Hebrews 11:33–38

Context

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is often called the "faith chapter." It presents in sequence the faith of Old Testament figures from Abel to Rahab. In verse 32 the author names Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. After remarking that time would fail to tell of them all, the author, in verses 33–38, condenses into a list not their names but what they experienced.

Verses 33 through the first part of verse 35 describe scenes of victory and deliverance. The latter part of verse 35 through verse 38 describes scenes of suffering and death. Commentators generally identify the background of the individual expressions as follows:

• "Stopped the mouths of lions": Daniel's deliverance from the lions' den (Daniel 6)
• "Quenched the violence of fire": Daniel's three companions, who survived the fiery furnace (Daniel 3)
• Women who "received their dead raised to life again": the children restored to life by Elijah and Elisha
• Those who "were stoned": the death of the priest Zechariah
• Those who "were sawn asunder": a widely known interpretation connects this with the Jewish tradition that Isaiah was put to death in this way during the reign of King Manasseh.

The following verses, 39–40, conclude that none of these received what was promised and that they are made perfect only together with "us."

Interpretation

• Two outcomes of faith: Many interpreters note that the same faith led to rescue for some and to martyrdom for others. In this reading, the genuineness of faith is not judged by its visible outcome.
• "A better resurrection": The phrase is understood as a contrast between the resuscitations mentioned in the first part of verse 35 (in which the dead were brought back to life only to die again later) and the resurrection on the last day.
• "Of whom the world was not worthy": The phrase is taken to mean that although the world persecuted and drove out these people, in reality the world was unworthy to have them.

Debates and Issues

• Relation to the prosperity gospel: Critics of the prosperity gospel appeal to verses 35–38 in opposing the teaching that faith necessarily leads to health and wealth. Those who emphasize the power of faith point to the scenes of victory in verses 33–35. Both sides have been criticized for missing the flow of the passage as a whole when quoting one part of it in isolation.
• Relation to the Apocrypha: Many interpreters take "tortured" in verse 35 as a reference to the account of persecution in 2 Maccabees 7. The Catholic Church accepts this book as deuterocanonical (belonging to a second group of books included in the canon). Protestants do not accept it as part of the canon, though they sometimes consult it as a source for historical background.
• Textual issues: The words "were tempted" in verse 37 are omitted in some manuscripts and appear in a different position in others. For this reason, scholars have proposed that the word may have arisen from the alteration of another word in the course of copying.

In the Korean Church

The passage is often read in worship services and sermons commemorating martyrs. The phrase "of whom the world was not worthy" is commonly quoted when introducing figures such as Ju Gi-cheol, who was martyred for opposing Shinto shrine worship, and Son Yang-won, who was martyred during the Korean War.

Related Passages

• Hebrews 11:39–40
• Daniel 3:24–28
• 1 Kings 17:17–24
• 2 Chronicles 24:20–22
• Hebrews 12:1–2