1 The pastor begins with a carefully crafted definition of faith designed to stimulate the perseverance of his hearers in a life of obedience through dependence upon God—“Now faith is the reality of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”1 Faith is oriented toward both the future, hoped-for realization of God’s promised reward (vv. 9, 11, 13, 26, 39–40) and the present, but unseen, reality of God’s existence, providence (v. 6), fidelity (v. 11) and power (v. 19).2 There is no reason to argue that, while the future hope is based on biblical categories, the “things not seen” are derived from Platonic dualism.3 Belief in the present power and faithfulness of God was the common heritage of all who accepted the OT.4

Many English versions translate the first part of this verse “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (NASB; cf. T/NIV). However, this subjective understanding of the word translated “assurance” has little support in contemporary usage. “Reality” (HCSB) is more in line with linguistic evidence (see the comments on 1:3; 3:14).5 The philosophers used this term to distinguish “reality” from mere “appearance.”6 It was also used for the “guarantee” or “title deed” to property in the business transactions of ordinary life.7 We probably understand this statement best, however, if we remember that “faith” refers to a way of life and not to mere theoretical belief. Thus, one might paraphrase, “Faith is living in accord with the reality of things hoped for,” or “faith is living as if the things hoped for are real.” This interpretation is eminently appropriate for the immediate context: Abraham conducted his whole life on the assumption that the heavenly “homeland” (vv. 13–16) and permanent City (v. 10) were real; Moses lived for the eternal “reward” (v. 26). The pastor would have his hearers conduct themselves as if the promised “Unshakable Kingdom” (12:25–29) were real rather than in pursuit of worldly goods. It is true that such a life of faith does not bring the future, hoped-for salvation into existence. It is, however, the means the pastor would have his hearers pursue in order that this final salvation might become a reality for them. Perseverance in such faith is also the guarantee of future enjoyment. Thus, this understanding of the opening clause is in perfect accord with the author’s pastoral concern that his hearers live by faith in order to receive what God has promised. Such faith is no meritorious act, but simply utter dependence upon the living God.8

Faith is also “the evidence of things not seen.” Subjective renderings like “the conviction of things not seen” (NASB; cf. T/NIV) are even more inappropriate as translations of this term. Faith is the objective “evidence” or “proof” (HCSB) of unseen reality.9 How does faith “prove” the unseen reality of God, his power and faithfulness? As the examples of this chapter show, through trust in God the faithful experience his power in their lives and receive his approval. Thus, they confirm his reality. The pastor offers these examples of faith and the way God demonstrated his power in their lives as evidence for the reality of God and his present activity on his people’s behalf.10 He would also have his hearers live “by faith” that they might experience this power themselves and know this confirmation. During the earthly lives of the OT faithful the high priesthood of Christ was part of the “things hoped for.” For all who live since Jesus, his high priesthood is the very present expression of the real but “unseen” power and faithfulness of God to save.11 Thus, the faith enjoined by the pastor is profoundly Christ-centered. Both those who lived before his coming and those who come after enter the heavenly homeland only through him (11:39–12:3). If the pastor’s hearers would live “by faith,” they must persist in “drawing near” to God through Christ (4:14–16; 10:19–25).12

2 “By this” kind of faith defined in v. 1 “the people of old were attested” by God.13 The term we have translated “people of old” or “elders” is a respectful way of honoring the examples of faith that follow. Like the wilderness generation described in 3:7–4:11, they were among the “fathers” to whom “of old” God spoke (1:1).14 Unlike that generation, they lived “by faith” and thus received divine approval at the end of their lives rather than exclusion from the divine “rest.”15 The Scriptural record is testimony to this ultimate divine acceptance.16 Their “attestation” by God is also their validation as examples worthy of emulation by the pastor’s hearers if they too would receive that ultimate divine commendation. Thus, from the beginning the pastor anticipates the conclusion of this history at the Judgment (12:25–29). In various ways these “people of old” described in the following verses elucidate and enrich the meaning of “by faith.”17

3 This verse initiates the roll call of those who lived “by faith” from the beginning of Genesis to the conquest of Jericho. It was appropriate for this list to begin with creation since it is the first part of a history that climaxes with the consummation (12:25–29). Yet we must not let the natural way in which the pastor introduces this topic blind us to the fundamental significance of his assertion: “the worlds [ages] were ordered by the word of God.”18 These words take the hearers back to the first chapter of Genesis. There God created the physical world and arranged its parts in a harmonious whole by merely speaking his word.19 But the term translated “worlds” also means “ages.”20 It is by the word of God that the “ages” of the world have been ordered and will be brought to their climax (cf. 1:2). The next phrase brings out the significance of these facts—“so that what is seen has not come into being from things that appear.”21 “What is seen” is singular, describing the whole created order. It has not come into being from any “things that appear” or have the quality of visibility. This affirmation is the foundation of the faith exemplified in this chapter—it is not the visible world of daily experience but God and his word that constitute ultimate reality. His word is ultimate because it is the means of creation. Thus, it is also the means of redemption (see the comments on 1:1–4) and final Judgment (12:25–29). To live “by faith,” then, is from beginning to end to live in accord with the word of God.22

It is possible to take the negative “not” with “things visible” instead of with “has come into being,” resulting in the following translation: “so that what is seen has come into being from things that are not visible.”23 This rendering invites commentators to further identify the “things that are not visible.” The pastor is hardly referring to the Platonic world of ideas, as some have suggested.24 In this chapter it is God (11:27), his existence, providence (11:6), fidelity (11:11), and power (11:19), along with the heavenly city he has prepared (11:9–10), that constitute invisible reality. Furthermore, it is still the “word” of God that is “the most obvious element of” the “transcendent world.”25 This identification of the “word of God” with “things not seen” is confirmed by the way Ellingworth has shown that the two expressions are mirror images of each other in the chiastic structure of this verse.26 Thus, this alteration in translation leaves the basic interpretation of this verse unchanged—people who live by faith live in accord with the word of God rather than by the values of the visible world. They live confident of God’s power in the present and relying upon his promise for the future. The divine word is the agent of the first and the guarantee of the second.

The pastor is pursuing no abstract philosophical discussion of God’s existence. He is concerned about God’s place in his hearers’ lives. Thus, he begins this verse with “by faith we know” (italics added). This turn of phrase accomplishes several important objectives. First, the inclusive “we” brings the pastor and his hearers close together. Second, this manner of speaking embraces the hearers from the outset within the company of the faithful, whom the pastor would have them emulate and with whom he would have them identify.27 Finally, by speaking thus, the pastor affirms that they also are committed to the fundamental principle that underlies the life of faith. “We,” like these heroes of faith, have come to this understanding of God’s word through our own trust in God and experience of his power.28 Thus, at the very beginning the pastor calls his hearers to testify to themselves. They are not of “those who turn back” (10:39) but of those who persevere through trusting in God’s promise and power. They are not to live as if this visible world were the ultimate reality, the final source of happiness, approval, gain, or loss. They know better. They are to live as if the unseen God and his power are the ultimate reality—which they are. The pastor will not address them again in the first person plural until he reaches the climax of his list and urges them, “Let us run the race laid before us” (12:1) in imitation of this “cloud of witnesses” now behind us. Then he will direct their vision to the exalted Jesus (12:2), who alone enables them to reach the goal.

4–5 Abel and Enoch establish a pattern for all the heroes who follow.29 Taken together, they anticipate Christ’s example of suffering and triumph (12:1–3). Sometimes, as in the case of Abel, people suffer for their faith without temporal deliverance. At other times, as in the case of Enoch, God brings great deliverance in response to faith. For most, the life of faith is a mixture of suffering and triumph. Thus, Abraham lived as an alien in the Promised Land but also experienced God’s power, especially through the birth of Isaac (vv. 8–19). Moses suffered ill-treatment with the people of God and endured the wrath of the king, but also experienced God’s mighty deliverance from Egypt (vv. 23–29). In some lives God’s great deliverance is the dominant experience. Thus, Enoch anticipates those enumerated below in vv. 32–35a, through whom God accomplished mighty deeds of deliverance including temporal resurrection. But Abel anticipates the final examples at the end of this chapter, vv. 35b–38, who suffer in this life without reprieve in order to obtain the “better resurrection.”30 However, it is important to note that Enoch’s translation surpasses the temporal deliverance experienced by all those in this chapter whom he typifies. Even those who were brought back to life eventually died. From the beginning the pastor would assert that God’s power to deliver transcends death. Every temporal deliverance provides assurance of ultimate deliverance in the “bette resurrection” (11:35b) because it bears witness to the faithfulness and power of God. The pastor would prepare his hearers to suffer and die for their loyalty to Christ, in imitation of Abel, by assuring them that God’s power transcends death, as demonstrated by Enoch. He is a God “who raises the dead” (v. 19).

In a more profound sense, however, every person who lives by faith identifies with both Abel and Enoch. All, like Abel, will die without receiving the fullness of what God has promised. All, like Enoch, are promised triumph over death. Heb 12:1–3 will make it clear that this victory is assured to the faithful by Christ’s experience to the ultimate degree of both Abel’s suffering and Enoch’s deliverance.31 Innocent Abel died for his faith—Christ “endured the cross, despising the shame.” Enoch was “translated”—Christ “has sat down at the right of the throne of God.” He is both the “Pioneer” and “Perfecter” of faith (12:2).32

Abel (Gen 4:2–8) was not a major figure in Jewish literature and plays virtually no part in other lists of past heroes.33 Yet some considered him to be the first martyr (4 Macc 18:11). Since he comes right after the creation, he was the pastor’s natural choice for an opening example that would encourage the faithful who suffer without relief in this life. Nor is it surprising that the pastor refers to his sacrifice, since little else is recorded about him in Scripture: “By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice than Cain.” God’s acceptance proved that Abel’s sacrifice was offered “by faith” and was thus “better” than Cain’s.34 The pastor adds “by God bearing witness in regard to his gifts” in order to make it very clear that it was through his “sacrifice” that he received divine attestation as “righteous.”35 It was traditional to speak of “righteous Abel.”36 However, the use of this term to describe his approval by God demonstrates that he initiates the roll call of God’s “righteous one[s] who live by faith” as described in the quotation from Habakkuk in Heb 10:37–38 above.

It is clear, then, that God attested Abel as righteous not after his death but after his sacrifice while he was still alive. Furthermore, it is “through this,” that is, through his act of faith in offering this sacrifice, that Abel “still speaks” to the people of God.37 Thus, Koester is correct when he says that the author of Hebrews does not speculate about Abel’s heavenly existence.38 Nor does Abel speak from heaven. It is through his act of faith recorded in Scripture that he “still speaks.” Still, by adding the phrase “although he has died,” the pastor deliberately raises a question: “How could Abel by his faith be a witness to the faithfulness of God if his death ended it all?”39 If that were true, why would anyone want to emulate such an example? The pastor probably believes that Abel is one of those “spirits of the righteous made perfect” now in the heavenly city (12:23). Yet because of his commitment to base his sermon on Scripture he makes no effort to use the example of Abel to answer this question. Thus the example of Abel and his innocent death forces the hearers to ask: “Does not the validity of faith depend on God’s power to transcend death?”40 “Must he not be a God who raises the dead?” (See the comments below on 11:19, 35b.) The example of Enoch that immediately follows will confirm that this is true. These same considerations mean that Abel exemplifies one meaning for “my righteous one will live by faith” (Heb 10:38/Hab 2:4): “my righteous one lives,” that is, conducts his or her life, “by faith.” It is left for Enoch and others to show that “my righteous one lives,” that is, receives eternal life, “by faith.”

The pastor has been careful to use a different word for “better” when describing Abel’s sacrifice than he used for Christ’s.41 However, this combination of obedience, sacrifice, and innocent death clearly anticipates the work of Christ. “Righteous” Abel presented a sacrifice that was pleasing to God because offered in faith. In a similar—but greater—way, the sinless Son of God offered a sacrifice that was pleasing because of his perfect obedience (10:5–10). He is the “righteous one” par excellence. As noted above, Abel anticipates Christ’s obedient death; Enoch, his triumphant exaltation.

The account of Enoch in Gen 5:21–24 begins typically enough by giving his age at the birth of his firstborn (v. 21) and the number of years he lived after that birth (v. 22). However, the Scriptural text then makes two statements about him that distinguish him from all others.42 It is these two statements that catch the attention of the author of Hebrews. First, Genesis describes the course of his life: he “walked with God” (v. 22, repeated for emphasis in v. 24a). Then it describes the unusual end of his life: “and he was not, for God took him” (v. 24b). The LXX renders the first of these statements as “he pleased God”; the second by, “and he was not found because God translated him.” Hebrews begins with the LXX version of Enoch’s remarkable end. The pastor interprets the meaning of Enoch’s being “translated” in v. 5a and then quotes the biblical text as support in v. 5b. First, Enoch can be included in this list because his “translation” was “by faith.” He was “translated” because he lived in obedient dependence upon God’s power and promises.43 Second, the pastor clarifies what is intimated by the biblical text in both Hebrew and Greek—this “translation” meant that “he did not see,” that is, he did not experience “death.” Enoch’s being taken by God was a “translation” that bypassed the death incumbent on all (cf. 2:14–15).44 In v. 5b the pastor quotes Gen 5:24b in support of this interpretation: “and he was not found because God translated him.”45 The pastor assumes his hearers will include Enoch along with Abel among the “righteous.”46 Abel is the paradigmatic example of “my righteous one who lives,” that is, conducts his earthly life, “by faith.” Enoch, however, is the corresponding example of “my righteous one who lives,” that is, obtains eternal life, “by faith.”47 Both are necessary for an adequate understanding of what it means to live in dependence on God.

How can the hearers know that Enoch lived “by faith”? The brief biblical text does not use “by faith” to describe him any more than it used “by faith” in conjunction with Abel. The pastor assumes that Abel acted “by faith” because God accepted his “gifts.” The hearers can be sure that Enoch acted “by faith” because the biblical text says twice that “he pleased God.” In v. 6 the pastor will make it clear that no one can please God without living in reliance on his present power and in confidence of his future promise. Indirectly addressing any lingering doubt in the hearers’ minds, this argument reinforces the fact that Abel acted by faith. Abel must have pleased God if God received his sacrifice. Although the pastor could have supported his premise on the basis of the Hebrew text, “Enoch walked with God” (Gen 5:23, 24a), he found the LXX rendering, “Enoch pleased God,” felicitous for his purposes. The perceptive Greek translator wished to bring out the significance of this praise used only of Enoch, for no other patriarch of Genesis is described as “walking with God.”48 Certainly one who walked with God pleased him.

Enoch’s translation may anticipate all of the other triumphs of faith in this chapter, but it also surpasses them. Thus, it both points to and pales before the Christ whom it typifies. Enoch did not experience death. The Son of God experienced the bitterness of death to the full in order that he might conquer death for all (2:9; 5:7–10; 9:14; 10:5–10; 12:1–3).

6 According to Hab 2:4 (Heb 10:38), God’s “soul was not pleased” with someone who “turns back.” On the other hand, God is pleased with those who “live by faith.” Therefore the pastor affirms: “For without faith it is impossible to please God.” This statement is important for the argument. It confirms the faith of Abel and Enoch—they pleased God; therefore, they must have been people of faith. It plays an even greater role in the author’s pastoral concern for his hearers: if they would please God, they must be people characterized by this kind of faith. How vital it is to understand the nature of this faith. Thus, the pastor would confirm and augment the “definition” he gave at the opening of this chapter by describing the object of faith: “for the one who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” The significance of this statement becomes clearer when its elements are viewed as the mirror image of v. 1:

A. “Faith is the reality of things hoped for” (v. 1a)

B. “the evidence of things not seen.” (v. 1b)

B¹. “The one who comes to God must believe that he is” (v. 6b)

A¹. “and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” (v. 6c)

Once again the pastor emphasizes both the present and future orientations of faith. Believing that God “is” clarifies what the pastor meant by “things not seen” in v. 1b. As argued above, those unseen “things” are God, his power, and his fidelity. The people of faith live as if God “is” and is powerfully active on behalf of the faithful in the present.49 Furthermore, they live with confidence in the future when they will receive the “things hoped for” because God is “a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.”50 Those translations that read “he rewards” (NRSV) instead of “he is a rewarder” diminish the pastor’s message: the faithful live with anticipation of receiving what God has promised because of their absolute confidence in the character of God (cf. 6:13–20). Faith rests securely on his faithfulness and power. This God-centered perspective is in complete harmony with the rest of Scripture and confirms the understanding of faith given above. Notice how the pastor begins in v. 1 with “things hoped for” and concludes in this verse with “God is a rewarder.”51 He misses no chance to fix his hearers’ attention on the ultimate Goal—where Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God (12:1–3).

