Hebrews 11:36
in Hebrews 11Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
KJV
And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
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This verse in Hebrews 11
Commentary
15 notes on this verseAnd others had trial of cruel mockings,.... As Samson by the Philistines; Elisha by the children, whom the bears devoured; Jeremiah by Pashur, and others; the Jews by Sanballat and Tobiah, when building the temple; the prophets, whom God sent to the Jews, as his messengers, Jdg 16:25. and scourgings; or smitings, as Jeremiah and Micaiah, Jer 20:22. yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment; as Joseph, Samson, and Jeremiah, Gen 39:20. Now of these things they had trial, or experience; their graces were tried by them, and they patiently endured them.
This site's exposition
Women received their dead raised to life again
on Hebrews 11:35-38
Two women stand behind the opening clause, the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17 and the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4, both given sons back from death through Elijah and Elisha. But the roll turns immediately to the opposite outcome, others tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection, a martyr's faith that refused an offered escape rather than one that received a miracle. Stoned, sawn asunder, and slain with the sword names a suffering the Old Testament itself does not record in full; the sawn-asunder detail attaches in later tradition to Isaiah's death under Manasseh, preserved in the Jewish and early Christian work known as the Ascension of Isaiah, named here as the tradition it is rather than as Scripture. The world was not worthy of them, wandering in deserts and mountains and the caves of the earth, the letter's own verdict on those the world had cast out.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"Others suffered mocking," such as Elisha (2 Kings 2), those around Peter later and John. "and even chains and imprisonment." Jeremiah and Micah. (Jer. 32:38; 1 Kings 22)
A commentator
Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS · Written before 373.
proposed
"Others had trial of mocking and scourging," like Elisha, or "were imprisoned and chained," like Jeremiah and Micah.
I know that some criticize this passage, questioning why only one evangelist, Judas, is mentioned as being upset, when it is said that all the apostles were indignant. They do not understand the figure of speech known as synecdoche, by which one person can be used to represent all, or one can be used to represent many.
If the battle shall call you out, if the day of your contest shall come engage bravely, fight with constancy, as knowing that you are fighting under the eyes of a present Lord, that you are attaining by the confession of His name to His own glory; who is not such a one as that He only looks on His servants, but He Himself also wrestles in us, Himself is engaged,-Himself also in the struggles of our conflict not only crowns, but is crowned. But if before the day of your contest, of the mercy of God, peace shall supervene, let there still remain to you the sound will and the glorious conscience. Nor let any one of you be saddened as if he were inferior to those who before you have suffered tortures, have overcome the world and trodden it under foot, and so have come to the Lord by a glorious road. For the Lord is the "searcher out of the reins and the hearts." He looks through secret things, and beholds that which is concealed. In order to merit the crown from Him, His own testimony alone is sufficient, who will judge us.
A commentator
John ChrysostomDISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 8.8.3 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
After he said, "They were put to death by the sword, and others were tortured," after he recounted many and different modes of martyrdom, he went on to say, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and run with perseverance." Do you see that he called Abel a martyr, as well as Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? For some of these died for God's sake in the same way that Paul spoke of when he said, "I die daily"; they died not by dying but only by their willingness to die.
8 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea moreover of bonds and imprisonment." He ends with these; with things that come nearer home. For these examples especially bring consolation, when the distress is from the same cause, since even if you mention something more extreme, yet unless it arise from the same cause, you have effected nothing. Therefore he concluded his discourse with this, mentioning "bonds, imprisonments, scourges, stonings," alluding to the case of Stephen, also to that of Zacharias.
He then brings forward a swarm of divine examples. For was it not "by faith," he says, this endurance, that they acted nobly who "had trial of mockeries and scourgings, and, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments? They were stoned, they were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts, in mountains, in dens, and caves of the earth. And all having received a good report, through faith, received not the promise of God" (what is expressed by a parasiopesis is left to be understood, viz., "alone").
