^11:1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. ^11:2For by it the people of old¹ received God’s commendation.²^11:3By faith we understand that the worlds³ were set in order at God’s command,⁴ so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.⁵^11:4By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith⁶ he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith⁷ he still speaks, though he is dead. ^11:5By 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. ^11:6Now 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. ^11:7By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard⁸ 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.

^11:8By 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. ^11:9By faith he lived as a foreigner⁹ in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs¹⁰ of the same promise. ^11:10For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations,¹¹ whose architect and builder is God. ^11:11By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old,¹² he received the ability to procreate,¹³ because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. ^11:12So in fact children¹⁴ 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 sand¹⁵ on the seashore.¹⁶^11:13These all died in faith without receiving the things promised,¹⁷ but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners¹⁸ on the earth. ^11:14For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ^11:15In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. ^11:16But as it is,¹⁹ 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. ^11:17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises,²⁰ yet he was ready to offer up²¹ his only son. ^11:18God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,”²²^11:19and he reasoned²³ that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense²⁴ he received him back from there. ^11:20By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. ^11:21By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.²⁵^11:22By faith Joseph, at the end of his life,²⁶ mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel²⁷ and gave instructions about his burial.²⁸

^11:23By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him²⁹ for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. ^11:24By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ^11:25choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. ^11:26He regarded abuse suffered for Christ³⁰ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on³¹ the reward. ^11:27By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. ^11:28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood,³² so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. ^11:29By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up. ^11:30By faith the walls of Jericho³³ fell after the people marched around them³⁴ for seven days. ^11:31By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of³⁵ the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.

^11:32And 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. ^11:33Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice,³⁶ gained what was promised,³⁷ shut the mouths of lions, ^11:34quenched raging fire,³⁸ escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness,³⁹ became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, ^11:35and women received back their dead raised to life.⁴⁰ But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.⁴¹^11:36And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. ^11:37They were stoned, sawed apart,⁴² 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. ^11:39And these all were commended⁴³ for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.⁴⁴^11:40For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us.⁴⁵

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Footnotes

1 Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”
2 Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4–6 shows this to be from God.
3 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.
4 Grk “by God’s word.”
5 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.”
6 Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”
7 Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”
8 Cf. εὐλαβέομαι 2, “out of reverent regard (for God’s command).”
9 Or “settled as a resident alien.”
10 Or “heirs with him.”
11 Grk “that has foundations.”
12 Grk “past the time of maturity.”
13 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.”
14 Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
15 Grk a collective “the sand.”
16 An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).
17 Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.
18 Or “sojourners.”
19 Grk “now.”
20 Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.
21 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.
22 Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.” A quotation from Gen 21:12.
23 Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.
24 Grk “in/by a symbol.”
25 Grk “worshiped on the top of his staff,” a quotation from Gen 47:31 ().
26 Grk “coming to an end,” “dying.”
27 Joseph’s prophecy about the exodus of the sons of Israel is found in Gen 50:24.
28 Grk “about his bones,” which refers by metonymy to the disposition of his bones, i.e., his burial. The instructions about his burial are recorded in Gen 50:25.
29 Grk “Moses, when he was born, was hidden by his parents.”
30 Grk “the abuse [or ‘reproach’] of Christ.”
31 Grk “he was looking away to.”
32 Grk “the pouring out of the blood.” The sprinkling of the blood refers here to the application of the blood to the doorways of the Israelite houses (cf. Exod 12:7, 13).
33 For location see ; ; ; ; ; .
34 Grk “after they had been encircled.”
35 Grk “did not perish together with.”
36 This probably refers to the righteous rule of David and others. But it could be more general and mean “did what was righteous.”
37 Grk “obtained promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves. Gained what was promised. They saw some of God’s promises fulfilled, even though the central promise remained unfulfilled until Christ came (cf. vv. 39–40).
38 Grk “quenched the power of fire.”
39 Or “recovered from sickness.”
40 Grk “received back their dead from resurrection.”
41 Grk “to obtain a better resurrection.”
42 The reading ἐπρίσθησαν (ejpristhēsan, “they were sawed apart”) is found in some important witnesses (𝔓46 [D* twice reads ἐπίρσθησαν, “they were burned”?] syp sa Orpt Eus). Other have ἐπειράσθησαν (ejpeirasthēsan, “they were tempted”), either before “sawed apart” ([א] L P [048] 33 81 326 1505 syh), after “sawed apart” (𝔓13vid A D1 Ψ 1739 1881 𝔐 lat bo Orpt), or altogether in place of “sawed apart” (0150 vgmss 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 , 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, prizō] occurs only here in the NT, while the root of ἐπειράσθησαν [πειράζω, peirazō] occurs 38 times). The best reading here seems to be “sawed apart” without any addition before or after. (See , for a discussion of emendations that scholars have proposed for this difficult problem.)
43 The expression these all were commended forms an inclusio with Heb 11:2: The chapter begins and ends with references to commendation for faith.
44 Grk “the promise,” referring to the thing God promised, not to the pledge itself.
45 The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that they would not be made perfect without us.”