The pastor makes it clear that this belief in the reality of God and the certainty of his promises is far more than speculation or mental assent. Thus, in Greek this statement begins with an emphatic “to believe.” It is addressed to the one “who draws near to God” in worship and service. The promised salvation is only for those “who diligently seek” God.52 With all of these terms the pastor calls his hearers to faith as a way of life. They are to act as if God is real and his promises are certain. Thus, there can be no disjuncture between faith and obedience (v. 8; see on 3:18–19). Nor can there be any waffling about their commitment to Christ, who has become for them the present power of God, fully sufficient for their perseverance, and the one through whom they will receive what God has promised.

7 Noah is the next major godly person in the Genesis narrative so familiar to the pastor’s hearers. They know that Noah, like Abel and Enoch, was both “righteous” (Gen 6:9; 7:1) and pleasing to God (Gen 6:9).53 And yet the pastor employs v. 6 to separate Noah from these two earlier examples because he would use Noah to emphasize the future orientation of faith. As noted above, v. 6 ends with the words “is a rewarder.” Noah lived as if God was “a rewarder,” as if his promise—or in this case his warning—for the future was sure: “Having been warned [by God] concerning things not yet seen.” Those “things not yet seen” were the coming universal judgment of the flood that anticipated or typified the final Judgment at the end of history (12:25–29; cf. 1 Pet 3:20). God’s promise of eternal blessing can be understood only in light of his warning against ultimate judgment. Throughout the rest of this history the pastor describes the promised hope of the faithful in the most positive terms as a heavenly home (11:13–16); an eternal City (11:9–10; 12:22–24); a great “reward” (11:26); and an “Unshakable Kingdom” (12:28). However, by beginning (11:7) and ending (12:25–29) with judgment, he will not let his hearers forget that from which God has delivered them. God promises his own deliverance from eternal judgment (9:28) so that they can enjoy life in the promised eternal City (vv. 9–10). The pastor would motivate his hearers by focusing their attention on the promised blessing without letting them forget the threat of judgment.

It is quite appropriate to describe Noah’s response to God’s warning as his being “moved by godly fear.”54 As noted on 5:7 above, such “godly fear” is the full recognition—by the way one lives—of God’s awesome sovereign power and faithfulness. Noah came to such a recognition of God “by faith,” that is, by believing both in God’s “promise” of a flood and in his fearsome power to bring it about. His “godly fear” became fully real in his obedience—“he built an ark.” From Noah the hearers learn that true faith leads to an inner recognition of and complete surrender to God that expresses itself in humble obedience. Thus, Noah fills in the nature of the faith outlined by the pastor’s descriptions of Abel and Enoch and establishes a context for the following examples of those who live “by faith.” The “godly fear” (5:7) through which Christ has provided salvation is replicated in the lives of God’s people “by faith.”

This emphasis on future judgment enables the pastor to use Noah as proof that God will deliver his “righteous one” from the Judgment “by faith.” Close attention to the text shows that Noah “condemned the world” and “became an heir of righteousness” by being delivered from the universal judgment of the flood. Noah built an “ark for the salvation of his household.” We can understand this salvation as either the purpose or the result of his building the ark. The next phrase, “through which,” is crucial. The word for “which” is feminine, and thus probably refers to the closest feminine antecedent—“salvation,” or possibly to the feminine noun for “ark” a bit earlier in the Greek sentence. “Ark” and “salvation” are so closely related that the decision between them is not crucial. It is through the “salvation” from the flood provided by the “ark” that Noah both “condemned the world” and “became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.”55 This condemning “of the” unbelieving “world” did not take place through the preaching of Noah.56 He did not “become an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith” while he was building the ark. These two expressions refer to the condemnation of the world and the deliverance of Noah at the time of universal judgment by the flood. The “godly fear” by which Noah was moved is the appropriate response of all the faithful before the Judgment (12:28).

Attention to the text of Genesis confirms this explanation as representing the pastor’s intention. As we have seen above, the pastor describes Abel as “righteous” because of the way he conducted his life. The first verse of the Noah account in Genesis—Gen 9:6—calls Noah “righteous.”57 Yet the pastor does not use this term to describe him. Instead, Hebrews says that he “became an heir of the righteousness that is according to faith” through the deliverance provided by the ark. A careful comparison of terminology shows that the pastor is thinking of Gen 7:1. In that verse, the time of universal judgment through the flood is at hand. Noah has demonstrated his obedience because the ark is ready. God is speaking to Noah: “You and all your household, go into the Ark, because I have seen that you [singular, referring to Noah] are righteous before me in this generation.” Noah became “an heir of the righteousness that is by faith” at this point in time when God declared him “righteous” and delivered him from impending universal judgment. Reference to Gen 7:1 is confirmed by the fact that this is the only place in the account of Noah that refers, as does Heb 11:7, to Noah’s “household.”

Mention of Noah’s “household” reminds the hearers of the “household” of God, over which Christ is Son (3:1–6). This link between Noah and Christ is strengthened by the entire phrase “for the salvation of his household.” The Genesis account does not describe Noah’s deliverance as “salvation.” Thus, by using “salvation” and “household” together the pastor establishes a connection between the “salvation” from the flood Noah provided for his “household” through faithful obedience and the “salvation” (9:28) Christ will provide for God’s “household” (3:6) at the final Judgment. We have seen that Abel, by his innocent death, foreshadows the suffering of Christ; and Enoch, by his “translation,” the exaltation of Christ to God’s right hand. In light of the fact that Noah was the agent by which his “household” (= God’s people) was delivered, he is an even clearer premonition of Christ’s delivering his own at the Judgment (9:28).58 It is worth noting that the pastor began this sermon by founding all three of these events (suffering, exaltation, second coming) on Ps 110:1 (Heb 1:3, 13) and Ps 8:4–6 (Heb 2:5–9). His teaching on Christ’s high priesthood (4:14–10:18) is his explanation of their significance. Through the first two of these events Christ has become the “Pioneer and Perfecter of the faith” (12:2) who will come again “for salvation” (9:28) at the third.

The pastor would have his hearers leave this section on the primeval history with a richer understanding of “my righteous one will live by faith” (Hab 2:4/Heb 10:38). Abel demonstrated that “my righteous one” will conduct his or her life “by faith” even in the face of suffering or death. Enoch proved that “my righteous one” will overcome death “by faith.” Noah shows conclusively that “my righteous one” need have no fear of the Judgment “by faith.” It is “by faith” that the righteous will finally enter the “Unshakable Kingdom” (12:28) at the consummation of all things. From beginning to end a life of obedience in reliance on God’s promises and dependence on his power is the key to pleasing God.

b. Abraham, Faith at Its Best: Perseverance in an Alien World (11:8–22)

8By faith Abraham obeyed as soon as he was called to set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. And he set out, although he did not know where he was going. 9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 10For he was continually looking forward to the City that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11By faith even Sarah herself, although barren, received power for the disposition of seed, even though she was past the season for child bearing, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful. 12Therefore, from one man, who was indeed dead, there came into being as many as the stars of heaven in multitude and as the sand along the seashore without number.

13These all died according to faith, although they had not received the promises. However, they had seen them from afar, greeted them, and confessed that they were aliens and transients on earth. 14For those who say such things show that they are diligently seeking a place where they are citizens. 15And if they had been mindful of that place from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But now they fervently long for a better, that is, a heavenly place. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a City.

17By faith Abraham offered Isaac when he was being tested. And he who had received the promises was ready to offer the only begotten, 18he to whom it had been said that “in Isaac will your seed be called.” 19He did this because he reckoned that God was able to raise from the dead. Therefore, he received him as a type.

20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. 21By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped on the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, as he was coming to an end, remembered the exodus of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones.

The pastor has appropriately chosen Abraham (vv. 8–22) and Moses (vv. 23–31) to be the centerpiece examples of the next two sections. According to Scripture they were the two most important persons in establishing the people of God. God gave Abraham the promise of a redeemed people living in a promised place of blessing. God fulfilled that promise through Moses and Joshua (Josh 23:14). However, in 4:1–11 the pastor has already demonstrated that the conquest under Joshua was not the true fulfillment God had in mind. Something much greater would be made available through Christ.

As the recipients of God’s “promises” (11:9; cf. 7:6), Abraham and his “fellow heirs” (v. 9), Isaac and Jacob, appropriately set the standard for all the faithful. In earlier days there had been people who lived “by faith” (vv. 1–7). However, God’s people came into existence as a defined entity through God’s promises to these three patriarchs.1 Although the pastor pursues four examples from Abraham’s life (vv. 8–12, 17–19) and three from his “fellow heirs” (vv. 20–22) in chronological order, he has carefully arranged this material to accomplish his purposes. The first two examples (v. 8, vv. 9–10) pertain to God’s promise of a home, and thus envision the destiny of God’s people; the third (vv. 11–12), to his promise of a son, thus speaking to that people’s origin. The pastor uses these three examples to reinforce what he has already said about faith in vv. 1–7. The first two (vv. 8–10) substantiate the pastor’s conviction that “faith is the reality of things hoped for” (v. 1a). Abraham and his “fellow heirs” conducted their lives according to the conviction that the permanent, hoped-for “City” promised by God was real and attainable. The third (vv. 11–12) substantiates the pastor’s assertion that “faith is the proof of things not seen” (v. 1b). By faith Sarah experienced the real but unseen power of God in the present through the birth of Isaac.

The pastor also uses these three examples to expand his hearers’ understanding of faith by identifying the future reality that faith “hopes for” (v. 1a) and attesting the “unseen” divine power upon which it depends. The first two examples (vv. 8–10) make it clear that the “place” (v. 8) God had promised Abraham was ultimately not the earthly land of Canaan but “a City that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (v. 10). This City is the future “hoped-for” object of his people’s faith (v. 1a). The third example (vv. 11–12) makes it plain that no one but God raises up a people for himself, and that his power to do so transcends death. This is the power, though often “unseen” (v. 1b), upon which his people depend as they make their way toward the promised City. It is necessary for the pastor to provide additional insight into both the destiny of faith and its sustaining power before going further. In vv. 13–16 he clarifies the relationship of the faithful to the heavenly “City” established by God as their true home. The location of these verses is strategic because the perspective they provide on the heavenly home is foundational to all that follows. The pastor is then free to use the fourth example from the life of Abraham (vv. 17–19) to make a definitive affirmation of God’s power over death—by sacrificing Isaac, Abraham affirmed his faith in a “God who is able to raise from the dead.” The God who has provided a heavenly “City” will raise his people from the dead so that they can enjoy it.

The pastor has given multiple indications that mark the importance of Abraham’s faith in the resurrection (vv. 17–19). The sacrifice of Isaac through which Abraham affirms this faith is the fourth and climactic example drawn from his life. This event is centrally located between the pastor’s explanation of the heavenly City (vv. 13–16) and the examples of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, who were seeking that city (vv. 20–22). They also believed in a God whose power transcended death. When we have finished analyzing the structure of 11:1–40 below, we will see that vv. 17–19 and resurrection faith are central to this entire chapter.2

The pastor returns to the picture, first introduced in 3:7–4:11, of God’s people on pilgrimage to the heavenly home where they are natives and citizens. H. B. Partin has developed a useful paradigm of religious pilgrimage drawn from an analysis of pilgrimages in various world religions.3 According to this paradigm, there are four characteristics of such journeys: (1) They begin with a definite departure from home and from the normal life of the one going on pilgrimage. (2) They pursue a definite destination—they are not mere wanderings. (3) This destination has religious significance. (4) The journey is often beset with hardship. The pastor will help his hearers endure this hardship by transforming the pilgrim journey into the race of faith in 12:1–13. William Johnsson has shown how the pilgrimage paradigm brings clarity to the heroes of faith 11:1–40.4 No one illustrates this pattern of pilgrimage better than Abraham.

8 Indeed, no list of heroes could exclude him.5 Although other writers often ignored his “call” (Gen 12:1–9), the pastor finds this event a most fitting place to begin.6 Abraham’s response illustrates the first three characteristics of pilgrimage outlined above: he made a definitive break with his former life when he “set out” in response to God’s promise (characteristic one).7 He went in pursuit of a definite, if unknown, “place” (characteristic two). This place had great significance because God had promised it to him “as an inheritance” (characteristic three). His action also demonstrated the kind of faith described in vv. 1 and 6 above: he obeyed because he trusted God’s promise calling him “to set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance” (cf. vv. 1a, 6d).8 Furthermore, he depended upon God’s power to sustain him on the way (cf. vv. 1b, 6c). The quality of this faith is further demonstrated by the fact that “he did not know where he was going.” The pastor emphasizes the immediacy of Abraham’s response. In Greek the initial “by faith” is followed immediately by the present participle “being called” and the aorist verb “he obeyed.” This construction is appropriately translated, “as soon as Abraham was called he obeyed.”9 There was no hesitation or procrastination. What a contrast with the people of the wilderness generation, who repeatedly expressed their unbelief through disobedience.10 The pastor would remind his hearers of the need to respond promptly to their own “heavenly calling” (3:1). By concluding the primeval history with Noah’s “godly fear” (v. 7) and beginning his presentation of Abraham with obedience, the pastor sets the direction for all of the following heroes.11 Faith is living as if God’s power for the present is real and his promise for the future is secure (vv. 1, 6).

By using “place” for Abraham’s God-directed destination instead of “land” the pastor prepares his hearers for the fact that this “inheritance” is not the earthly Promised Land but an eternal dwelling place.12 In fact, he never uses the word “land” for the eternal destination of God’s people. In v. 9 Abraham dwells in the earthly “land of promise” as an “alien” land. By v. 13 the word translated “land” has assumed its broader meaning—“earth”—and is a description of the place where the faithful live as strangers.

9 Abraham not only “set out,” leaving his earthly homeland, but he also lived by choice as a stranger and alien in this world (v. 9), because he anticipated God’s permanent “City” to come (v. 10).13 The word translated “sojourned” is used by Genesis to describe Abraham’s living in the Promised Land as temporary and without ownership or the rights of a citizen.14 There is a touch of irony in the way the pastor refers to the place of his sojourning as “the land of promise.” By using this term he acknowledges the role played by this land in the OT. Yet, it is almost as if he had said “the supposed land of promise,” for, as Scripture shows, Abraham lived there as in a “strange” or “alien” land. Furthermore, it is a matter of record that Abraham, along with Isaac and Jacob, the two generations that followed him, lived as nomads in nothing more permanent than “tents.”15 Those who pursue such a pilgrimage do not, as it were, build their homes in this world. Hebrews uses the aorist tense, “he sojourned” or “he dwelt as a stranger,” not because Abraham’s sojourn was short, but because he completed it by enduring to the end. By deciding to journey toward the eternal “City” in answer to God’s call, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob chose to be strangers and aliens in the unbelieving society of this world. They lived their lives with a different point of reference. This alien status willingly embraced by the patriarchs makes sense of the hostility that the faithful endure at the hands of an unbelieving world (vv. 23–27, 35b–38; cf. v. 4 above). That world would force the people of faith to conform to the accepted standard and adopt a this-worldly point of view. Thus, Abraham’s alien status sets the stage for the hardships that are the fourth and final characteristic of pilgrimage given above.

The pastor mentions Isaac and Jacob in order to reinforce what he has said about Abraham. According to Scripture, God specifically passed the Abrahamic promise of land and progeny on to them (cf. Gen 26:33; 28:3–4; 23–25; etc.). Thus, in a unique way they were “fellow heirs of the same promise” and join him as the prototypical example of faith. The pastor will exploit this relationship in vv. 20–22 below.