The Medieval Church2 voices
For example, Elisha, who became an object of mockery for the youths (4 Kings 2:23), or Samson for the foreigners, after they gouged out his eyes (Judges 16:25). Many of the prophets, then Peter and John (Acts 5:40–41). For example, Jeremiah (Jer. 33:1) and Micaiah …
646. – Then (v. 36) he mentions the evils inflicted on them in regard to derision by words, saying, others suffered mocking, as Samson in Judges (chap. 16), Tobias, Job and Isaiah: 'I have turned away my face from them that rebuked me and spit …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The advantages that we have in the gospel for the exercise of this grace above what those had who lived in the times of the Old Testament,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings - We do not know the cases to which the apostle refers. The mockings here can never mean such as those of Ishmael against Isaac, or the youths of Bethel against Elisha. It is more probable that it refers to public exhibitions of the people of God at idol feasts and the like; and Samson’s case before Dagon, when the Philistines had put out his eyes, is quite in point.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
others--of a different class of confessors for the truth (the Greek is different from that for "others," Heb 11:35, alloi, heteroi). trial--testing their faith. imprisonment--as Hanani (2Ch 16:10), imprisoned by Asa.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And others had trial of cruel mockings - Referring to the scorn and derision which the ancient victims of persecution experienced. This has been often experienced by martyrs, and doubtless it was the case with those who suffered on account of their religion, before the advent of the Saviour as well as afterward. Some instances of this kind are mentioned in the Old Testament 2Ki 2:23; 1Ki 22:24; and it was frequent in the time of the Maccabees. And scourging - Whipping. This was a common mode of punishment, and was usually inflicted before a martyr was put to death; see the notes on Mat 10:17; Mat 27:26. For instances of this, see Jer 20:2; 2 Macc. 7:1; 5:17. “Of bonds.” Chains. Gen 39:20. And imprisonment - see 1Ki 22:27; Jer 20:2.
The words behind it
12 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἕτεροι | heteroi | Others | G2087 → | 97 times |
| δὲ | de | then | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἐμπαιγμῶν | empaigmon | of mockings | G1701 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| μαστίγων | mastigon | of scourgings | G3148 → | |
| πεῖραν | peiran | trial | G3984 → | |
| ἔλαβον, | elabon | received, | G2983 → | 257 times |
| ἔτι | eti | in addition | G2089 → | 140 times |
| δὲ | de | also | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| δεσμῶν | desmon | of chains | G1199 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| φυλακῆς· | phulakes | imprisonment; | G5438 → |
ἕτεροιOthers
heteroiG2087 →97 times
δὲthen
deG1161 →2765 times
ἐμπαιγμῶνof mockings
empaigmonG1701 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
μαστίγωνof scourgings
mastigonG3148 →
πεῖρανtrial
peiranG3984 →
ἔλαβον,received,
elabonG2983 →257 times
ἔτιin addition
etiG2089 →140 times
δὲalso
deG1161 →2765 times
δεσμῶνof chains
desmonG1199 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
φυλακῆς·imprisonment;
phulakesG5438 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
2 Chronicles 30:10And the couriers traveled from city to city through the land of Ephraim and Manasseh as far as Zebulun; but the people scorned and mocked them.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.
- 2 Chronicles 36:16
Through
Jeremiah 20:2he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 37:13
But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”
- 2 Chronicles 16:10
Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- Jeremiah 1:19
They will fight against you but will never overcome you, since I am with you to deliver you,” declares the LORD.
- Zechariah 14:10
All the land from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem will be turned into a plain, but Jerusalem will be raised up and will remain in her place, from the Benjamin Gate to the…
- Jeremiah 36:26
Instead, the king commanded Jerahmeel, a son of the king, as well as Seraiah son of Azriel and Shelemiah son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet. But the LORD…
- Jeremiah 37:13
Through
Genesis 39:20So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,
it leads to
- Genesis 40:15
For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”
- Genesis 40:15
Through
2 Chronicles 16:10Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 18:26
and tell them that this is what the king says: ‘Put this man in prison and feed him only bread and water until I return safely.’”
- 2 Chronicles 18:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies17
On this verse
On this chapter
- Enoch, the Man Who Walked with God
- The Seven Brothers and Their Mother
- Adam to Noah
- The Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22)
- The Apocrypha
- The General Epistles
- The Covenants
- The Hall of Faith
- Moses in the Bulrushes: Exodus 2
- Rahab and the Scarlet Cord: Joshua 2 & 6
- Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
- Taw: The Mark of God
- The City
- The Intertestamental Period
- The Judges Cycle: the Downward Spiral
- The Red Sea Crossing: Exodus 14-15
About Hebrews
This page draws on 16 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 4; Cyprian, Epistle VIII; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.9; John Chrysostom, DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 8.8.3; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 27; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews; Sir Robert Anderson, Types in Hebrews; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews.