “promises” were not particularly entrusted to them, and if the word “these” be... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THEY THAT SAY SUCH THINGS ... - That speak of themselves as having come into a land of strangers; and that negotiate for a small piece of land, not to cultivate, but to bury their dead. So we should think of any strange people coming among us now - who lived in tents; who frequently changed thei... [ Continue Reading ]
AND TRULY IF THEY HAD BEEN MINDFUL OF THAT COUNTRY ... - If they had remembered it with sufficient interest and affection to have made them desirous to return. THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE RETURNED - The journey was not so long or perilous that they could not have retraced their steps. It... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT NOW THEY DESIRE A BETTER COUNTRY, THAT IS, AN HEAVENLY - That is, at the time referred to when they confessed that they were strangers and sojourners, they showed that they sought a better country than the one which they had left. They lived as if they had no expectation of a permanent residence... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH ABRAHAM - The apostle had stated one strong instance of the faith of Abraham, and he now refers to one still more remarkable - the strongest illustration of faith, undoubtedly, which has ever been evinced in our world. WHEN HE WAS TRIED - The word used here is rendered “tempted,” in Matthew... [ Continue Reading ]
OF WHOM IT WAS SAID, THAT IN ISAAC SHALL THY SEED BE CALLED; - Genesis 21:12. A numerous posterity had been promised to him. It was there said expressly that this promise was not to be fulfilled through the son of Abraham, by the bondwoman Hagar, but through Isaac. Of course, it was implied that Isa... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCOUNTING THAT GOD WAS ABLE TO RAISE HIM UP EVEN FROM THE DEAD - And that he would do it; for so Abraham evidently believed, and this idea is plainly implied in the whole narrative. There was no other way in which the promise could be fulfilled; and Abraham reasoned justly in the case. He had recei... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH ISAAC BLESSED JACOB AND ESAU CONCERNING THINGS TO COME - see Genesis 27:26. The meaning is, that he pronounced a blessing on them in respect to their future condition. This was by faith in God who had communicated it to him, and in full confidence that he would accomplish all that was here... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH JACOB, WHEN HE WAS A DYING - Genesis 47:31; Genesis 48:1. That is, when he was about to die. He saw his death near when he pronounced this blessing on Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph. AND WORSHIPPED, LEANING UPON THE TOP OF HIS STAFF - This is an exact quotation from the Septuagint... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH JOSEPH, WHEN HE DIED - When about to die; see Genesis 50:24. MADE MENTION OF THE DEPARTING OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL - Margin, “remembered.” The meaning is, that he called this to their mind; he spake of it. “And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die; and God will surely visit you, and bring... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH MOSES, WHEN HE WAS BORN - That is, by the faith of his parents. The faith of Moses himself is commended in the following verses. The statement of the apostle here is, that his parents were led to preserve his life by their confidence in God. They believed that he was destined to some great... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH MOSES - He had confidence in God when he called him to be the leader of his people. He believed that he was able to deliver them, and he so trusted in him that he was willing at his command to forego the splendid prospects which opened before him in Egypt. “When he was come to years.” Greek... [ Continue Reading ]
CHOOSING RATHER TO SUFFER AFFLICTION WITH THE PEOPLE OF GOD - With those whom God had chosen to he his people - the Israelites. They were then oppressed and down-trodden; but they were the descendants of Abraham, and were those whom God had designed to be his special people. Moses saw that if he cas... [ Continue Reading ]
ESTEEMING THE REPROACH OF CHRIST - Margin, “For;” that is, on account of Christ. This means either that he was willing to bear the reproaches incident to his belief that the Messiah would come, and that he gave up his fair prospects in Egypt with that expectation; or that he endured such reproaches... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH HE FORSOOK EGYPT - Some have understood this of the first time in which Moses forsook Egypt, when he fled into Midian, as recorded in Exodus 2; the majority of expositors have supposed that it refers to the time when he left Egypt to conduct the Israelites to the promised land. That the lat... [ Continue Reading ]
THROUGH FAITH HE KEPT THE PASSOVER - Greek, “he made - πεποίηκε pepoiēke - the passover,” which means more, it seems to me, than that he merely kept or celebrated it. It implies that he instituted this rite, and made the arrangements for its observance. There is reference to the special agency, an... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH THEY PASSED THROUGH THE RED SEA AS BY DRY LAND - Exodus 14:22, Exodus 14:29. That is, it was only by confidence in God that they were able to do this. It was not by power which they had to remove the waters and to make a passage for themselves; and it was not by the operation of any natural... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH THE WALLS OF JERICHO FELL DOWN ... - Josephus, Hebrews 6:12. That is, it was not by any natural causes, or by any means that were in themselves adapted to secure such a result. It was not because they fell of themselves; nor because they were assailed by the hosts of the Israelites; nor was... [ Continue Reading ]
BY FAITH THE HARLOT RAHAB - She resided in Jericho; Joshua 2:1. When Joshua crossed the Jordan, he sent two men as spies to her house, and she saved them by concealment from the enemies that would have destroyed their lives. For this act of hospitality and kindness, they assured her of safety when t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHAT SHALL I MORE SAY? - There are numerous other instances showing the strength of faith which there is not time to mention. FOR THE TIME WOULD FAIL ME TO TELL - To recount all that they did; all the illustrations of the strength and power of faith evinced in their lives. OF GEDEON - The hist... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO THROUGH FAITH SUBDUED KINGDOMS - That is, those specified in the previous verses, and others like them. The meaning is, that some of them subdued kingdoms, others obtained promises, etc. Thus, Joshua subdued the nations of Canaan; Gideon the Midianites; Jephtha the Ammonites; David the Philistin... [ Continue Reading ]
QUENCHED THE VIOLENCE OF FIRE - As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did; Daniel 3:15. “Escaped the edge of the sword.” As Elijah did when he fled from Ahab, 1 Kings 19:3; as Elijah did when he was delivered from the king of Syria, 2 Kings 6:16; and as David did when he fled from Saul. OUT OF WEAKNESS... [ Continue Reading ]
WOMEN RECEIVED THEIR DEAD RAISED TO LIFE AGAIN - As in the case of the woman of Zarephath, whose child was restored to life by Elijah, 1 Kings 17:19; and of the son of the Shunamite woman whose child was restored to life by Elisha; 2 Kings 4:18. AND OTHERS WERE TORTURED - The word which is used here... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OTHERS HAD TRIAL OF CRUEL MOCKINGS - Referring to the scorn and derision which the ancient victims of persecution experienced. This has been often experienced by martyrs, and doubtless it was the case with those who suffered on account of their religion, before the advent of the Saviour as well... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WERE STONED - A common method of punishment among the Jews; see the notes on Matthew 21:35, Matthew 21:44. Thus, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, was stoned; see 2 Chronicles 24:21; compare 1 Kings 21:1. It is not improbable that this was often resorted to in times of popular tumult,... [ Continue Reading ]
OF WHOM THE WORLD WAS NOT WORTHY - The world was so wicked that it had no claim that such holy men should live in it. These poor, despised, and persecuted people, living as outcasts and wanderers, were of a character far elevated above the world. This is a most beautiful expression. It is at once a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THESE ALL, HAVING OBTAINED A GOOD REPORT THROUGH FAITH - They were all commended and approved on account of their confidence in God; see the notes on Hebrews 11:2. RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE - That is, did not receive the fulfillment of the promise; or did not receive all that was promised. They... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]