10 The fact that Abraham spent his whole life as a temporary resident, without citizenship in the supposed “land of promise,” shows that the “place” (v. 8) he anticipated was “a City that” had “foundations, whose architect and builder” was “God”—the same God who called him to “set out” from his home. Abraham endured this life as a stranger and alien, “for he was continually looking forward to” this eternal destination.16 The imperfect tense of this verb indicates that such anticipation was habitual and implies that it was motivation for endurance. Because the God-established permanent City is the first description within this chapter of the goal pursued by the faithful, it sets the direction for what follows. Its importance is substantiated by the way the pastor draws his history to a close, bringing his hearers to “the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (12:22–24; cf. 3:14). This imagery reminds them of the way Scripture describes Jerusalem past and future as a city firmly established by God.17 The permanence of this city is evidenced by its “foundations.” Those who now dwell in “tents” (v. 9) because they are strangers in this world will enjoy its unfading durability. Although this city can be described as “heavenly” (12:24), it does not derive its enduring nature merely from its location. It is permanent and utterly superior to the cities of this world because its “architect and builder is God.”18 Earthly cities are the transient work of mortal, sinful human beings (cf. 7:23–25; 8:7; 9:24). The words translated “architect” and “builder” are very similar in meaning. “Architect” could be used for the “designer” who planned a building project; “builder,” for one who completed it.19 By using both the pastor insists that this city is permanent and superior because from conception to completion it is the work of God. These two words would hardly have been appropriate if the pastor had wished to describe God as the source of some “heavenly” noumenal world of ideas. In fact, both were used in Hellenistic Judaism to describe him as the creator of the physical universe.20 This God-established “City” is a true “place” (v. 8). It is, in fact, identical to the “rest” that God has prepared for his people (4:1). Thus, we may assume, on the basis of 4:3–6, that it was established by God on the seventh day of creation. It is his own “rest” that already exists and that he has intended from the beginning for his people to share. It will be revealed at the Judgment as an “Unshakable Kingdom” when all that is merely temporal passes away (12:25–29). In fact, since the coming of Christ the faithful, both living and dead, have preliminary access to this City (12:22–24). The importance of this pilgrimage is demonstrated by the significance of its destination.

11–12 Faith is living as if God’s promise for the future is sure and his power in the present is real (vv. 1, 6). Verses 8–10 have emphasized that Abraham lived as if God’s promise for the future was sure. God would fulfill his promise of an eternal City. In vv. 11–12 Sarah depends upon and receives God’s power in the present. God had also promised Abraham many descendants who would join him in inheriting this permanent, God-built “City.” But, as yet, he did not have the son through whom those descendants would come. By trusting God Sarah received the power to conceive and bear that son—Isaac. This event confirmed Abraham and Sarah in their faith because it gave “evidence” (v. 1b) of the reality and faithfulness of God. As we will see, the way the pastor describes the birth of Isaac implies that God exercises power over death on behalf of his own—a reality already affirmed by the “translation” of Enoch in v. 5. This intimation of God’s death-transcending power will be made more explicit when the pastor declares that by sacrificing Isaac Abraham affirmed his faith in “a God who is able to raise from the dead” (vv. 17–19).

“By faith even Sarah herself, although barren, received power for the disposition of seed.” There has been much controversy over whether Sarah or Abraham is the subject of this sentence. One would presume that Sarah is the subject because the words “even Sarah herself” occur in the nominative case immediately after the initial “by faith.”21 Those who insist on Abraham remind us that he is the subject of the three previous verses (vv. 8–10) and that he is also the “one” who is the source of many descendants in the following verse (v. 12).22 The chief reason, however, for rejecting Sarah as subject is the fact that “for the disposition of seed” (“for the sowing of seed”) invariably describes the male function in procreation.23 Some who take Abraham as the subject argue that “Sarah, herself barren,” should be taken as a nominative concessive, “although Sarah herself was barren [Abraham] received power.…”24 Others add an iota subscript, making “Sarah” dative, “Abraham, with Sarah herself, received power.…”25

There are, however, excellent reasons for taking Sarah as the subject, in accord with the natural use of the nominative case. First, the pastor and his hearers, who were very familiar with the OT, knew that Abraham had no problem with the “disposition of seed.” He successfully impregnated Hagar fourteen years before the birth of Isaac (Gen 16:4, 15–16). He fathered other children after the death of Sarah (Gen 25:1–4). Although the OT mentions Abraham’s age in conjunction with his childlessness, it puts the main emphasis on Sarah.26 The opening genealogy of the Abraham narrative sets the tone for what is to follow by introducing Sarah as “barren” (Gen 11:30). It is because she does “not bear” children for Abraham that she offers him Hagar (Gen 16:1). As the story progresses, Sarah reaches the age beyond which women are able to conceive (Gen 18:11; cf. 17:18–19). The narrative of Genesis focuses on what God is going to do through her. First, Abraham thinks that his steward will be his heir (Gen 15:1–6). Then, after God tells him that his own physical descendant will inherit the promise (Gen 15:4), he assumes that the son of Hagar will be his heir (cf. Gen 17:18). Finally, God tells him that the heir will be born from aged, barren Sarah (Gen 17:16). Abraham will know that this birth is by the power of God. Furthermore, by using Sarah as the subject the pastor introduces an element of surprise that makes this example all the more powerful. Sarah, who had the problem and bore the shame, who gave Abraham Hagar as a substitute for her own inadequacy, and who laughed at God’s promise (Gen 18:11–13)—she was the one who “by faith” received “power.” Moreover, the use of Sarah in this passage corresponds with the pastor’s larger arrangement. We will show below that the first example of Abraham’s faith (v. 8) corresponds to the third example from the Moses section (v. 27); the second from Abraham (vv. 9–10), with the second from Moses (vv. 24–26); the third from the Abraham section (vv. 11–12), with the first from Moses (v. 23). The first example from the Moses section is not about the faith of Moses but about the faith of his parents; the third from the Abraham section is not about the faith of Abraham but the faith of his wife.27 The pastor introduces these others who were closely related to Abraham and Moses in order to strengthen the testimony of these two great heroes. It was not merely Abraham, but also Sarah who had faith; not merely Moses, but also his parents. God’s people are a people who live “by faith.”

The only substantive objection to Sarah’s being the subject comes from the phrase “for the disposition of seed.” No one has been able to present convincing evidence that this phrase could be used to describe the woman’s part in procreation.28 However, as Johnson has shown, this sentence can be understood without undue stress as Sarah’s receiving “power” to receive Abraham’s “disposition of seed”29 “By faith even Sarah herself, although barren, received power for the [reception of Abraham’s] disposition of seed, although she was also beyond the season of childbearing.” This interpretation gives Sarah’s example maximum force. The pastor magnifies the obstacles to faith by affirming that Sarah was both “barren” and “beyond the season of childbearing.”30 By doing this, he embraces Sarah’s story, which began by describing her barrenness (Gen 11:30) and drew to a climax just before Isaac’s birth by declaring that she was now also past the time when women are able to have children (Gen 18:11). However, by trusting God and his promise she received “power” from him to overcome these difficulties. She received this power “since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.” Sarah’s giving Hagar to Abraham (Gen 16:1–4) and laughing at God’s promise (Gen 18:12) are no objection to applying this statement to her. The pastor is certain that she could not have received such “power” unless she had trusted God. Thus, he asserts that she overcame all such hesitancy by faith. It remains to explain why the pastor would have used this phrase, “the disposition of seed,” if the above interpretation is correct. Why did he not simply say that Sarah received power to conceive or to bear Isaac? A probable answer is close at hand. By using this phrase the pastor leaves no doubt that Sarah is bearing the “seed” promised to Abraham (cf. v. 19). Her action is linked inextricably to the promise that God would multiply Abraham’s seed. Thus, the pastor can refer in v. 12 to Abraham as the “one” through whom numerous progeny have come to be.

Verse 12 magnifies the power and faithfulness of God by comparing it with human impotence. “Therefore,” through the birth of Isaac a vast multitude “came into being” from only “one” man, and he was “indeed dead.” While a copyist would expect “were born,” the alternate reading, “came into being,” better serves the pastor’s intention because it puts the emphasis on God’s power and agency.31 This multitude was brought into being by God from “one” man, Abraham (the pronoun “one” is masculine), who was “indeed dead” and totally impotent to produce children with Sarah.32 The number of Abrahamic descendants, however, was as vast as God had promised in Gen 22:17b, which the pastor now quotes: “as the stars of the heaven in multitude and as the grains of sand along the seashore without number.” By adding the words “in multitude” and “without number” to the text of Gen 22:17 the pastor underscores the fact that Abraham’s God-given descendants are beyond counting. He has borrowed “in multitude” from Moses’ reference to this same promise found in Exod 32:13.33 “Without number” was suggested by God’s first promise of many descendants (Gen 15:5).34 The pastor has separated the attributive adjective “without number” from “sand,” the noun it modifies, and given it prominence by putting it at the end of the Greek sentence. He leaves “without number” ringing in the ears of his hearers—such is God’s faithfulness and power. Abraham and Sarah experienced the birth of Isaac as God’s token of this coming multitude “without number.” However, the pastor’s hearers are reminded of God’s faithfulness because they can see the fulfillment of this promise. The rest of this chapter is filled with representatives of that innumerable multitude. They are the people of God throughout the ages who live by faith in the promise given to Abraham, but now fulfilled in Christ (6:13–20).35 Thus both this “great cloud of witness” (12:1) and the recipients of Hebrews are among their ranks.

It is obvious that God’s promise to Abraham given in Gen 22:17 immediately after the sacrifice of Isaac has great importance. The pastor quoted Gen 22:17a in Heb 6:14. Here he quotes Gen 22:17b in anticipation of the sacrifice of Isaac, soon to be discussed in vv. 17–19 below. The rest of this chapter will bring out the full significance of God’s promise of many descendants. The God who brought such a multitude from one who was “indeed dead” is a God whose power and plans for his people transcend death. The birth of Isaac anticipates what Abraham will attest by the sacrifice of Isaac—God is a “God who is able to raise from the dead” (11:19).

13–16 We have already demonstrated the importance of these verses and their strategic location within this chapter. The goal pursued by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the goal pursued by all the people who lived “by faith” in the promises God had given to them. Therefore, by clarifying the relationship of Sarah and these patriarchs to the eternal “City” (v. 10) and to the society of their earthly sojourn, the pastor establishes the pattern for all the examples of faith who follow. Thus, these verses provide further insight into both the goal pursued by the faithful in this chapter and the character of the “marginalization” they incur as the people of God because they have chosen the way of faith.36 The pastor could go no further without drawing his hearers more fully into this vision of reality.37

This explanation in vv. 13–16 finds its complement in vv. 39–40.38 If the hearers would understand the nature God’s people, who live by faith in his “promises,” they must begin with the patriarchs who first received those promises. That explanation, however, is incomplete without Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises (cf. 6:13–20). Thus, after completing this roll call, the pastor will explain the relationship of the faithful of old to contemporary believers in light of all that Christ has done (vv. 39–40). Then he will be able to show both how Christ is the greatest example of perseverance, and how he has provided the way for all those who live “by faith”—both before and after his coming—to enter the “City” God has prepared for them (12:1–3). The pastor’s deep concern is that his hearers identify with the faithful of the past by fully embracing the advantages that are theirs through Christ but were unavailable during the lives of their predecessors.

13 “These all died according to faith” refers specifically to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, who have been mentioned in the last five verses.39 The pastor’s description is crafted with their experiences in mind.40 Verses 1–7 have shown that God has had faithful people from the beginning. Yet Abraham, who received God’s “promises” (7:6; 11:17), and his “fellow heirs” (v. 9), were in a unique sense the progenitors of the people of God. They determined the way of life for all the faithful referred to in v. 39 at the end of this catalogue as “these all.” The “these all” of v. 13 established the course for the “these all” of v. 39.41 “According to faith” interrupts the refrain, “by faith,” with which the pastor has been introducing each new example. Since dying is not something people choose to do, the pastor cannot describe it as an action done “by” means of “faith.” The manner of their deaths, however, was “according to faith.”42 They kept their course to the end, trusting in God’s promises and in his power. The three following participial phrases describe their degree of participation in “the promises” of God by the time they died.43 The first and primary participial phrase is negative, and should probably be taken as concessive; the second two are positive. First, then, “although they had not received the promises.” They completed the life of faith, but at the time of their deaths they “had not” yet “received” what God had promised. Instead they had endured hardship in anticipation of fulfillment to come. The pastor makes this point in order to fortify his hearers and all other believers for such endurance.

It is crucial that one identify the content of these “promises.” The following verses make it clear that the heavenly “City” is the main promised but not-yet-received reality under immediate consideration. Elsewhere, however, when the pastor speaks of the final hope of believers he uses the singular “promise” (4:1; 6:17; 9:15; 10:36; 11:9, 39). He normally reserves the plural to describe situations in which the multiple nature of what was promised is clear: Abraham received the “promises” of land, a son, posterity, and blessing (7:6; 11:17). The New Covenant was based on the “promises” of forgiveness, God’s law on the heart, and an intimate knowledge of God (8:6). The heroes of faith received many “promises” of temporal deliverance (10:36). The closest parallel to our present text is the pastor’s exhortation to his hearers (in 6:12) that they become “imitators of those who through faith and patience are inheriting the promises.” Both in that passage and here (in 11:13) the plural magnifies the abundance of what God has promised. Yet from Abraham’s vantage point God’s “promises” included not only a place of inheritance but also a great nation whom God would bring into that inheritance lest the promise of heritage be meaningless. We have already noted how vv. 8–10 addressed the issue of inherited home-place, and vv. 11–12, the concern for descendants. By the time of Moses, the next great exemplar of faith, the company of Abraham’s faithful descendants had become a reality. Only in Christ would the means of im’s faithful descendants had become a reality. Only in Christ would the means of its inheritance become clear. Thus, there is a fullness in this promise that comes to focus in the singularity of entrance into the promised heavenly City. The other parts of the promise pertain to establishing a people of God and bringing them to that destination. The pastor’s point here is that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob lived by faith although they did not reach this ultimate goal of God’s promises during their lifetimes.

The next participial phrase confirms this interpretation: with the eyes of faith “they had seen” the fulfillment “from afar” at the time of death. “From afar” includes, but must not be limited to, mere temporal distance.44 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not have access to what had been promised. Compare this sense of distance with all that the pastor has said about Christ’s opening the way for his people to “draw near” to God (4:14–16; 10:19–25) and with the grand description of the faithful “who have come” to “the City of the living God” (12:22). The pastor also speaks of final entrance into God’s blessings as temporally near for those who live after Christ—“for the coming one will come and will not delay” (10:37). At Christ’s soon return all things will be put under his feet (1:13; 2:5–9). Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, like all those who lived before Christ, had neither the privilege of access available since Christ’s coming nor the hope of his imminent return with the ultimate access it would bring. Yet, despite these limitations, it is important not to forget in what way they did participate in what God had promised. They did “see” its certain reality and future fulfillment with the eyes of faith.45 When the pastor recounted the story of the unbelieving generation in 3:7–4:11, he used the language of “hearing” (3:7, 15, 16; 4:2, 7). However, as Noah (v. 7) has already demonstrated, the people of faith hear and obey the word of God because they “see.” “By faith” they “see,” that is, they give their full attention to and live in accord with, both the “unseen” present power of God and the not yet visible future fulfillment of his promises. Note vv. 23, 26, and 27 below. By keeping their eyes on God’s promised eternal blessings, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob set the pattern for God’s people. It is living by this “vision” that makes them people of faith and sustains their perseverance.

The next participial phrase, “and greeted [what God had promised],” does not gainsay what we have said. This is the greeting of travelers who can see home, as these people could see the promised eternal City with the eyes of faith, but who do not yet enjoy its comfort. The pastor’s point is that these people of faith acknowledged this heavenly destination as their own while still alive in the world. By so doing they “confessed that they” were “aliens and transients on the earth.” To “sojourn” in “an alien land” (v. 9) is one thing. To intentionally embrace this lifestyle by “confessing” one’s status is another. The pastor is referring to Abraham’s description of himself in Gen 23:4 as a “resident alien and transient.”46 The term used by the LXX of Gen 23:4 for “resident alien” is related to the verb translated “sojourn” in v. 9 above and was a technical term for those who lived in a country without the rights of citizenship.47 If anything, the alternate word used by Hebrews, which we have translated simply as “aliens,” is even more forceful.48 The second term, “transients,” found in both Hebrews and Gen 23:4 (LXX), is closely related to both “resident alien” and “alien.” It describes those whose stay in a place is temporary.49 Abraham and his descendants were ready to confess both that “this world” was “not [their] home” and that they were “just passing through.” When the pastor’s hearers maintain their “confession” of the full sufficiency of Christ, they join the faithful of the past in “confessing” that they are citizens of the world to come, and thus only temporary aliens in this world. Such people should not be surprised if they lack the protection of citizens and are persecuted by those who consider here and now their home.50 “On earth” represents the same Greek word used for the “land” of promise in v. 9. However, the contrast with “heavenly” (v. 16) suggests that “on earth” is more appropriate here.51 The supposed “land of promise” was no more than the place of Abraham’s earthly sojourn as he awaited his true home. The pastor, however, would not have us attribute this earthly alienation to some form of Platonic dualism.52 The people of faith are not “strangers” on earth because they belong by nature to heaven. They are aliens here because they have affirmed their faith in God, chosen to obey his heavenly calling, identified with his people, and committed themselves to live for the heavenly “City.”53 If one would enjoy eternal citizenship in this city, one must forgo the benefits of those who are at home in the present world.

