# Hebrews 11 📖: The Hall of Faith [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-Hebrews Overview]] | [[Hebrews 10]] | [[Hebrews 12]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### People Commended for Their Faith **Principle**: Hall of Faith [[#Verse 01.]] Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.  [[#Verse 02.]] For by it the people of old received God’s commendation.  [[#Verse 03.]] By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible.  [[#Verse 04.]] By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead.  [[#Verse 05.]] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God.  [[#Verse 06.]] Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.  [[#Verse 07.]] By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. [[#Verse 08.]] By faith [[Genesis 12|Abraham]] obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going.  [[#Verse 09.]] By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.  [[#Verse 10.]] For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God.  [[#Verse 11.]] By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.  [[#Verse 12.]] So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—_like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand_ _on_ _the seashore_.  [[#Verse 13.]] These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.  [[#Verse 14.]] For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  [[#Verse 15.]] In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. [[#Verse 15]] In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.  [[#Verse 16.]] But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.  [[#Verse 17.]] By faith Abraham, when he was tested, [[Genesis 23|offered up Isaac]]. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son.  [[#Verse 18.]] God had told him, “**_Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name_**,” [[Genesis 21]] | [[Romans 09]] [[#Verse 19.]] and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there.  [[#Verse 20.]] By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. [[#Verse 20]] By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future.  [[#Verse 21.]] By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and **_worshiped_** **_as he leaned on his staff_**. [[Genesis 47]] | [[Genesis 48]] [[#Verse 22.]] By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial. [[#Verse 23.]] By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict.  [[#Verse 24.]] By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,  [[#Verse 25.]] choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure.  [[#Verse 26.]] He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.  [[#Verse 27.]] By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.  [[#Verse 28.]] By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them.  [[#Verse 29.]] By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.  [[#Verse 30.]] By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days.  [[#Verse 31.]] By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace. [[#Verse 32.]] And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.  [[#Verse 33.]] Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions,  [[#Verse 34.]] quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight,  [[#Verse 35.]] and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life.  [[#Verse 36.]] And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  [[#Verse 37.]] They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated  [[#Verse 38.]] (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth.  [[#Verse 39.]] And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.  [[#Verse 40.]] For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. The phrase "by faith" is repeated again and again in this chapter, like a drumbeat. 2. "Being sure" (11:1) translates *hypostasis*, a word found in ancient papyri for documents such as property deeds. 3. Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death (11:5; Genesis 5:24). 4. Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead (11:19). 5. Rahab (11:31), a Gentile woman, also appears in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5). 6. Women who "received back their dead" (11:35) recall the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17) and the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4). 7. "Sawed apart" (11:37) may refer to a Jewish tradition that Isaiah was killed this way under King Manasseh. 8. The list in 11:32 includes flawed people like Samson and Jephthah, showing that God works through imperfect faith. 9. Moses' parents hid him for three months (11:23; Exodus 2:2). 10. Joseph gave instructions about his bones (11:22; Genesis 50:25), and Israel carried them out of Egypt (Exodus 13:19). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One the faithful looked toward. Moses regarded abuse suffered for Christ as greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt (11:26). The heroes of faith welcomed God's promises from a distance, and every promise finds its "Yes" in Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). ## 🔎 Key Observations / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and convinced of what we do not see (11:1). How would you explain faith to someone who thinks it means believing without evidence? 2. Without faith it is impossible to please God (11:6). What does it mean to believe He exists and rewards those who seek Him? 3. Many died without receiving what was promised (11:13, 39-40). How do we stay faithful when we do not see the results? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 1: Faith is being sure of what we hope for and convinced of what we do not see. - 📖 verse 3: By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God's command. - 📖 verse 6: Without faith it is impossible to please God. - 📖 verses 13, 16: They died in faith, longing for a better, heavenly country, and God has prepared a city for them. ## 🔗 Related Passages - 🔗 [[Genesis 05#Verse 24.|Genesis 5:24]] - Enoch walked with God. - 🔗 [[Genesis 15#Verse 06.|Genesis 15:6]] - Abraham believed the Lord. - 🔗 [[Genesis 22#Verse 01.|Genesis 22:1-2]] - God tests Abraham. - 🔗 [[Romans 04#Verse 20.|Romans 4:20-21]] - Abraham was fully convinced. - 🔗 [[James 02#Verse 25.|James 2:25]] - Rahab's faith shown by her actions. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[Hebrews 11 - SOAP|Trusting in Evidence]] ## 📂 Internal Notes