Hebrews 11:16 BSB — MannaFest

Hebrews 11:16

Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.

KJV

But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

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Commentary

5 voices

Origen of Alexandria

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6.17-18 (253)

The saints who preceded Jesus' bodily sojourn, who had a somewhat greater mental grasp than the majority of believers, perceived the mysteries of divinity because the word of God was teaching them even before he became flesh, for he was always working, being an imitator of his Father of whom he says, "My Father is working still."He says, perhaps to the Sadducees who do not believe in the doctrine of the resurrection, "Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

But they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly - This is a full convincing proof that the patriarchs had a Revelation and a promise of eternal glory in heaven. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: seeing he hath prepared for them a city - Worthy of God to give.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

(3.) Notwithstanding their meanness by nature, their vileness by sin, and the poverty of their outward condition, God is not ashamed to be called their God: such is his condescension, such is his love to them; therefore let them never be ashamed of being called his people, nor of any of those that are truly so, how much soever despised in the world.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1030: “The Pilgrim's Longings” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1872)

'And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.''Hebrews 11:15-16. ABRAHAM left his country at God's command, and he never went back again. The proof of faith lies in perseverance. There is a sort of faith which does run well, but it is soon hindered, and it doth not obey the truth.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
νῦν	nun	now	G3568 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
κρείττονος	kreittonos	to a better [one]	G2908 →
ὀρέγονται,	oregontai	they stretch forward to,	G3713 →
τοῦτ᾽	tout᾽	That	G3778 →
ἔστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
ἐπουρανίου·	epouraniou	to a heavenly [one];	G2032 →
διὸ	dio	Therefore	G1352 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἐπαισχύνεται	epaischunetai	is ashamed of	G1870 →
αὐτοὺς	autous	them	G846 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
ἐπικαλεῖσθαι	epikaleisthai	to be called	G1941 →
αὐτῶν·	autōn	of them;	G846 →
ἡτοίμασεν	hētoimasen	He has prepared	G2090 →
γὰρ	gar	indeed	G1063 →
αὐτοῖς	autois	for them	G846 →
πόλιν.¶	polin	a city.	G4172 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Philippians 3:20
But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
leads to
- Colossians 3:1–3
  Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Hebrews 12:22
  Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels
  Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
- Ephesians 2:19
  Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
- 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.
Through
John 14:2
In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
leads to
- 2 Corinthians 5:1
  Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Hebrews 13:14
  For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- John 13:36
  “Lord, where are You going?” Simon Peter asked. Jesus answered, “Where I am going, you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow later.”
Through
Hebrews 13:14
For here we do not have a permanent city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.
leads to
- Philippians 3:20
  But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.