14–16a With almost syllogistic precision the pastor explains what promised good these people of faith hope to obtain. Verse 14 provides his major premise; v. 15, the minor premise; and v. 16a, the conclusion. The author is substantiating what he said in v. 10—the people of faith are anticipating the “City” that God has prepared for them. These verses also portray how intensely they pursued these promises. Verse 13 has described the limitations imposed on Abraham and those who first received God’s promise and, by implication, on all the faithful who lived before Christ. They experienced neither final entrance into the eternal City nor the present participation in that reality made available through Christ. They lived simply with the conviction that these promises of access into the eternal City would be fulfilled in the future. Even so, they pursued this goal with vigor. The pastor expects nothing less from his hearers.

The pastor begins v. 14 with the main premise of his argument: “Those who say such things” as Abraham did in Gen 23:4, when he confessed himself to be “a resident alien and a transient” on earth, show “that they are diligently seeking a place where they are citizens.” We have rendered one Greek word by the phrase “a place where they are citizens.” It is unfortunate that many English translations have used the term “homeland” for this word. “Homeland” suggests the term “Promised Land”—an expression the pastor avoids using for this heavenly reality. The Greek word in question is derived from the word for “father” and does not contain the word for “land.” It denotes the place where people belong, where they are “at home,” where their family is, where they are natives, where they are citizens.54 The pastor consistently describes this “home place” of the faithful as a City (11:10, 16; 12:22–24; 13:14). The city is the place of community, as the description in 12:22–24 will make abundantly clear. In the ancient world loyalty to one’s place of birth and citizenship was a cardinal virtue.55 A life banished from one’s city was considered by many to be hardly worth living. Thus, the pastor’s hearers feel what he says when he speaks of the people who live “by faith” and are thus self-confessed aliens in this world, “diligently seeking” the place where they are citizens and natives.

The pastor uses the same word for “diligently seeking” that he used for the pursuit of God in v. 6. It is a strong word reserved until the end of the Greek sentence for emphasis.56 The path pursued “by faith” is no course of passive indolence. Because these heroes who lived “by faith” were aliens on earth, most anxious to reach their home, they “diligently sought” it by persevering in the life of faith and obedience.

Let us restate the pastor’s major premise: since Abraham and company were self-confessed aliens in Canaan, the “so-called land of promise” was not their home. Verse 15 provides the minor premise: The place they left before coming to Canaan was not their true home, for “if they had been mindful of that [native] place from which they had come, they would have had opportunity to return.” The pastor establishes his point by using a condition contrary to fact. Abraham and those associated with him had, indeed, not been “mindful” of the earthly home where they had once been citizens. They no longer considered it their native place. That is why they did not return to it and save themselves the trouble of “diligently seeking” some other place.

“But now” at the beginning of v. 16 introduces the pastor’s conclusion:57 The destiny promised the faithful was neither Canaan, the supposed “land of promise” (v. 9), nor the city they had abandoned when they answered God’s call. Therefore, it must have been that “such people” of faith as Abraham and his “fellow heirs of the same promise” Isaac and Jacob were “ardently desiring a better, that is, a heavenly place” where they could live as citizens in their home “City.” “Better” has been used throughout Hebrews to describe both the fully sufficient and effective work of Christ in cleansing God’s people from sin and the permanent and eternal blessings made available through that work.58 It is used in this latter sense here and reinforced by the addition of “heavenly” at the end of the sentence. The English word “heavenly” can be misleading. The pastor is not using this word to mean “wonderful.” He is not describing this city as “ethereal.” He has no concern with an abstract world of “ideas.” This “City” is, we might say, “more real” than anything we now know because it has been established by the living God as the permanent place of his own abode with his people. It is “better” in kind, for it is the only place where his people will enjoy full fellowship with God and enter his “rest” (4:1–11). God’s people have received the “heavenly call” (3:1) extended to Abraham (11:8) inviting them to this “heavenly” City.

These people who live “by faith” were not only “diligently seeking” this heavenly home city, they were also “ardently desiring” it. This pursuit was no mere hobby or pastime. It was much more than insurance against damnation while they attended to their own affairs. It was the passion and the main business of life because its object was the only true source of blessing and “rest.”59

16b–c In the opening section of this chapter (vv. 1–7) the pastor made it clear that faith was prerequisite for divine approval (v. 6). It is those who live with the conviction that God’s promise is certain and his power is real who receive divine commendation. This truth found its most profound expression in the lives of father Abraham and his “fellow heirs” (v. 9) Isaac and Jacob. They have been described as those “diligently seeking” and “fervently desiring” the “better,” “heavenly” City established by God because it was truly their native place, the repository of their citizenship. Their whole lives were oriented and directed toward God and his promise. “Therefore,” says the pastor with great emphasis, “God” not only was, but “is not ashamed of them to be called their God.”60 God declares himself to be, and is perpetually known throughout Scripture as, the God of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Gen 28:13; Exod 3:6). They “confessed” themselves to be strangers in this world because they were seeking him (v. 13). Therefore, he is “not ashamed” to “confess” himself as their God.61 Thus, the pastor holds up the way in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob responded to the promise of God as the model and paradigm for all those who live by faith and receive the divine approval. The pastor “fervently desires” that his hearers follow the patriarchs’ example, joining the train of God’s people in the life lived “by faith.” The use of the word “ashamed” may indeed have reminded the hearers of something even more astounding than the fact that God was not “ashamed” to be known as “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”: the Son of God had not been “ashamed” to identify with God’s people by taking on their humanity in order to redeem them (2:11). To accuse the pastor of advocating works righteousness would be to completely misunderstand his intention and to import forensic categories alien to his thought.62 God showers his approval on those who abandon themselves to him in utter trust, nor is his approval an empty accolade. “For he has [already] prepared … a City” for such people. The object of their diligent seeking and fervent desire is real, and they will experience it. The pastor need do no more than end with the simple word “City.” None can fail to see that this “City” is God’s own divine “rest” prepared for his own from the beginning (3:7–4:11); a “City” that is permanent because established by him (v. 10); the true home of his people promised long ago to Abraham.

17–19 The story of Abraham’s walk with God began with his call (v. 8) but reached its climax in the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen 22:1–18). Through this event God brought Abraham’s faith to its final “test” (Gen 22:1).63 By obedience to the divine command Abraham became a person totally abandoned to God. The abundance of attention given to the “Binding of Isaac” in ancient Jewish literature confirms the importance of this event.64 Thus the pastor is in complete accord with the Genesis account when he uses Abraham’s willingness to offer his son as the final and greatest example of his trust in God. As we have come to expect in this chapter, the pastor’s exposition pays close attention to the OT text and is free of legendary accretion. He affirms the sacrifice of Isaac in v. 17a; explains how it was a test in vv. 17b–18; and concludes in v. 19 by describing what this sacrifice revealed about Abraham’s faith.

17a “By faith Abraham offered Isaac when he was being tested.” The pastor put the verb “offered” right after the initial “by faith” in the Greek sentence in order to emphasize that Abraham’s obedience was an expression of his trust in God.65 It is instructive to examine the verb tenses of this verse. “Offered” is perfect indicative; “was being tested” is a present participle. The perfect tense of “offered” underscores the fact that Abraham’s act of obedience was complete; he did not actually have to take Isaac’s life.66 It also affirms the abiding validity of this act of obedience.67 The continuous nature of the participle “was being tested” reminds the hearers that this test was not merely a single moment. Gen 22:1–18 describes in considerable detail the process by which Abraham arose, set out on his journey, and then proceeded with the sacrifice until God’s intervention before the knife could fall. Faith perseveres until the end.

17b–18 In order to explain how God’s command was a test of Abraham’s faith, the pastor gives further information about both father Abraham and son Isaac: “And he who had received the promises was offering the only begotten, he to whom it had been said that ‘in Isaac will your seed be called.’” This relatively smooth English translation masks the fact that in Greek this statement begins with a shocking “and the only begotten,” or “and the one and only.” The pastor emphasizes the unique position of Isaac, whom God describes in Gen 22:2 as “your beloved son.”68 Abraham also had Ishmael. However, at God’s command, he had just sent Ishmael away (21:1–11). Furthermore, Isaac was the “only” son born by the promise of God. Thus, Abraham is described as “the one who had received the promises” (v. 17b).69 Verse 18 gives the specific part of the “promises” under consideration: Abraham was the one “to whom it had been said [by God] that ‘in Isaac your seed will be called.’”70 It was not merely that God asked Abraham to sacrifice one so long awaited and so dearly loved. God asked him to sacrifice the very one through whom God himself had promised to multiply his descendants and make him a great nation. The pastor’s use of the imperfect tense, “was offering,” serves two purposes. First, it reminds the hearers that Abraham was not required to complete this sacrifice. Thus, we have translated it “was ready to offer” (or “was about to offer”).71 However, it also reminds the hearers that Abraham carried out the entire process, from the time he rose in the morning and prepared for his journey until he raised the knife above Isaac. The immediacy and the persistence of Abraham’s obedience are marked characteristics of the Genesis text. He did not delay when God called him to leave his home (v. 8). He did not fail to persevere in obedience when God ordered him to sacrifice Isaac.

19 “Having reckoned” at the beginning of v. 19 introduces a causal participial phrase showing why Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac: “He did this because he reckoned that God was able to raise from the dead.” How could Abraham explain these two facts: God had promised him many descendants through Isaac; God commanded him to offer this very Isaac as a sacrifice? Abraham came to the conclusion that if he obeyed God’s command God could still fulfill his promise because “God is able to raise from the dead.”72 The infinitive “to raise” is the present of general statement, not the aorist appropriate for a specific act.73 If Abraham believed God could raise Isaac in order to fulfill his promise, then he must have believed that God could raise the dead in general. The Greek word order emphasizes the significance of this truth by putting the phrase “from the dead” first, and maintains a certain suspense by reserving “God” until the end.74 While the hypothetical raising of Isaac may have been only a temporal resurrection like that described below in v. 35a, Abraham’s faith was in a God who is “able to raise from the dead” in the “better resurrection” of v. 35b.75 The faith Abraham demonstrated when he offered Isaac made sense only if he believed that God could raise the dead. What is true of Abraham the patriarch is true for all the people of faith in this chapter. It only makes sense that the God who created the world (v. 3) could raise the dead.76 It is only logical that the one who brought Isaac into being from one “indeed dead” (v. 12) could raise the dead. Abel’s faith (v. 4) was without vindication if God could not raise the dead. Furthermore, since all the faithful die, they will enter the God-made “City” only through the “better resurrection” (v. 35b). The pastor wants his hearers to realize that all those who imitate Abraham and live “by faith” in the “promises” God gave him live in the confidence that God will raise those who live “by faith.”77 Those who obey out of such reliance upon God are the “righteous” who, “by faith,” will “live” by attaining the “better resurrection” (cf. 10:38; 11:4). The analysis of the rest of this chapter below will confirm the central importance of these verses and of faith in the God who raises the dead.

Some versions render the final clause of this verse as follows: “From thence he received him figuratively speaking” (NIV/NRSV/ESV). Compare the translation given above: “Therefore, he received him as a type.” There are two differences between these renderings: the first has “from thence,” the second, “therefore”; the first has “figuratively speaking”; the second, “as a type.” The second translation is to be preferred for several reasons. Both “therefore” and “type” reflect the way Hebrews uses these terms elsewhere.78 Abraham’s receiving Isaac as a type of the resurrection of the righteous is in accord with the pastor’s concerns. As we have seen, he began to intimate that those who live “by faith” have a destiny beyond death in vv. 4–5. Without such a destiny they could not inherit the promised God-established “City” (vv. 10, 13–16). Abraham’s faith that “God is able to raise from the dead” suggests that Isaac, who embodies the many faithful descendents promised to Abraham, typifies their resurrection.79 The pastor did not have to explain that Isaac was not literally raised from the dead. The hearers knew that Abraham had not actually taken his life. One might say that Isaac’s “figurative” resurrection “typified” the future literal resurrection of those who live by faith.80 A type is normally less than the greater reality it typifies.81 God’s promise of a heavenly City and of a people who would inherit it necessarily included their resurrection.

Some would also argue that Isaac was a type of Christ’s death and resurrection.82 After all, readers familiar with the Gospel of John can hardly help thinking of Christ when the pastor speaks of Abraham’s “offering” the “only begotten.”83 However, there are two important factors that make this further typology unlikely. First, the pastor is describing the people of faith who lived before Christ and is concerned that they, “by faith,” transcend death so that they can inherit God’s promised “City.” Second, the pastor’s focus is on Abraham. He is the one who exercises faith by the sacrifice of Isaac.84 Therefore, if anyone in vv. 17–19 foreshadows Christ, it must be Abraham. Abraham’s obedient offering of his son with the assurance that God would, if necessary, raise him from the dead may foreshadow Christ’s obedient self-offering in anticipation of the “joy” that would be his at God’s right hand (cf. 12:2). Thus, Abraham, like Noah (see on v. 7), foreshadows the One soon to be described as “the Pioneer and Perfecter of the faith” (12:1–3) by his own obedient act of faith. It is the intrinsic relationship between living “by faith” and Christ’s own obedience, by which he established the way of faith, that makes these connections between the ancient faithful and Christ almost inevitable. They are not the pastor’s main concern, but they reflect the wholeness and consistency of his understanding of salvation.

20–22 In vv. 9–10 the pastor affirmed that “Isaac and Jacob” were “fellow heirs” with Abraham of the permanent, God-established “City.” Verses 13–16 described the significance of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob’s relationship to that “City” and to the “promises” of God. They lived as self-confessed “aliens and transients” on earth because the “City” established by God was their true home and place of citizenship, the place they were “diligently seeking” by faith out of ardent desire. In vv. 20–22 the pastor shows how the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph illustrate the pilgrim way of life described in vv. 13–16.85 By framing vv. 17–19 with these two parallel passages, the pastor again highlights the resurrection faith of Abraham. Only those who have faith in a “God who is able to raise from the dead” (v. 19) persevere in this pilgrim way with the hope of entering the eternal “City.”

The prominence of the “promises” of God in vv. 13–16 is continued in this passage through an emphasis on “blessing.” As we will see, Isaac blessed Jacob, and Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph by passing on to them the Abrahamic “promises.” Furthermore, Joseph “remembers” the promise of “the exodus” first given to Abraham. Thus, these examples continue the emphasis on faith as living with the certainty that God will fulfill his promises. These people are confident that by faith they will attain “the things hoped for” (v. 1a), including the eternal “City.” In the meantime they are sustained by relying on the “unseen” but real power of God (v. 1b). As “fellow heirs” with Abraham of God’s “promises” (v. 9), Isaac and Jacob form a natural pair. The pastor acknowledges this by the way he binds them together. Both of them bless their descendants. The Greek word order makes Jacob a mirror image of Isaac: A. “concerning things to come”; B. “blessed”; C. “Isaac Jacob and Esau”; C¹. “Jacob … each of the sons of Joseph”; B¹. “blessed”; A¹. “and worshiped on the top of his staff.” This description begins and ends with eyes fixed on the future. By remembering God’s promise of the “exodus” Joseph continues this future emphasis while providing a smooth transition to the examples of Moses that follow.

20 Gen 27:27–40 and 28:1–5 record Isaac’s blessing of “Jacob and Esau.” “Concerning things to come” occupies the initial emphatic position in the Greek sentence. Translations such as the NRSV’s “for the future” rob this substantive participle of its force. Isaac blessed them not just in reference to the future but concerning the “things” that God was going to do in the future. “Things to come” fits well with other descriptions of God’s final salvation.86 In the immediate context, however, this expression is broad enough to encompass all that God would do through Christ’s first and second comings, with particular emphasis on entrance into the heavenly “City.” It is important to remember (as affirmed in Gen 28:4) that, when Isaac blessed Jacob, he passed on to him nothing other than the promise God had given Abraham—the promise of a people, a home, and a blessing for the world. It may seem strange that the pastor mentions Esau along with Jacob. His appearance provides balance for “each of the sons of Joseph” in the next verse.87 Yet one as deliberate as the author of Hebrews must have had more in mind. By associating him here with the people who lived by faith, the pastor prepares for the way he will use him as a warning in 12:14–17. Only one who was once part of God’s faithful people could be a warning against apostasy.88 Thus, mention here qualifies Esau to be the foil of the faithful in 12:14–17 and a final warning of the fate awaiting those who turn away. The pastor anticipates this ominous role by the fact that Esau does not pass on the blessing to anyone.

21 “By faith” Jacob (v. 21) bestowed this blessing on each of the sons of Joseph (Gen 48:1–22). The pastor is still, by implication, referring to the blessing “concerning things to come.” The participle that we have translated “as he was dying” is crucial. The period of Jacob’s dying began with his giving instructions about his burial (Gen. 47:27–31), continued through his blessing of Joseph’s sons (48:1–22) and his own twelve sons (49:1–28), and concluded with his last charge and death (49:29–32). The pastor, however, does not tell us that Jacob was dying in order to identify this event. He does so in order to show that Jacob’s faith transcended his death. He looked beyond his death to God’s fulfillment of his promises. Thus his testimony reinforces the pastor’s contention that faith transcends death because “God is able to raise from the dead” (v. 19). There need be no mystery about why the pastor chose Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s sons (Gen 48:1–22) over Jacob’s blessing of his own sons (Gen 49:1–28).89 He wanted to demonstrate that God’s promise to Abraham had been passed on through the generations. The blessing of Joseph’s sons in Gen 48:1–22 made this transmission much clearer than the account of Jacob’s blessing his own children (Gen 49:1–28).90 First, Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons in the name of the God of Abraham. Second, he said they would be called by his name and by the names of his fathers Abraham and Isaac. Third, he transmitted to them the promise given Abraham and Isaac of numerous progeny who would inherit the promised place of blessing (see Gen 48:15–16). Thus the pastor links Jacob to Isaac as the channel through which God has passed on his promise through the patriarchal blessings. Mention of Jacob’s “dying” leads naturally to Joseph’s concern with burial in the following verse.

The pastor concludes the Jacob example in v. 21 by citing Gen 47:31: Jacob “bowed in worship over the top of his staff.” The standard Hebrew text reads: “bowed himself on the head of his bed.” The LXX translation followed by Hebrews differs in two ways. First, the Greek word for “bowed in worship” brings out a possible, but not necessary, meaning of the Hebrew word for “bowed.” Second, a slight change in vowel pointing allowed the LXX translator to read “staff” instead of “bed.”91 Thus according to Gen 47:31 (LXX) Jacob “bowed in worship over the top of his staff” just before he blessed Joseph’s sons. Even as he died Jacob worshiped God leaning on the pilgrim’s staff, indicative that he was a stranger in this world bound for the eternal City.92 This pair of examples began with “things to come” (v. 20) and ends with a pilgrim’s staff of one on the way to inheriting those “things.”

22 The recipients of Hebrews would not be surprised by the use of Joseph as this section’s final example of faith drawn from the account of Abraham and his family in Genesis 12–50. The pastor has just mentioned Joseph in v. 21. His life far surpassed those of all the other sons of Jacob as an example of one who lived by trusting in God.93 Since the pastor has just mentioned the death of Jacob, it was natural for him to go to the closing verses of Genesis that describe Joseph’s last act (Gen 50:24–26). This description of Joseph’s faith in the concluding verse of the Abraham section (Heb 11:22) has a beauty born of rhythm and brevity that effectively recalls the Genesis account and impresses the pastor’s desired truth upon his hearers. “By faith Joseph” links it to the larger catalogue of examples. “Concerning the exodus of the children of Israel he remembered” is paralleled by “concerning his bones he gave command.”94 “He gave command” at the end of the verse sounds like the word translated “as he was coming to an end” at the beginning.95 These two words give this incident a ring of finality appropriate for the last example from the era of Abraham and his immediate descendants.

“As he was coming to an end, Joseph remembered the exodus of the children of Israel.” Joseph’s recollection at the end of Genesis formed a bridge to the account of the exodus in the opening chapters of the following book. The pastor also concludes this section with Joseph in order to direct his hearers to the examples from Moses’ life that follow (11:23–29).96 Joseph, however, is far more than a convenient means of transition. His example brings several of the pastor’s main concerns in this section to a crisp climax. First, “as he was coming to an end” Joseph exercised faith in God’s future. The pastor found the word we have translated “was coming to an end” in the last verse of Genesis. He has chosen it because, if anything, it is even more final than the word used for Jacob’s “dying” in v. 21 above.97 Joseph’s earthly life was “coming to an end,” but he had a faith that did not come “to an end.” His faith transcended death because “God is able to raise from the dead” (v. 19). Second, “he remembered the exodus of the children of Israel.”98 Long ago during the night vision of Gen 15:7–21 God had promised Abraham that after much suffering his descendants would be brought out of a strange land (Gen 15:13–14; cf. 46:4). Joseph had a faith that remembered, believed in, and acted upon the promises of God. Because he believed this promise, “he gave command concerning his bones.” Since the hearers were familiar with Genesis, they needed nothing more than this brief statement to remind them of what Joseph had ordered. So confident was Joseph in God’s promise of deliverance from Egypt that he instructed the “children of Israel” to take his bones with them when this event happened.99 Rose suggests that the writer of Hebrews thinks Joseph believed that the Promised Land was the place where the resurrection would take place.100 This suggestion lacks credibility because it does not cohere with the pastor’s general attitude toward Canaan. With the exception of 11:9, he never uses the expression “Promised Land” or “land of promise.” In 11:9 he uses this term only to affirm that said land was not the fulfillment of God’s promise. Joseph gives this command because he wants to continue his identity with the people of God even after his death.101 He will go with them and inherit the future that God has for them—including the resurrection of his “bones.”102 The pastor would have his hearers remember God’s promises, believe that his promises transcend death, and persist in their identity with the people of God so that they might enter into the final inheritance promised by God.

c. Moses, Faith under Stress: A Story of Resistance and Triumph (11:23–31)

23By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child, and they did not fear the edict of the king. 24By faith Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25but chose rather to suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to have the temporary advantage of sin. 26He did this because he considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was continually looking toward the reward. 27By faith he abandoned Egypt, having not feared the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing the Unseen One. 28By faith he established the Passover and the application of blood, in order that the destroying one might not touch their firstborn.

29By faith they passed through the Red Sea on dry ground, which when the Egyptians attempted they were swallowed up. 30By faith the walls of Jericho fell because they had been encircled for seven days. 31By faith Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with those who disobeyed because she welcomed the spies with peace.

The pastor parallels the seven examples of faith in the Abraham section above with seven in this Moses section. Four examples from the life of Moses (vv. 23–29) parallel the four from Abraham’s life (vv. 8–12, 17–19); three from those associated with or following Moses (vv. 30–31) parallel the three from the patriarchs who succeeded Abraham (vv. 20–22). In each series the faith of the main character reaches its climax in the fourth example. In each the fourth is the centerpiece of the seven.1 This section, however, is no mere repeat of the previous. Faith has entered a new era. One part of God’s promise has begun to assume a clearer shape. Abraham’s descendants have become a great people. Clearly, to live by the faith of Abraham is to identify with the people of God. However, the Mosaic era was not the era of fulfillment. The hearers already know that the deliverance initiated by Moses and completed by Joshua was not the ultimate realization of God’s promise. The pastor has made this fact clear, both in his discussion of the wilderness generation in 4:1–11 and in his explanation of the patriarchs’ sojourn in vv. 13–16 above. This Mosaic epoch, however, was a time when God’s people experienced his power in unprecedented ways. Thus, without losing sight of faith’s focus on the future ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise (v. 1a), these verses emphasize the reality of his “unseen” power to sustain the faithful in the present (v. 1b). Furthermore, these verses also make it clear that the self-confessed alienation of the patriarchs (vv. 9–10, 13–16) leads to opposition from and persecution by the unbelieving world.2 Such opposition requires courage and perseverance, the theme of 12:1–13. The courage required by the resistance of Egypt and its “king” to the people of God has become the occasion for the manifestation of God’s power on behalf of his own. The first three examples from Moses’ life (vv. 23–27) demonstrate the courageous perseverance of faith in the face of opposition.3 Thus, these examples focus on the fourth characteristic of pilgrimage given above—the necessity of hardship on the way to the journey’s goal. Moses’ endurance anticipates the way the pastor will urge his hearers to run the race with “endurance” in 12:1–13.4 The three examples from the lives of those who follow Moses illustrate God’s great power on behalf of his own (vv. 29–31). The fourth example from Moses’ life (v. 28) is the transition point between the two.

Although the pastor appears to pursue the events of Moses’ life in simple chronological order, his arrangement and description are as carefully crafted for effect as they were in the Abraham section.5 In addition to the observations above, it is also crucial to note how the first three examples from Moses’ life form a reverse parallel with the first three examples from the Abraham section.6 The deliverance of the baby Moses from death in order to achieve the purposes of God in v. 23 parallels the God-promised birth of Isaac in vv. 11–12 from one “indeed dead.” The opposition of the world against Moses in vv. 24–26 is the corollary of the patriarchs’ alienation described in vv. 9–10.7 Finally, Moses’ departure from Egypt in v. 27 parallels Abraham’s departure for the “place” of God’s promise in v. 8. This arrangement is well suited for the pastor’s purpose of inculcating courage in the face of opposition. He introduces this theme of courage in v. 23 through the decision of Moses’ parents, while at the same time reminding his hearers of God’s power over death. It is this power of God that forms the basis for courage. The description of Moses’ courageous decision in vv. 24–26 follows naturally. The opposition he faced is only what those people should expect who, like Abraham and his associates (vv. 9–10), live in sinful society as citizens of heaven. By concluding with Moses’ abandonment of Egypt in v. 27 he brings this courage to its highest pitch. The faith by which God’s people “set out” for the heavenly home (v. 8) necessitates a definitive rejection of both the allurement and hostility of an unbelieving world. Thus the first three examples of this Moses section fortify the hearers, enabling them to resist intimidation by “seeing” God’s future reward and present power with the eyes of faith.

23 Moses’ heritage of faith began at his birth (Exod 2:1–10). The pastor could hardly speak of Moses’ life without mentioning the wonderful account of his preservation “when he was born.” He skillfully establishes unity with the following examples by making Moses the subject of this sentence. Nevertheless, the verb is passive, “he was hidden.” His parents are the true, celebrated heroes of faith.8 First, the pastor gives their act of faith: Moses “was hidden” by them “for three months.” The duration of their act highlights its significance and underscores their perseverance.9

Next, the pastor shows why this was an act of faith by explaining the reason for their action: they acted in faith “because they saw that the child was beautiful.” The unusual word translated “beautiful” is the only term the pastor has borrowed from the account of Moses’ birth in Exod 2:1–10 (LXX). Stephen used this term in Acts 7:20 to affirm that Moses was “beautiful” to God. Jewish tradition employed this expression to underscore the extraordinary status of Moses.10 One is reminded of the way the pastor used “only begotten” to describe Isaac’s God-given role in v. 17. Moses’ parents “saw,” as the NIV says, that Moses “was no ordinary child.”11 They acted not merely from parental affection, but from the realization that God had a special purpose for Moses. They could see what the unbelieving could not see: both God’s power at work in his birth and his God-intended role in the “hoped for” future fulfillment of God’s promises.12 Their faith was another illustration of the faith described in v. 1, and thus an extension of the faith exercised by the ancients (vv. 1–7) and the patriarchs (vv. 8–22). The pastor begins this Moses section by emphasizing that God’s people walk “by faith” because they can “see” and thus keep their eyes on both God’s future promises and his present power (cf. vv. 26, 27 below).

Finally, the pastor affirms the opposition they overcame. Because they could thus see God at work, they acted contrary to the world’s expectations, expressed in the “edict” of the king of Egypt, condemning Hebrew male children to death. Since their deed was an act of obedience born of faith, “they were not afraid” of this king though he held them in slavery. This verb is probably ingressive aorist, “they did not begin to fear,” or, rather, “they did not give in to fear.”13 They were “not intimidated” (REB) by the king. Thus, the pastor begins to build his case for courage and perseverance in the face of opposition and suffering. By his own courageous acts (given below) Moses was but following the lead of his parents. The pastor would encourage his hearers both to see God at work in Christ, now seated at God’s right hand (8:1–2; 12:1–3), and to resist the intimidation of those around them.

In both this first example from the Moses section and the third from the life of Abraham (vv. 11–12) the action of faithful parents gave life to a child whom God would use to fulfill his promise.14 Thus, as he moves into the Mosaic era the pastor will not let his hearers forget that God’s power transcends death—he is, indeed, a God who “is able to raise from the dead” (v. 19). This knowledge is essential if one would exercise the courage required by faith. Isaac’s parents waited upon God because they knew by faith that God would fulfill his promises. Moses’ parents braved opposition because they could see “by faith” that God’s hand was at work. The pastor would call God’s people to a trust in God that enables them to be both patient in the face of seeming delay and brave in the face of opposition.

24–26 If the first example of Mosaic faith occurred “when he was born” (v. 23), the second occurred “when he was grown.”15 He affirmed his parents’ obedience as his own. Verse 24 describes Moses’ act of faith at his maturity. The participle in v. 25 clarifies the nature and difficulty of this act. The concluding participle in v. 26 reveals the reason for Moses’ action with the hope that those who hear this message will follow suit. When he was old enough to make his own choice Moses “refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”16 As Abraham has shown, faith is first of all a response to God’s call. It is choosing to follow God by obedience in pursuit of God’s eternal reward. The corollary, however, of answering God’s call is the rejection of the unbelieving world. The pastor uses the faith of Moses to emphasize this truth by telling us what Moses “renounced.”17 This verb is culminative aorist, affirming that Moses’ decision was complete. He rejected totally, once and for all, the exalted status of being “a son of Pharaoh’s daughter.”18 After narrating the birth of Moses, at which time he became “a son of Pharaoh’s daughter” (Exod 2:1–10), the OT recounts his killing of the Egyptian (Exod 2:11–12), by which he severed his ties with Pharaoh. Jewish sources often glossed over or omitted this act through apparent embarrassment.19 Hebrews, however, sees this event for what it was—Moses’ definitive rejection of Egyptian privilege.20

25 The pastor’s vision, however, reaches beyond Moses’ initial act of renunciation by describing what Moses affirmed in its place. The aorist participle, “having chosen,” is coordinate with the culminative aorist verb “renounced”: “but chose rather to suffer ill treatment with the people of God than to have the temporary advantage of sin.”21 Moses provides the pastor with his first clear opportunity in this roll call of the faithful to emphasize another crucial aspect of faith—those who live by faith identify with God’s people. The pastor could hardly have made this point in his earlier examples because during their times the people of God had not fully taken shape. Joseph’s final instructions (v. 22), as we have seen, suggest this identification. Moses shows how fundamental this choice is. The need to identify with God’s people is the corollary of the Son of God’s own complete identification with them through assuming their humanity (2:5–18). Salvation is available only to those who are part of that fellowship of people with whom the Son identified in order to provide their redemption.22

As noted above, the second example of Abraham’s faith (vv. 9–10) provides the springboard for this second example from Moses’ life. By answering God’s call to pursue a heavenly home, Abraham lived as a stranger in the world of those who sought only temporal reward. Moses’ public identification with God’s own required courage because it exposed him to the ire of those who lived according to the goals and standards of the unbelieving world. If there was ever a person who, at great cost, identified with the people of God, it was Moses. At God’s command he returned to Egypt in order to be the agent of God’s deliverance (Exod 3:1–4:31), and thus endured “ill treatment with” God’s people under Pharaoh’s yoke. The pastor may have used the phrase “endured ill treatment with” because it reminded him of a related expression used for the ill-treatment of God’s people by the Egyptians in Exod 1:11 (LXX) and Gen 15:2 (LXX; cf. Acts 7:6, 19). Furthermore, he speaks of both the past faithful (11:37) and his hearers (13:3) as suffering “ill treatment.”23 By suffering at the hand of the unbelieving world, they too have identified with the people of God. By using “people of God” for the beleaguered Israelites, the pastor reminds his hearers that there is one people of God throughout history.24 Those who follow Christ become part of the same “house” in which Moses was a “steward” (3:1–6).

