Hebrews 11
The chapter in full, then the passages inside it that are worth stopping on — what each one claims, what the Greek or Hebrew shows, and how the reading is arrived at.
Hebrews 11 WEB
- 1 Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
- 2 For by this, the elders obtained approval.
- 3 By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.
- 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.
- 5 By faith Enoch was taken away, so that he wouldn't see death, and he was not found, because God translated him. For he has had testimony given to him that before his translation he had been well pleasing to God.
- 6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
- 7 By faith Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
- 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.
- 9 By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
- 10 For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
- 11 By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised.
- 12 Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead.
- 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
- 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.
- 15 If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
- 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
- 17 By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his only born son,
- 18 to whom it was said, "Your offspring will be accounted as from Isaac,"
- 19 concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
- 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come.
- 21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
- 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel, and gave instructions concerning his bones.
- 23 By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.
- 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
- 25 choosing rather to share ill treatment with God's people than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a time,
- 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
- 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
- 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them.
- 29 By faith they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
- 30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
- 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute didn't perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
- 32 What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets—
- 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
- 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
- 35 Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
- 36 Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
- 37 They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—
- 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
- 39 These all, having been commended for their faith, didn't receive the promise,
- 40 God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
Hebrews 11 comes at the hinge of an argument that has been building since chapter 10: the readers are wavering, tempted to abandon a costly public confession of Christ for the safety of blending back in, and the writer has just warned that "the righteous one will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him" (10:38). Chapter 11 is the answer to that warning, not a detour from it — a roll call of Israel's whole history read through a single lens, offered to show that the life of faith the readers are being asked to keep living is the same life every faithful person before them has lived, usually without seeing the promise fulfilled in their lifetime.
11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for
This opening line is not a philosophical definition of faith in general; it is a working description built for the argument that follows. "Assurance" translates hypostasis (ὑπόστασις), a word with a real range — elsewhere in Greek usage it can mean a legal title-deed, a substructure or foundation, or a settled confidence. Older translations often render it "substance," which fits a reading where faith gives hoped-for things a kind of present reality before they arrive. "Proof" translates elenchos (ἔλεγχος), ordinarily a courtroom word for evidence that settles a matter. Whichever nuance is pressed, the claim is the same: faith in this chapter is not a feeling or a leap in the dark, but a settled conviction about realities not yet visible, sturdy enough to act on. Augustine catches the payoff of this without romanticizing the risk: "Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" (Sermon 43). That is exactly the shape of the chapter — every figure named acts on what has not yet arrived.
11:3 Through faith we understand that the universe was formed
Before turning to the patriarchs, the writer roots faith in creation itself: "the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible." This is not offered as scientific argument or as evidence marshaled to persuade a skeptic; it states what faith perceives — that the visible world's origin lies in the speech of God, not in some prior visible material. The claim echoes Genesis 1 and Psalm 33:6 ("By Yahweh's word, the heavens were made"), and matches John's "All things were made through him" (John 1:3). The point for the chapter's purpose: if the most basic fact of the world — that it exists at all — is known only by faith in an unseen God who speaks, then everything that follows, all these people trusting promises they cannot yet see fulfilled, stands on the same footing as the created order itself.
11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please him
A hard sentence if taken outside its context: "for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." This is not a claim that sincerity or moral effort earns nothing without correct belief in an abstract sense; it is specifically about the two convictions the whole chapter will illustrate — that God is, and that God rewards those who seek him, even when the reward is delayed past a lifetime, as with Abel, Enoch, and Abraham. The verse functions as the chapter's thesis statement in miniature: faith is defined here not by its intensity but by its object and its patience.
11:8-19 Abraham, and the son on the altar
The longest sustained portrait in the chapter is Abraham, who "went out, not knowing where he went" (11:8) and who, "being tested, offered up Isaac" (11:17), the son through whom the promise itself was to come. The writer resolves the moral difficulty of the Genesis story not by softening it but by supplying Abraham's own reasoning: he was "concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead" (11:19). The text does not say Abraham understood everything, only that he trusted the promise-giver's power and character enough to obey what looked like its contradiction. This is offered to Hebrews' readers as the pattern for their own situation — obedience that outruns present sight because it trusts the one who gave the promise, not the visible shape the promise currently takes.
11:13-16 Strangers and pilgrims, seeking a better country
The chapter's turn on delayed promise is explicit: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises... having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (11:13). The writer draws the conclusion directly: they were "seeking a country of their own" (11:14), and God "is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them" (11:16). This is the chapter's clearest statement that faith is not primarily about outcomes secured in this life. Faith that only counted if the promise arrived on schedule would not be faith at all by this chapter's own definition (11:1) — it is trust that outlasts the absence of the thing hoped for.
