As stated, the OT saints’ faith rested upon God’s promises spoken to them as solemn testimony by the One whose word always comes with a guarantee of absolute fidelity so that his covenantal oath is added only as a concession to our weakness (Heb 1:1; 6:13–18). Because of this fact, the saints who received this prior redemptive revelation and who responded with persevering faith have themselves become “a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1) to us.29 Note that our author does