Johnson has suggested that “advantage” is a more contextually appropriate rendering of the underlying Greek word than the “pleasure” followed by most translations.25 The pastor is not speaking primarily about “sinful pleasures” in the sense of illicit sensual enjoyment or excess. Any “advantage” Moses acquired through continuing his identification with Egypt would have been “sin” because it would have kept him from identifying with the people of God.26 Such an abandonment of God’s own would have been equivalent to the apostasy against which the pastor has repeatedly warned his hearers (3:7–4:11; 6:4–8; 10:26–31). Legitimate things become “sin” for the pastor’s hearers if they entice them to sever their relationship with Christ and the community he has redeemed. Still, as the contrast with “ill treatment” demonstrates, this “advantage” would certainly have been pleasurable. The pastor can use this term for the “advantage” Moses would have enjoyed and at the same time evoke the luxury of Egypt.27 The pastor puts the Greek word translated “temporary” first in this clause to remind his hearers that this pleasurable advantage, though real, would have been short-lived.28 Thus, as Moses will demonstrate in v. 26, such earthly advantage, no matter how great, is of no value to those who walk “by faith.” The pastor would arm his hearers against both the “advantage” by which the unbelieving world seeks to allure them, and the “ill treatment” by which it would coerce them to abandon the people of God, whom he has now redeemed through his incarnate Son.

26 Moses rejected the “temporary advantage” of v. 25 in favor of suffering because he “reckoned” (i.e., accurately calculated) the vast superiority of the divine reward.29 The pastor spares nothing in his description of the way Moses calculated this reward’s superlative worth because he would have his hearers follow Moses’ example. The vast value of the “treasures of Egypt” was legendary, yet Moses refused to compare Egypt’s treasures with God’s promised reward. Instead, he compared the best Egypt had to offer with the “reproach of Christ.” Moses “reckoned” that even the “reproach of Christ” was “greater wealth” than “the treasures of Egypt.” The Greek word order underscores the pastor’s emphasis. Note how “greater riches” and “the reproach of Christ” surround “the treasures of Egypt” in the middle of the sentence.30 To be identified with Christ is itself of supreme value even when it brings “reproach.”31 Furthermore, the “reproach of Christ” is the mark of those who will inherit the eternal reward (cf. 12:4–11). The last part of v. 26 tells us why Moses made, and how he sustained, this value judgment: “for he kept on looking toward the reward.” Like Noah, he lived in pursuit of “things not yet seen” (v. 7). Like Abraham, he “saw” God’s promised City (v. 13). He had his parents’ vision into the things of God (v. 23). He firmly believed in a God who was the “rewarder” of the faithful (v. 6). The imperfect tense of “look” is important.32 The habit of his life was to “keep on looking toward” the eternal “reward.” Perpetual attention to the reward is key to courageous perseverance in the face of opposition.

We must give special attention to the striking way in which the pastor calls the suffering endured by Moses for his identification with God’s people “the reproach of Christ.” This usage is fully compatible with the pastor’s teaching throughout Hebrews. There is and always has been only one people or “household” of God. Both Christ and Moses function in relation to this “household”—Moses as “steward” within God’s “house”; Christ as “Son” over it (3:1–6). As God’s Son Christ identified with God’s “household” by assuming the humanity of its members in order to procure their redemption and bring them to their God-intended goal (2:5–10). He is, then, the means by which the faithful who live both before and after his coming reach their eternal destination (11:39–40; 12:22–24). Thus, it is no stretch of the imagination to say that those who identify with God’s people identify with Christ (as either promise or fulfillment), whether they live before or after his coming. Therefore, the suffering they endure because they have identified with God’s own they endure for identification with Christ. The sufferings that mark them as part of the people of God correspond to his suffering for the redemption of God’s people (cf. 12:1–11; 2:5–10). The pastor, then, would describe Moses’ sufferings as “the reproach of Christ” in order to encourage his hearers to endure “the reproach of Christ,” incurred because they too have identified with God’s people and suffer rejection by an unbelieving world.33

The pastor’s language, however, suggests not only that Moses’ sufferings were “the reproach of Christ,” but that Moses recognized their similarity to Christ’s sufferings and knew they were endured out of loyalty to him. This knowledge formed the basis of his calculation—he knew that his suffering was worth more than the treasures of Egypt because it was indeed “the reproach of Christ.” We have already seen that through the divine revelation Moses received as “steward” in God’s house he was a “witness to the things that would be said” by God in Christ (3:5; cf. 1:1). Thus, there is no need to assume that the pastor thinks Moses received some special vision apart from Scripture.34 Moses knew that by his sufferings he identified with “the Christ” who was to come.35 His hearers are fully aware of who that Christ is. Thus, the pastor would have them imitate Moses’ value judgment and joyfully embrace “the reproach of Christ.” With Abraham the emphasis was on endurance through time in an inhospitable world; with Moses, on courage in the face of suffering inflicted by an unbelieving world.36 Furthermore, if Moses suffered shame for Christ, then one cannot escape such shame by abandoning Christ for Moses. If one abandons the fulfillment of the promise in Christ, then one can find no solace in either the promise itself or those who anticipated its fulfillment.

The pastor’s hearers could not have missed the parallels between Moses and Christ even if the pastor had not called Moses’ sufferings “the reproach of Christ.” The pattern of obedient suffering followed by (anticipated) triumph is much clearer than it was in the combined example of Abel/Enoch (vv. 4–5) above. Moses willingly identified with the people of God and endured great “reproach” in anticipation of the divinely promised “reward” (v. 26). Christ incurred great suffering by identifying with the people of God (2:5–18). “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame” (12:2). As the first great example of one who endured suffering for Christ, Moses anticipates Christ’s climactic example of enduring suffering in obedience to the will of God—“consider the one who has endured such opposition by sinners against himself” (12:3). However, the pastor has reserved Moses’ role in delivering God’s people until v. 28.37 When we reach that verse we will see that he, like Noah and Abraham before him, clearly anticipated Christ as the “Pioneer and Perfecter of the faith” (12:2).

27 Moses’ faith-born courage reaches its apex in this third example. The climactic nature of Moses courageously abandoning Egypt is demonstrated by the magnitude of this act of faith and by the intensity of the opposition overcome. It is confirmed by the grandeur of his motivation. Notice the growing magnitude of these acts of faith. First, Moses was “hidden” by his parents—a secret act (v. 23). Then he “refused” his privileged place in Egyptian society (v. 24). Now we are told that he “abandoned” Egypt altogether.38 Consider the opposition overcome: his parents were not intimidated lest their disobedience of the “king’s decree” be discovered (v. 23); he was willing “to suffer ill treatment with” the people of God (v. 25); now we are told that he was not intimidated by “the wrath of the king” directed at his open rebellion. Confirmation comes from the increasingly greater descriptions of motivation: his parents “saw” God’s purposes in his birth (v. 23); he “was continually looking to the” God-promised “reward” (v. 26). We are now told that he saw more than the reward—he endured “as seeing the Unseen One” himself.

According to Exodus, Moses fled to Midian (Exod 2:13–15) after killing the Egyptian (Exod 2:11–12). This flight, however, could hardly be what the pastor is referring to when he says that Moses “abandoned Egypt, not intimidated by the wrath of the king.” Exod 2:14 says clearly that Moses was “afraid.” It is true that some Jewish tradition found ways to explain away Moses’ fear on this occasion.39 Unlike the pastor, however, those traditions were not using this event as the climactic example of Moses’ courage.40 To have attempted to do so without addressing Moses’ fear would hardly have been convincing to people familiar with the OT. Moreover, such an argument would be inconsistent with the pastor’s habitually careful use of the OT text. Furthermore, the pastor is speaking of an event commensurate to Abraham’s total break with the land from which God called him in v. 8 above. Nothing would be adequate short of Moses’ final departure from Egypt at the head of God’s people.41 Both Philo and Josephus speak of the Exodus as Moses’ “abandoning” Egypt.42 Throughout the whole process of deliverance from Egypt—repeated interviews with Pharaoh, invoking of the plagues, and final crossing of the Red Sea—he was in no way “intimidated by the wrath of the king.”43 It would be artificial to constrain the pastor to a rigid chronology by insisting that this event could not be the final departure from Egypt because it preceded the establishing of the Passover in v. 28 and the crossing of the Red Sea in v. 29.44 Those two events are specific aspects of the whole described in v. 27.45 The pastor gathers all of this under the rubric of Moses’ “abandoning” Egypt as the most economical way to emphasize the courage of Moses expressed through this departure. In fact, the pastor may be consciously countering Moses’ fear in Exod 2:14: “You may remember,” he says by implication, “Moses’ fear when he fled to Midian, but I tell you, he returned and abandoned Egypt at the head of God’s people, unintimidated by the king’s anger.”46

This interpretation is confirmed by the reason given for Moses’ fearless faith in the following statement: “For he endured as seeing the Unseen One.” Since this “seeing” is described as the continuous habit of Moses’ life, the pastor cannot be referring specifically to any of Moses’ visual experiences of God.47 Furthermore, since he is using Moses as an example to be emulated, Moses’ vision of God must be something available to all who live “by faith.”48 Nevertheless, the pastor has purposefully reserved discussion of this aspect of faith until he came to Moses. He feels free to make this statement because of the way Scripture describes Moses as “seeing” God at the burning bush (Exod 3:4), on Mount Sinai (Exod 19:20; 24:9–11; 34:27–35), and at other times when Moses saw God “face to face” as one talks to his friend (Exod 33:11; Num 12:1–16; Deut 34:10).49 The flight to Midian, however, occurred before the burning bush, which was the first of these experiences.50 It would, then, have been surprising if the pastor had described that flight as the time when Moses abandoned Egypt because “he endured as seeing the Unseen One.”

This reference to Moses “seeing the Unseen One” is too brief to determine to what degree the pastor may have been familiar with the discussion of Moses’ visionary experiences in Jewish tradition.51 In any case, his affirmation that Moses sees the “Unseen One” is not speculation, but is thoroughly integrated into the understanding of faith that the pastor is communicating to his hearers.52 As noted above, “faith” is living as if God’s “hoped-for” promise of future salvation is certain (v. 1a) and as if his “unseen” power is available to sustain the faithful in their present perseverance (v. 1b).53 We have already seen that those who live “by faith” do so because, with the eyes of faith, they “see” the fulfillment of God’s future promise. Thus Noah was “warned of things not yet seen” (v. 7); Abraham and those associated with him “saw” the God-built eternal city (v. 13); Moses himself “kept looking toward the reward.” Moses, however, demonstrates that people who live by faith are also able to “endure” persecution and suffering because with the eyes of faith they can “see” the “Unseen One” at work in the present. They are confident that “God is” (v. 6). By faith they know that God’s power is available to enable their perseverance even when his presence is not apparent (cf. v. 1b).54 This reality, so singularly demonstrated by Moses, was anticipated by his parents, who could “see” God at work in his birth. While assurance of God’s promise may motivate the faithful, it is confidence in his power for the present that enables them to persevere in the face of persecution and hardship. Such endurance is the opposite of the apostasy against which the pastor has repeatedly warned his hearers.55

“As seeing the Unseen One”56 more accurately conveys the pastor’s intention than the weaker possibility, “as if he were seeing the Unseen One.”57 To be sure, Hebrews is not arguing that Moses saw God with his physical eyes. Such a statement would be, as Williamson contends, a selfcontradiction.58 Moses was “seeing” with the eyes of faith the “One” who cannot be seen with physical eyes. The present tense of the participle “seeing” shows that the pastor is describing the perennial habit of Moses’ life—he endured “as continually seeing” by faith “the Unseen One.”59 The aorist tense of “he endured” signals the fact that Moses persevered in obedience until the end. Only such a continuous vision of God’s presence and power will enable the faithful to persistently “endure” the hardship of the present. In the following examples the pastor will remind them of some of the ways in which God’s great power was manifest in Moses’ life and the lives of those who followed him. He gives this reminder in order to encourage them during times when God’s power is not visible to physical eyes. The pastor began preparing for the application of this visionary theme to his hearers long ago, when he spoke of what “we see” by faith (2:9). He will bring it to a climax in 12:1–3 when he encourages his hearers to “look unto the Pioneer and Perfecter of the faith, Jesus.”

The pastor invokes these three examples from the life of Moses in order to stimulate the courage necessary to continue living in dependence on God in the face of shame, rejection, and persecution. These examples complement his concern in the opening Abrahamic examples above. The alienation depicted in those examples has become stout resistance. The need to wait in faith for God to act has become the need to endure ill treatment as one waits. Faith looks not only to the future promises, but also to the present reality of God’s power. We have noted above how the first Mosaic example (v. 23) parallels the third Abrahamic example (vv. 11–12); and the second Mosaic (vv. 24–26), the second Abrahamic (v. 10). The way in which this third example from the life of Moses (v. 27) parallels the first from Abraham’s life (v. 8) illustrates the complementary purposes of these two sets of examples. In both examples under consideration, the person involved goes from one country to another. However, in the case of Abraham, the focus is on the country to which he is going; in the case of Moses, the one he is leaving. Compare “to set out” (11:8) with “he abandoned” (11:27). Abraham is going to a place he will receive as an “inheritance.” Moses is leaving the place of “ill-treatment.” Abraham trusts God although he does not “know” where God is taking him. Moses trusts despite “the wrath of the king.” Abraham is waiting for God to fulfill his promises. Moses is depending on the “unseen” God for deliverance in the present without forgetting his promise of future “reward.” The pastor focuses his hearers on the reward before urging them to brave the resistance.

The complementary nature of these two lists of three is also illustrated by the fact that it is the third example from Abraham’s life (vv. 11–12) that is longest and most significant, but the second from Moses’ (vv. 24–26). Abraham must have the kind of faith that waits for God to fulfill his promises in the future. Thus, it was appropriate for his series to conclude with the birth of Isaac as evidence that God is faithful to his commitments in the end. On the other hand, Moses must have faith to endure contemporary mistreatment and persecution. Thus, it was the second example describing the time of difficulty before he was delivered from Egypt that was most useful.

This chiastic relationship between vv. 23–27 and vv. 8–12 reveals even more clearly the central position and crucial importance of Abraham’s faith in a God “who raises the dead,” as described in vv. 17–19. We have already seen that the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in vv. 20–22 illustrate the alien existence of the faithful as described in vv. 13–16. Thus, we can see that vv. 17–19 are at the center of the following chiasm:60

	A. 11:8
	B. 11:9–10	Faith That Awaits the Promises of God.
	C. 11:11–12
	D. 11:13–16
	E. 11:17–19	Faith in a God “Who Raises the Dead.”
	D1. 11:20–22
	C1. 11:23
	B1. 11:24–26	Faith That Endures through the Power of God.
	A1. 11:27

There are some resemblances between the four remaining examples from the Moses section (vv. 28–31) and the four examples from the primeval history (vv. 3–7), although the correspondences are not as exact as those above.61 Nevertheless, it is clear that Abraham’s faith in a God “who raises from the dead” is central to the kind of faith the pastor desires his hearers to emulate, and to the destiny of the people of God with whom they must identify. Only a God “who raises the dead” is adequate to bring his people into the “City” he has prepared for them and to sustain or deliver them amid present tribulation.

28 The pastor has used the first three examples from Moses’ life to build a compelling case for endurance amid persecution, shame, and hardship inflicted by the unbelieving world. At great cost Moses identified with the people of God and persevered amid such suffering. He did so “by faith” that God was real and active on behalf of his own, even when God’s activity was invisible to human eyes (cf. v. 1b). The three examples of those associated with Moses as described in vv. 29–31 complement this message. “By faith” they experienced deliverance through the very visible mighty power of God in the present. Thus, their testimony encourages the people of God even when God’s power is not so evident. The fourth example from the life of Moses (v. 28) is the point of transition from the three examples of hardship to the three of deliverance. It brings resolution to Moses’ suffering by introducing the first in the series of mighty deliverances to follow.

Moses himself, who had braved such suffering, experienced the mighty power of God when “by faith” he “established the Passover and the application of blood.” In most contexts the verb here rendered “established” is translated “do” or “make.” The pastor, however, uses the perfect tense, for he is describing more than Moses’ “doing” or “celebrating” the Passover.62 Moses established it for all time as a memorial to the faithfulness of God. The pastor has not used the perfect indicative since he declared that Abraham “offered” Isaac “by faith” in v. 17. Both the “Binding of Isaac” and the Passover stand as great monuments to God’s trustworthiness. It is not hard to see how Moses’ establishing of the Passover was “by faith.” God’s instructions concerning the institution and celebration of this feast are found in Exod 12:1–20. According to Exod 12:21–22, Moses followed those instructions. Moses believed God’s word that he was going to destroy the “firstborn” of Egypt, so he obeyed God’s instructions in order to preserve the “firstborn” of God’s own people. As a result of this obedience he indeed experienced God’s “unseen” power in the present. The destruction of the firstborn of Egypt was the greatest of the ten plagues (Exod 7:1–11:10; 12:29–32) and God’s greatest act in delivering his people save the crossing of the Red Sea (Exod 14:1–31) described in the next verse. The establishment of the Passover, however, embodies something even greater than the destruction experienced by Egypt—the preservation of God’s own “by faith” amid such destruction. The pastor included “the application of blood” because it was the blood on the doorpost that was necessary “in order that the destroyer might not touch their firstborn.”63 The angel of death who “struck down” the firstborn of Egypt would not even “touch” the firstborn of God’s people.64 The word “firstborn” is neuter plural and therefore comprehensive. All the firstborn, both human and animal, were saved from death by the “application of blood.” Yet it is hard to escape the impression that the pastor is thinking of the “firstborn” as representative of the people of God in its entirety (cf. 12:23).65

Those who have persevered to this point in the pastor’s catalogue of the faithful are not surprised that he draws no Christological implication from “the application of blood.” He has made much of the blood of Christ (see especially 9:14) and will speak of the “blood of sprinkling” in 12:24. We have, however, seen numerous possible Christological applications left undeveloped in the previous verses of this chapter (vv. 4, 5, 7, 17–19). It appears that the author suggests these possibilities but leaves them without further explanation because he does not want to divert his hearers from the need for faithful endurance that is the main concern in this chapter.66 Nor does he wish to dilute the typological relationships that he has already established in the central part of his sermon (4:14–10:18).67 Nevertheless (as noted when commenting on vv. 4–5, 7 and 17–19), the obedience of the faithful, by which they participate in salvation, corresponds to and reflects the obedience by which Christ has provided salvation (cf. 10:5–10). We have now come to the third and final place where this occurs: “by faith” Noah obeyed God and provided for the salvation of “his household” (v. 7); “by faith” Abraham offered the “only begotten” and received him back as from the dead (vv. 17–19); and now, “by faith” Moses established the Passover and thus delivered the “firstborn” from death (v. 28). As we have seen, the second and central of these three events makes one of the primary emphases of this chapter clear: God’s salvation includes resurrection from the dead. The first and third foreshadow the deliverance from the Judgment that accompanies the resurrection. The third reminds the hearers that this deliverance is accomplished only through the “blood.”

The literary or structural relationship among these three examples of faith should by now be apparent. We have already noted that Abraham’s offering of Isaac in vv. 17–19 and Moses’ establishing the Passover in v. 28 are each the fourth and climactic example of the respective hero’s faith.68 Furthermore, we have demonstrated above that Abraham’s offering Isaac in vv. 17–19 is at the center of a chiasm extending from v. 8 through v. 27 (v. 8/v. 27; vv. 9–10/vv. 24–26; vv. 11–12/v. 23; vv. 13–16/vv. 20–21). We can now extend this chiasm to Noah’s building the ark in v. 7 and Moses’ establishing the Passover in v. 28.69 In both verses the obedience of the main character expressed in building the “ark” or establishing the “Passover” results in the deliverance of God’s people from judgment on the wicked. From beginning (11:7) to end (11:28) God’s salvation provides for the deliverance of his people from judgment and death through the power of the resurrection (11:17–19).

The three final examples of faith (vv. 29–31) do not show such striking parallels with the three at the beginning of this chapter (vv. 3–5). Nevertheless, one can hardly deny the centrality of the resurrection faith attested in 11:17–19, nor can one reject the significant connections between Noah’s building the ark (v. 7), Abraham’s offering Isaac (vv. 17–19), and Moses’ establishing the Passover (v. 28).

29–31 These verses continue the emphasis of the Moses section (vv. 23–31) on the second aspect of faith, confidence in God’s real—though often “unseen”—power in the present (v. 1b).70 The pastor would encourage his hearers by reminding them of how marvelously the “unseen” God demonstrated his power on behalf of Moses and his successors during their earthly lives. He emphasizes the magnitude of what God has done in several ways. First, his field of vision now encompasses the whole people of God. God promised Abraham that this numerous people would come into being (v. 12). Moses identified with them (v. 25) and delivered them through the Passover (v. 28). It is not one or two people but this great body of the faithful who attest the power of God. Second, by giving these examples in abbreviated form the pastor quickens his pace and increases emotional intensity. These three “by faith’s” come in rapid succession. The more ponderous descriptions of alienation (vv. 8–11; 13–16; 20–22) and persecution (vv. 23–27) have become ringing declarations of triumph. The three final examples of the Abraham section (vv. 20–22) described those who waited long with patience. These three at the end of the Moses section give a sense of rapid movement from one triumph to another despite the fact that the events they describe spanned more than forty years. Finally, in the first two of these final examples the pastor puts more emphasis on the event itself and its magnitude than on the persons who experienced it. All of these changes in style underscore the magnitude of God’s power to deliver and anticipate the even more rapid, compact, inclusive, and intensive description of God’s deliverances in vv. 32–35a.

The people whom Moses led out of Egypt provide the first two examples of faith, and Rahab supplies the third. The pastor passes by the entire wilderness period in silence because, as he has already shown in 3:7–4:11, the wilderness generation was no example of faithfulness. Perhaps he does not name this generation in v. 29 because of this their subsequent unbelief. Instead, he allows the subject to be implied from the context of the previous verse and the third person plural verb, “they passed through.” However, the omission of the names of the people who exercise faith in both vv. 29 and 30 serve several purposes. First, as noted above, this omission anticipates the shift from the person who exercises faith to the events achieved through or suffered by faith in vv. 32–38. The pastor does not make this change, as Eisenbaum suggests, in order to depersonalize faith, but rather to put emphasis on the extent of its results. Second, the omission of names in vv. 29 and 30 puts great emphasis on the mention of Rahab in the concluding example of this section (v. 31).

29 Whatever their subsequent conduct, when “they passed through the Red Sea on dry ground” (v. 29) the soon-to-be wilderness generation acted “by faith.” God provided deliverance for them, but they had to appropriate it by enacting their trust through obedience. Exod 14:15–31 tells their story. They began by fearing the pursuing Egyptians (14:10–14) but ended by fearing the God who had delivered them from and destroyed those Egyptians (14:31).71 One could hardly blame them for their initial hesitancy, but the fact that they walked into the sea in obedience to God’s word demonstrated their faith.72 Two expressions in this verse underscore the magnitude of God’s act. First, in Greek the phrase translated “on dry ground” indicates that the land was indeed dry—God did such a thorough job that they did not have to wade. Second, “the Egyptians were swallowed up when they attempted to do the same.” The term “swallowed up” is an intensive verb taken from Exod 15:4 that emphasizes the complete destruction of the pursuing Egyptians.73 They were “engulfed.” The deliverance of the righteous included the destruction of the wicked who oppressed them just as it did in both the flood (v. 7) and the Passover (v. 28).74 These judgments anticipate the final Judgment (12:25–29). God’s mighty deliverance of those who live “by faith” carries an implicit warning for the rebellious.

30 God’s deliverance of his people through the Red Sea was the final and greatest demonstration of his power in the exodus. When one turns to the Conquest, no event is either so compelling or so demonstrative of faith as the fall of mighty Jericho: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell because they had been encircled for seven days” (see Josh 6:1–27). Although Jericho was a mighty city, its walls fell through no human stratagem. Their collapse was due to the direct power of God in response to the people’s persistent faith, demonstrated by their persevering until they had encircled the walls for seven days at God’s instruction.75 Its fall is an indirect reminder that no earthly city is permanent.76 The children of the wilderness generation were not disobedient as their parents had been. Nevertheless, by using the passive voice the pastor allows them to recede into the background while he puts all emphasis on the mighty power of God. He has already given his hearers many examples to follow. He would now impress them with the magnitude of God’s power on behalf of his own. The pastor will continue this emphasis on the mighty manifestations of God’s power in vv. 32–35a without neglecting the exemplary character of the people who did them. One might wonder why the pastor makes no mention of Joshua here. There are several possible reasons. First, the fall of Jericho did not occur merely in response to Joshua’s faith but in response to the faith of all those who circled the city. It was not an individual act like Abraham’s setting out in response to God’s call (v. 8) or Moses’ refusing to identify with Egyptian privilege (v. 24). This collective act of faith precedes the many acts of faith performed by the faithful in vv. 32–38. Furthermore, the pastor would not find Joshua rhetorically effective because his life was so closely bound to the earthly Promised Land. It is much easier for the pastor to address those on their way to the heavenly “home” or “City” from the vantage point of Abraham or Moses, who were also anticipating entrance into God’s heritage. To be sure, in vv. 32–38 the pastor will refer to many faithful who lived in the Promised Land, but he does not refer to them in relationship to that land. It would be all but impossible to discuss Joshua’s exploits without mention of the earthly Promised Land. No doubt the pastor believed that Joshua’s life attested many examples of faith, but it did not serve his cause to discuss them.77

These great miracles at the Red Sea and Jericho dwarf the power of God experienced by the patriarchs and anticipate the great deliverances soon to be narrated in vv. 32–35a. As noted above, what God did through Moses and his successors was not the ultimate fulfillment of his promises, but it was the greatest demonstration of his power to deliver the faithful in the OT. Thus, it is at first surprising to find that the final example in this series concerns the private individual Rahab and introduces no new miracle. As we will see, however, by introducing Rahab at this point the pastor concludes this section with what is perhaps his clearest and most powerful example of one who lived “by faith.” If his hearers will imitate Rahab’s faith, he will ask no more.

31 There are at least four factors that make Rahab a most appropriate conclusion not only to the Moses section but to the discourse in vv. 1–31.78 First, she is a very clear example of the kind of faith described in vv. 1, 3, and 6 and extolled throughout this chapter. Because she believed both that God’s power was real and his promises were certain, she was confident that he would give his people the land. She acted on this faith “by welcoming the spies with peace.” By describing the other citizens of Jericho as “those who were disobedient” the pastor indicates that Rahab’s accepting the spies was an act of obedience to God’s word.79 Second, by calling Rahab “the prostitute” the pastor makes it clear that one does not become or persevere as a part of God’s people because of previous merit or birth.80 A believing Canaanite is saved, while the unbelieving, “disobedient” Canaanites perish just like the disobedient wilderness generation (3:18). Third, although it required no miracle, Rahab “did not perish.” Thus, she continues the theme of receiving life through faith, initiated in vv. 5–6, brought to a climax in vv. 17–19, and sustained through all the verses since. The pastor began with Abel, who died for his faith (v. 4). He brings this section to its climax with Rahab, who “did not perish.”81 Finally, “by faith” she, like Moses (v. 25), identified with the people of God. She did this when “she welcomed the spies with peace.” “Peace” is the last word in the Greek of v. 31. “Peace” was the normal greeting exchanged by God’s own.82 By accepting these spies, she practiced the “peace” appropriate for the common life of God’s people (13:20–21), a “peace” the pastor urges his hearers to pursue (12:14).83 With such a clear example of faith in mind, the pastor can conclude this chapter by emphasizing the power of God (vv. 32–35a) to sustain the faithful in suffering (vv. 35b–38).84

d. The Rest of the Story—A “Better Resurrection” (11:32–38)

32And what more shall I say? For time would fail me if I tried to recount the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and also Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith captured kingdoms, established righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became powerful in battle, put to flight the armies of aliens. 35Women received their dead by resurrection. But still others were tortured, refusing release in order that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36But others received trial of mockings and beatings, and even of bonds and of prison. 37They were stoned, they were sawn in two, by murder of sword they died; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, mistreated, 38of whom the world was not worthy, in deserts wandering and in hills and caves and holes of the earth.

The pastor concludes this chapter with a swift but massive recounting of faith from the judges until just before Jesus. He alters his style so that the accelerated descriptions of triumphant faith in vv. 28–31 can reach full throttle in both the triumphs and trials of faith in vv. 32–38. First, instead of discussing each person who acted by faith he begins with an open-ended list of people typical of what he will say (v. 32). One “through faith” (v. 33) has replaced the individual “by faith’s” as a cover for all. Then in the following verses the results achieved by anonymous acts of faith replace the enumeration of individuals. Each result achieved by faith—whether of triumph or endurance—is in the plural, implying that many people were involved with each. The pastor trusts that these events will be compelling because they suggest names to his hearers’ minds, but he intends each event to be more inclusive than any number of names the hearers might recall.1 Thus, within the next seven verses the pastor implies that many times more people have lived “by faith” than those enumerated above.2 He clarified the nature of the faith he would commend by the detailed examples of vv. 1–31. This clarification culminates in the example of Rahab (v. 31). In this final section, he would intensify the motivation of his hearers to maintain their place among God’s faithful people. He has now focused clearly on the fourth characteristic of pilgrimage—hardships along the way. Thus, he describes faith’s momentous triumphs as encouragement amid its horrendous trials. In this way he lays a solid foundation for his transformation of the pilgrim’s journey into a marathon, a long race finished only through endurance (12:1–13). He reminds his hearers of the vast host of faithful with whom they are associated. With this rapidly changing imagery he leaves his hearers overwhelmed and breathless before the accumulated mass of testimony presented to their senses. In addition, the pastor uses this grand company of witness to impress upon his hearers that they live at the climax of God’s plan and, thus, to prepare them for the introduction of Christ’s example in 12:1–3.3

Verse 32 introduces this section and initiates the pastor’s change of style. The triumphs of faith described in vv. 28–31 find their conclusion in the collage of victories celebrated in vv. 33–35a. These victories are followed by an equally graphic collage of the faithful who suffer without temporal deliverance in vv. 35b–38.4 The pastor, who began with the suffering of Abel (v. 4) and the triumph of Enoch (v. 5), concludes with a great picture of triumph followed by one of suffering. At the heart and center of the previous section the pastor established the importance of reliance on the God “who is able to raise from the dead” (v. 19). At the center of this section in v. 35 he builds on that truth: God raises his own to a “better resurrection” that is nothing short of ultimate victory over death (see 2:14–15).5 This assurance of Enoch-like triumph over death through the resurrection (v. 5; vv. 33–35) enables the faithful to endure Abel-like suffering for loyalty to Christ (v. 4; vv. 36–38).

32 The pastor begins this section with a deliberative question: “And what more shall I say?”6 This question has a double edge that strengthens the force of the argument both ways. First, it implies that the evidence already given is sufficient (cf. REB, “Need I say more?”). Second, it introduces the overwhelming amount of concluding evidence that follows. “For time would fail me if I tried to recount” has a similar effect. Not only are the examples already given sufficient, but the examples that could be added are so numerous that there is no time to explain them in detail. The following list of names, “Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and also Samuel and the prophets,” is both suggestive and open ended. The first five names are joined without conjunction. The first four summarize the period of the judges that climaxed in the reign of David. With “and also Samuel and the prophets” the pastor recognizes the close bond between David and Samuel.7 By putting Gideon (Judg 6:12–24; 7:1–8:3) before Barak (Judg 4:6–11), Samson (Judges 13–16) before Jephthah (Judges 11), and David (1 Sam 16:11–1 Kgs 2:10–12) before Samuel (1 Sam 1:20–25:1), the pastor has departed from the chronological order of the OT. This reordering indicates that in the following verses he is not as concerned with the chronological as with the typical and the representative.8 The reversal of David and Samuel establishes David in the most prominent position as the link between the judges before him and the prophets and others who followed him.9 Thus, the pastor acknowledges David’s place along with those of Abraham and Moses in the OT text. It is also appropriate to place Samuel after David in order to honor him as the first of the prophets and to link him with his successors in that office. Just as there were seven examples each in the Abraham and Moses sections, so this concluding section begins by listing seven typical of the acts of faith that follow—six actual names and then a group of people, “the prophets.” The open-ended character of this final category confirms the representative nature of the whole list. In some ways, however, the six names appear to be more appropriate for the triumphs of faith in vv. 33–35a. With “but others” in v. 35 and again in v. 36 the pastor expands his horizon far beyond these he has listed.