11:32-40 The world was not worthy of them
The catalogue accelerates into a list of triumphs — "stopped the mouths of lions... quenched the power of fire" (11:33-34) — and then, without warning, inverts into a list of horrors: "Others were tortured... they were stoned... sawn apart... wandering in deserts" (11:35-38). The move is deliberate and often missed: faith in this chapter is not a guarantee of rescue. Some by faith escaped the sword; others by faith were killed by it. The writer's verdict on the second group is not that their faith failed but that "the world was not worthy of them" (11:38). The chapter's final claim ties it to the readers directly: "these all... didn't receive the promise, God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect" (11:39-40) — the fulfillment these figures died without seeing is bound up with Christ, and so with the readers themselves, still waiting.
What the chapter asks
The chapter presses a single question on anyone reading it seriously: whether faith will be trusted as hypostasis — solid ground to stand on — for a promise not yet delivered, or whether it will be treated as valid only once the outcome is visible. Every figure named here, from Abel to the nameless tortured and sawn apart, acted and endured without having received what was promised. The chapter does not offer the comfort of guaranteed rescue in this life; it offers the harder claim that faith's object is trustworthy enough to be worth the wait, the exile, and sometimes the cost, whether or not the reward arrives before death.
The verses this turns on
Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων.
- Ἔστιν εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- πίστις πίστις noun · nominative singular feminine G4102
- ἐλπιζομένων ἐλπίζω verb · present middle or passive participle, genitive plural neuter G1679
- ὑπόστασις, ὑπόστασις noun · nominative singular feminine G5287
- πραγμάτων πρᾶγμα noun · genitive plural neuter G4229
- ἔλεγχος ἔλεγχος noun · nominative singular masculine G1650
- οὐ οὐ particle · nominative G3756
- βλεπομένων. βλέπω verb · present middle or passive participle, genitive plural neuter G991
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- 2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
- 2 Corinthians 4:18 while we don't look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- Romans 8:24 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
- Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
- Hebrews 10:22 let's draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and having our body washed with pure water,
By faith we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Πίστει νοοῦμεν κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αἰῶνας ῥήματι Θεοῦ, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἐκ φαινομένων τὸ βλεπόμενον γεγονέναι.
- Πίστει πίστις noun · dative singular feminine G4102
- νοοῦμεν νοέω verb · present active indicative, 1st person plural G3539
- κατηρτίσθαι καταρτίζω verb · perfect passive infinitive G2675
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- αἰῶνας αἰών noun · accusative plural masculine G165
- ῥήματι ῥῆμα noun · dative singular neuter G4487
- Θεοῦ, θεός noun · genitive singular masculine G2316
- εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
- τὸ ὁ article · accusative singular neuter G3588
- μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
- ἐκ ἐκ preposition G1537
- φαινομένων φαίνω verb · present middle or passive participle, genitive plural neuter G5316
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Psalm 33:6 By Yahweh's word, the heavens were made: all their army by the breath of his mouth.
- John 1:3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
- 2 Peter 3:5 For they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God,
- Romans 4:17 As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations." This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
- Acts 17:24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.
Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
χωρὶς δὲ πίστεως ἀδύνατον εὐαρεστῆσαι· πιστεῦσαι γὰρ δεῖ τὸν προσερχόμενον τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι ἔστιν καὶ τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσιν αὐτὸν μισθαποδότης γίνεται.
- χωρὶς χωρίς adverb G5565
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- πίστεως πίστις noun · genitive singular feminine G4102
- ἀδύνατον ἀδύνατος adjective · nominative singular neuter G102
- εὐαρεστῆσαι· εὐαρεστέω verb · aorist active infinitive G2100
- πιστεῦσαι πιστεύω verb · aorist active infinitive G4100
- γὰρ γάρ conjunction G1063
- δεῖ δεῖ verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1163
- τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
- προσερχόμενον προσέρχομαι verb · present middle or passive deponent participle, accusative singular masculine G4334
- τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
- Θεῷ, θεός noun · dative singular masculine G2316
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Proverbs 8:17 I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
- Jeremiah 29:13 You shall seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.
- Matthew 6:33 But seek first God's Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
- 1 Chronicles 28:9 You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
- Psalm 105:3 Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Πίστει καλούμενος Ἀβραὰμ ὑπήκουσεν ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τόπον ὃν ἤμελλεν λαμβάνειν εἰς κληρονομίαν, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν μὴ ἐπιστάμενος ποῦ ἔρχεται.
- Πίστει πίστις noun · dative singular feminine G4102
- καλούμενος καλέω verb · present middle or passive participle, nominative singular masculine G2564
- Ἀβραὰμ Ἀβραάμ proper noun (indeclinable) G11
- ὑπήκουσεν ὑπακούω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G5219
- ἐξελθεῖν ἐξέρχομαι verb · aorist active infinitive G1831
- εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
- τόπον τόπος noun · accusative singular masculine G5117
- ὃν ὅς relative pronoun · accusative singular masculine G3739
- ἤμελλεν μέλλω verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G3195
- λαμβάνειν λαμβάνω verb · present active infinitive G2983
- εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
- κληρονομίαν, κληρονομία noun · accusative singular feminine G2817
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Acts 7:2 He said, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
- Genesis 12:1 Now Yahweh said to Abram, "Leave your country, and your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you.
