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Hebrews 11:13

in Hebrews 11

All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

KJV

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

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This verse in Hebrews 11

Commentary

6 notes on this verse
These all died in faith - That is, those who had been just mentioned - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah. It was true of Abel and Noah also that they died in faith, but they are not included in “this” declaration, for the “promises” were not particularly entrusted to them, and if the word “these” be made to include them it must include Enoch also, who did not die at all.

This site's exposition

These all died in faith, not having received the promises

on Hebrews 11:13-16

The summary turns from individual acts to a shared posture: these all died in faith, not having received the promises but having seen them afar off, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, a self-description Genesis never states outright but their whole manner of life declared. Had they been mindful of the country they came out from, they might have found opportunity to return, the door back to Ur and to Egypt never actually shut against them. But they desired a better country, that is, a heavenly one, and God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city, the letter's better thread naming heaven itself as the object of their faith rather than any earthly Canaan.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Died in faith - In death faith acts most vigourously. Not having received the promises - The promised blessings. Embraced - As one does a dear friend when he meets him.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Observe, (1.) Many that are interested in the promises do not presently receive the things promised. (2.) One imperfection of the present state of the saints on earth is that their happiness lies more in promise and reversion than in actual enjoyment and possession. The gospel state is more perfect than the patriarchal, because more of the promises are now fulfilled.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

That faith held out to the last. By faith, when they were dying, they received the atonement; they acquiesced in the will of God; they quenched all the fiery darts of the devil; they overcame the terrors of death, disarmed it of its sting, and bade a cheerful farewell to this world and to all the comforts and crosses of it. These were the actings of their faith.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice

on Hebrews 11:13-14

Believers are a class by themselves, even when they die. It is idle to think that we can mark out a spot in the cemetery where none but saints shall sleep, but yet there is a truth at the bottom of that folly. There is a separation even in death between the righteous and the wicked. The Lord seems to erect a mausoleum in which lie asleep the bodies of His people and He writes this epitaph across the front, "THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH." As for those who died without faith, they indeed, died.

The words behind it

25 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Hebrews 11:1Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.54 works2 Corinthians 4:18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.36 worksJohn 8:56Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”20 works1 Peter 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.20 worksPsalms 39:12Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.13 worksGenesis 23:4“I am a foreigner and an outsider among you. Give me a burial site among you so that I can bury my dead.”13 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Hebrews 11:39These were all commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised.13 worksPsalms 56:8You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle— are they not in Your book?12 worksEphesians 2:19Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,11 worksHebrews 11:27By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.10 works1 Chronicles 29:14–15But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You.9 worksRomans 8:24For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see?9 works1 Peter 1:10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,9 works1 Peter 1:1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen9 worksRomans 4:21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.8 worksMatthew 13:17For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.8 worksGenesis 47:9“My travels have lasted 130 years,” Jacob replied. “My years have been few and hard, and they have not matched the years of the travels of my fathers.”7 worksGenesis 49:18I await Your salvation, O LORD.7 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 39:12

    Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my weeping. For I am a foreigner dwelling with You, a stranger like all my fathers.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 25:23

      The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 119:19

      I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 Peter 2:11

      Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.

    • 2 Kings 20:5

      “Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I…

  • Through

    John 8:56

    Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”

    it leads to

    • Galatians 3:7–9

      Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.

    • Genesis 22:18

      And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

    • John 8:39

      “Abraham is our father,” they replied. “If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham.

  • Through

    Hebrews 11:27

    By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.

    it leads to

    • 2 Corinthians 4:18

      So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Where this verse is studied

About Hebrews

Christ Presented to the People, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Christ Presented to the People, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Hebrews: the study guide →Read Hebrews 11 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1825: “An Inscription for the Mausoleum of the Saints” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Hebrews 11 →