33–35a “Who through faith” introduces the nine examples of triumph in vv. 33–34 that climax in the tenth and greatest example recorded in v. 35a. These nine each contain a third person plural aorist verb, and in each but the ninth and final this verb is first in the sentence.10 Both in structure and content these nine statements divide naturally into three sets of three—v. 33abc; vv. 33d–34ab; and v. 34cde. In the first set the verbs are followed by direct objects;11 in the second, by direct objects with genitive qualifiers;12 in the third a passive verb and an intransitive verb are followed by a statement in which the direct object is put first.13 The first set describes political successes; the second, deliverances from death; the third, military victories.14 This orderly structure is a triumphant march of faith culminating in the restoration of the dead in v. 35a.15

Note the political successes in v. 33abc: “conquered kingdoms; established righteousness [carried out justice], obtained promises.” It is easy to see how these statements have been suggested by the names listed in v. 32. David, especially, conquered kingdoms and “established righteousness” by practicing justice (2 Sam 8:15; 1 Chr 18:14). Barak, Gideon, and David were all promised and received victory.16 This section pictures the establishment of a just political order pleasing to God as envisioned by the Mosaic covenant and intended through the establishment of the Davidic throne.

The second and central of these three sections focuses on deliverance from certain death: “shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword” (vv. 33d–34ab). Thus, the pastor gives prominence to a theme important in the examples of Enoch (v. 5), Noah (v. 7), Abraham (vv. 11–12, 17–19), Moses (vv. 23, 28), and Rahab (v. 31) above. By faith Daniel “shut the mouths of lions” (Dan 6:1–28) and his three friends “quenched the power of fire” (Dan 3:1–30; cf. 1 Macc 2:59–60; 4 Macc 16:21–22). These two events were closely associated in Jewish tradition, just as they are in the mind of every Sunday school pupil.17 Many people “escaped the edge of the sword.” One has only to think of David (1 Sam 17:45–47), Elijah (1 Kgs 19:1–3), Elisha (2 Kgs 6:26–32), and Jeremiah (Jer 26:7–24). If the first two descriptions add vividness, this third is inclusive of many.

There seems to be a progression in the final three: “were made powerful out of weakness, became strong in battle, put to flight the armies of aliens” (v. 34cde). Note the movement from passive, to intransitive, and finally to an active verb: they were “made powerful out of” their human “weakness” by God; thus they “became strong in battle” so that they were able to “put to flight the armies of aliens.” Many biblical examples could be included under this description. One thinks particularly of Gideon as one who was strengthened so that he put foreign armies to flight (Judg 6:1–8:35). The hearers might have recalled the victories of the Maccabees (1 Macc 3:17–25; 4:6–11, 30–33). The pastor signals the end of his three sets of three by putting the direct object first in the last of these statements, literally: “the armies put to flight of aliens,” thus reaching a penultimate climax. The progression in this section builds momentum for the grand climax in v. 35a. At the same time, by ending this verse with the term “aliens” the pastor anticipates the suffering of the faithful in an “alien” world, soon to be described in vv. 36–38.18

The routing of huge foreign armies may have been the greatest triumph of faith in the nine, but there was something even greater: “women received their dead by resurrection.” The hearers would have thought immediately of the sons of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17:17–24) and the Shunammite (2 Kgs 4:18–37). The restoration of the dead is indeed greater than all that has gone before because it cannot possibly be achieved by human power. Thus, this grand series of the many triumphs of faith highlights victory over death, both by the prominence given to escape from death in its central section (vv. 33d–34ab) and by the restoration of the already dead here at its climax.

35b However, all of these victories, including escape from death and even the restoration of the dead to mortal life, are insufficient in themselves. They are given to encourage the suffering faithful, reminding them that God has power over death and demonstrating that he will not break faith with his obedient people. He is the God who translated Enoch so that he did not experience death (v. 5). Abraham knew that he was the God “who is able to raise from the dead” (v. 19). He who has often delivered his people from death (vv. 7, 28, 31, 33d–34ab) is the God of the “better resurrection,” from which there is no return to death. This “better resurrection” is made possible through the “better sacrifice” (9:22–23) of Christ, which has established the “better covenant” (7:22), and delivered the faithful from the fear of death through the removal of sin (2:14–18; 9:26–28). All of God’s people, regardless of how many times they have experienced his temporal deliverance, anticipate this resurrection, for it belongs to those whose home is the “City” that has been established by God (vv. 9–10) and therefore will not be shaken by the Judgment (12:25–29). Thus, while resuscitation to mortal life (v. 35a) may be the climax of the temporal deliverances enumerated in vv. 33–34, the assured promise of a “better resurrection” is the foundation and premise that empowers God’s people to suffer for their loyalty to Christ, as recounted in vv. 36–38.19

All those who live “through faith” anticipate the resurrection, but not all suffer torture on account of their faith. “But others” distinguishes this group from those who enjoyed great triumphs in vv. 33–34, and especially from those who “received their dead by resurrection” in v. 35a. These “others” are the martyrs (cf. 2 Macc 6:18–7:42) and confessors, all those who “were tortured” in the attempt to make them deny their faith. Verses 36–38 suggest some of the gruesome means of torture the pastor may have had in mind. These “others” could have escaped this torture by denying their faith and found “release,” but they did not in order that through perseverance “they might gain” the promised resurrection to eternal life in the eternal City.20 All that the pastor has said in this chapter has been to fortify his hearers with such courage and to prepare them for the kind of circumstances he now describes.21

36–38 The pastor begins v. 36 with a second “but others.”22 This repetition of “but others” serves several purposes. First, by making some distinction between those who suffer for their faith in the following verses and those tortured in v. 35 the pastor increases the number of those who endured such opposition. His hearers should not be surprised if they find themselves among this company who suffer for their faith. Second, “but others” makes it clear that he is not talking about the same people who were described in vv. 33–35a.23 While many people, such as Moses above, experience both suffering and triumph through faith, the pastor would prepare his hearers for what lies ahead by having them consider these two groups in separation. It is crucial, however, to remember that the “through faith” of v. 32 applies to this entire section. Both groups, though their experiences were very different, lived “through” the same “faith” in God’s power and promises.

This diverse collection can, like vv. 33–34 above, be divided into three subsections: v. 36, v. 37a, and vv. 37b–38.24 The first and third each center around one finite verb qualified in different ways—“received trial” in v. 36; “went about” in v. 37b. Verse 37a, the second subsection, contains three finite verbs reminiscent of the three groups of three statements that constitute vv. 33–34. In fact, these three subsections of vv. 36–38 are the mirror image of the three subsections in vv. 33–34: contrast the severe punishment described in v. 36 with the military triumphs of v. 34cde; the cruel deaths described in v. 37a with the deliverances from death in vv. 33d–34ab; and, finally, the total exclusion from society imposed on the faithful in vv. 37b–38 with the establishment of just rule in v. 33abc. The pastor paints the situation of the pilgrim in this unbelieving world at its worst, preparing to urge his hearers to brave these difficulties by becoming athletes who run the race of faith “with endurance” to the finish line in 12:1–13.

36 The verb “received trial” stands at the center of the Greek text of this verse: “of mockings and beatings they received trial, and even of bonds and of prison.” Heb 10:32–35 and 13:3 suggest that the recipients of Hebrews may already have endured this type and degree of persecution. The pastor begins with what they have experienced in order to prepare them for what may be coming. “Beatings” were one of the favorite punishments of the ancient world. By their public nature such beatings were intended to be shameful and were usually accompanied by the “mockings” of a leering crowd. “Beatings” and “mockings” recall 2 Macc 7:1, 37; 9:11 and 2 Macc 7:7, 10 respectively. Those suffering “beatings” were often also restrained with “bonds” and confined in “prison.” No doubt the hearers would recall their own earlier suffering and that of their friends, as well as the biblical accounts of Jeremiah (Jer 20:2, 7; 29:26; 37:15; 1 Kgs 22:27) and others. “Received trial” implies that these people suffered such things as a trial or testing of their faithfulness to God and his promise. Such punishment by society is the antithesis of the military conquests described in the third subsection of the catalogue of triumphs above (v. 34cde). The people the pastor is now describing were not delivered “out of weakness” (v. 34c). The hearers have already entered the lists of the faithful by enduring such experiences (10:32–34). Let them be prepared to persevere in the face of what follows, assured that the God who has given others such great victories is “able to raise from the dead” (v. 19) into a “better resurrection” (v. 35b).

37a The central subsection of the catalogue of triumphs above described three ways in which the faithful were delivered from death (vv. 33d–34ab). This parallel subsection describes three ways in which they were martyred for their faith.25 In both subsections the pastor uses three finite aorist verbs. However, in this description of martyrdom the first two verbs are passive and the third intransitive, denoting the impotency of the victims.26 Our English translations of necessity mask the crisp directness of these statements: “they were stoned to death” is one word in Greek, as is “they were sawn in two.” Contrast “by murder of the sword” with “escaped the edge of the sword” in v. 34b. With a careful, economic choice of words the pastor brings the pain and violence of these deaths before his hearers’ eyes. The finality of their earthly suffering is reinforced by the way the pastor ends this sentence in Greek with the word translated “they died.” According to 2 Chr 24:21, Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, was stoned to death. Legend has it that Jeremiah (Liv. Pro. 2:1) was stoned in Egypt and that Isaiah was sawn in two (Mart. Isa. 5:1–11; Liv. Pro. 1:1; cf. Susanna 59).27 The pastor would prepare his hearers to brave death rather than deny Christ. Still, a martyr’s death is over and done with. He appears to reserve his greatest concern for the exclusion from society described in vv. 37b–38.28

37b–38 In the opening subsection of the triumphs of faith above, God’s people established his righteous rule on earth (v. 33abc). Here, by contrast, they are unjustly but totally excluded from and by unbelieving society. The pastor has been preparing for this final subsection from the beginning of the chapter. First, he has made it clear that God’s own live “by faith” in his assured promise of an eternal, God-prepared City (vv. 9–10, 13–16). Thus, exclusion by earthly society is worth the goal. Second, those who live for this eternal City naturally, as did Abraham and those associated with him, confess that they are “aliens and transients” (v. 13), out of step with unbelieving society. Thus, they should not be surprised when, like Moses, they suffer “ill treatment” because they refuse to conform to the temporal values of this unbelieving world (vv. 23–27). Furthermore, they are able to endure this ill treatment because they also live “by faith” in God’s present power to deliver and sustain them. After all, God is a God “who is able to raise” his people “from the dead” (vv. 17–19) to a “better resurrection” (v. 35b). In fact, according to v. 33abc, the parallel opening subsection of this final part of the chapter, God has demonstrated his power over the very forces of society now excluding his own. Thus, the entire chapter is preparation for the pastor’s hearers to face the total banishment from human society depicted in these final verses. Such ill treatment is to be expected by God’s faithful. It is well worth enduring because God’s “hoped-for” eternal City is real (v. 1a). It can be endured because he is real (v. 6) and his power, though often “unseen,” is available to sustain his own even in such circumstances (v. 1b).

The pastor’s concern to prepare his hearers for such experiences is also evidenced by the fact that he has developed this final section more thoroughly than any other part of either the catalogue of triumphs (vv. 33–34) or collection of sufferings (vv. 36–38). The hearers will strain in vain to catch the regular cadence created by the three sets of three sentences in the catalogue of triumphs above (vv. 33–34). This is no triumphal parade. The very meandering style that the pastor has adopted for this section communicates the homeless wandering of those described. “They went about” is the finite verb used to depict their condition. This verb is a global aorist, describing the totality of their final state of existence on earth. Two prepositional phrases and four present participles describe the destitute manner of their wandering, deprived of the necessities of life—clothing, food, and shelter—but abundantly supplied with suffering. First, the two prepositional phrases reveal their lack of proper clothing: they went about “in sheepskins and in goatskins.” Society had excluded them from the resources necessary for proper attire and left them to wear whatever they could find. However, such skins were also the distinctive garb of the prophets.29 Thus, the very poverty forced upon them by unbelieving society identified them with the faithful people of God. The first participle, “being destitute,” describes their poverty, in particular their lack of food. The next two, “being oppressed” and “being ill treated” or “tortured,” underscore the belligerence of society and the painful treatment that drove these faithful from “civilized” life. One is reminded of the afflictions of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kgs 17:2–16; 19:1–19; 2 Kgs 1:3–15; 2:23; 4:1–2, 8–12, 38–43; 8:1–2) and of the Maccabean patriots and martyrs (2 Macc 5:27).30 The fourth and final participle, “wandering,” brings this description to its climax. What could be worse than being deprived of clothes and food? Nothing but loss of shelter—banishment from house and home and the support network they sustain. These exemplars of faithfulness went about “wandering” in places totally excluded from human society—“in deserts and in mountains and caves and holes of the earth.” These were the places of the destitute and persecuted (Judg 6:2; Pss. Sol. 17:17). Here David had fled from Saul (1 Sam 23:14). It is here that the faithful Maccabees sought shelter (1 Macc 2:28, 31; 2 Macc 5:27; 10:6). Here people would take refuge from the destruction of the Temple. Such banishment from home and society was considered a fate worse than death.31 And yet, how appropriate that the pastor should end here. It is no surprise that the people who live “by faith” in God’s promise of an eternal City, and thus confess themselves as “aliens and transients” (v. 13) on earth, should be driven from their earthly homes.

We have intentionally reserved the relative clause, “of whom the world was not worthy,” for our final comments on this verse. The pastor has inserted this clause just before describing the unbelieving world’s complete exclusion of those who live by faith in God’s power and promises.32 God’s evaluation of the unbelieving world precedes and has precedence over the final verdict of that world on his own. God has determined that the unbelieving world is “unworthy” of his suffering people. Thus, his people need not succumb to the unbelieving world’s judgment that they are “unworthy” to participate in its life. The pastor is certain of this fact because it is only those who live by faith who have the divine approval (v. 6). Complete condemnation by those whom God rejects does naught but confirm the totality of divine acceptance. When unbelieving society excludes God’s own, it affirms that they really are “aliens and transients” (v. 13), on their way to God’s permanent City.

In summary, the pastor has carefully crafted this chapter to incorporate his hearers into the history of God’s faithful people. He uses the primeval narrative of Genesis 1–11 to show them the fundamental nature of faith (vv. 1–7): faith is living as if God’s future promises are certain and his present sustaining power is real. Only those who pursue this life of faith are pleasing to God. Like Abel, those who live “by faith” may suffer, but, like Enoch, they will be delivered from death and, like Noah, they will escape the Judgment. From Abraham and those associated with him (vv. 8–22), the hearers come to realize that God’s promises referred to a heavenly City and to a people who would live by faith and thus enter that City as their true home. Since, like Abraham, God’s people pursue the promised eternal City, they, like him, are aliens in this world who must patiently await God’s fulfillment. However, the birth and sacrifice of Isaac show them that the God who calls and sustains his people has power even over death. They can trust him and his power although they cannot “see” him (cf. vv. 1b, 6). Furthermore, alienation from the world begets persecution by the world. Thus, they are urged to emulate Moses, maintaining their identity with the people of God by practicing courage and perseverance in the face of persecution without turning their eyes away from the eternal reward (vv. 22–27). The hearers are given further assurance of God’s “unseen” but real sustaining power in the present and his ultimate authority over death (v. 35b) by his mighty deliverances in the lives of Moses (v. 28), those who succeeded him (vv. 29–31), and the great hosts of the faithful described in vv. 33–35a. Thus, those who live “by faith” are ready to obey God and identify with his people, even if it means the alienation, persecution, and banishment from society described in vv. 35b–38. They refuse to surrender their faith in God’s promise and power, forfeit the resurrection, and lose their place in the eternal City.

e. “They without Us …” (11:39–40)

39Even though these all were attested through their faith, they did not receive the promise, 40because God had prepared something better for us, so that they might not be perfected apart from us.

Everything that the pastor has said in this chapter assumes that both the faithful of old whom he has enumerated and his hearers who live after Christ are members of the one people of God. They are heirs of the same divine promise. By the real but unseen power of God they endure the same sufferings because they share the same faith in God’s power and promises. Therefore, it is natural for him to urge upon his hearers the imitation of God’s people who lived “by faith” before Christ. They must maintain their place with the ancient faithful in the “household” of God. However, the pastor has not forgotten the fulfillment brought by Christ the High Priest of God’s people, now seated at God’s right hand (7:1–10:18). Thus, he would clarify more fully how the faithful of old relate to the faithful who live in the time when they can enjoy the privileges afforded by Christ’s high-priestly ministry (4:14–16; 10:19–25). His appeal for faithfulness gathers strength as he anticipates turning his hearers’ gaze back up to Jesus, the “Pioneer and Perfecter of the faith” (12:1–3).