- Matthew 7:24 "Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
- Genesis 15:7 He said to Abram, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it."
- Genesis 22:18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring, because you have obeyed my voice.'"
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Κατὰ πίστιν ἀπέθανον οὗτοι πάντες, μὴ κομισάμενοι τὰς ἐπαγγελίας, ἀλλὰ πόρρωθεν αὐτὰς ἰδόντες καὶ ἀσπασάμενοι, καὶ ὁμολογήσαντες ὅτι ξένοι καὶ παρεπίδημοί εἰσιν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς.
- Κατὰ κατά preposition G2596
- πίστιν πίστις noun · accusative singular feminine G4102
- ἀπέθανον ἀποθνῄσκω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G599
- οὗτοι οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · nominative plural masculine G3778
- πάντες, πᾶς adjective · nominative plural masculine G3956
- μὴ μή particle · nominative G3361
- κομισάμενοι κομίζω verb · aorist middle participle, nominative plural masculine G2865
- τὰς ὁ article · accusative plural feminine G3588
- ἐπαγγελίας, ἐπαγγελία noun · accusative plural feminine G1860
- ἀλλὰ ἀλλά conjunction G235
- πόρρωθεν πόρρωθεν adverb G4207
- αὐτὰς αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative plural feminine G846
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Psalm 39:12 "Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry. Don't be silent at my tears. For I am a stranger with you, a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
- Genesis 23:4 "I am a stranger and a foreigner living with you. Give me a possession of a burying-place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight."
- Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
- Romans 8:24 For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
- 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
οἱ γὰρ τοιαῦτα λέγοντες ἐμφανίζουσιν ὅτι πατρίδα ἐπιζητοῦσιν.
- οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
- γὰρ γάρ conjunction G1063
- τοιαῦτα τοιοῦτος demonstrative pronoun · accusative plural neuter G5108
- λέγοντες λέγω verb · present active participle, nominative plural masculine G3004
- ἐμφανίζουσιν ἐμφανίζω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person plural G1718
- ὅτι ὅτι conjunction G3754
- πατρίδα πατρίς noun · accusative singular feminine G3968
- ἐπιζητοῦσιν. ἐπιζητέω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person plural G1934
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- 2 Corinthians 4:18 while we don't look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
- Hebrews 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
- Romans 8:23 Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
- Hebrews 13:14 For we don't have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.
- Philippians 1:23 But I am hard pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
νῦν δὲ κρείττονος ὀρέγονται, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἐπουρανίου. διὸ οὐκ ἐπαισχύνεται αὐτοὺς ὁ Θεὸς Θεὸς ἐπικαλεῖσθαι αὐτῶν· ἡτοίμασεν γὰρ αὐτοῖς πόλιν.
- νῦν νῦν adverb G3568
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- κρείττονος κρείττων adjective · genitive singular feminine G2909
- ὀρέγονται, ὀρέγω verb · present middle or passive indicative, 3rd person plural G3713
- τοῦτ’ οὗτος demonstrative pronoun · nominative singular neuter G3778
- ἔστιν εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- ἐπουρανίου. ἐπουράνιος adjective · genitive singular feminine G2032
- διὸ διό conjunction G1352
- οὐκ οὐ particle · nominative G3756
- ἐπαισχύνεται ἐπαισχύνομαι verb · present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular G1870
- αὐτοὺς αὐτός personal pronoun · accusative plural masculine G846
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Hebrews 13:14 For we don't have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.
- Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
- Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
- Matthew 25:34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
- John 14:2 In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.
By faith, Abraham, being tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had gladly received the promises was offering up his only born son,discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Πίστει προσενήνοχεν Ἀβραὰμ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ πειραζόμενος, καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ προσέφερεν ὁ τὰς ἐπαγγελίας ἀναδεξάμενος,
- Πίστει πίστις noun · dative singular feminine G4102
- προσενήνοχεν προσφέρω verb · perfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G4374
- Ἀβραὰμ Ἀβραάμ proper noun (indeclinable) G11
- τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
- Ἰσαὰκ Ἰσαάκ proper noun (indeclinable) G2464
- πειραζόμενος, πειράζω verb · present middle or passive participle, nominative singular masculine G3985
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
- μονογενῆ μονογενής adjective · accusative singular masculine G3439
- προσέφερεν προσφέρω verb · imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular G4374
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- τὰς ὁ article · accusative plural feminine G3588
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Genesis 22:16 and said, "'I have sworn by myself,' says Yahweh, 'because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son,
- James 2:21 Wasn't Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar?
- Genesis 22:1 After these things, God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" He said, "Here I am."
- 1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials,
- James 5:11 Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
From the interpretive tradition
Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God's grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it.