Ibrani 11:1-3

People Commended for Their Faith

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 11:2 For by it the people of old ¹  received God’s commendation. ²  11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds ³  were set in order at God’s command, ⁴  so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. ⁵ 

Ibrani 11:8-16

11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner ⁶  in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs ⁷  of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, ⁸  whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, ⁹  he received the ability to procreate, ¹⁰  because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children ¹¹  were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand ¹²  on the seashore. ¹³  11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, ¹⁴  but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners ¹⁵  on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, ¹⁶  they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

[11:2]  ¹ tn Or “the elders,” “the ancients.”

[11:2]  ² tn Grk “were attested,” “received commendation”; and Heb 11:4-6 shows this to be from God.

[11:3]  ³ tn Grk “ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 1:2 for same usage.

[11:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “by God’s word.”

[11:3]  ⁵ sn The Greek phrasing emphasizes this point by negating the opposite: “so that what is seen did not come into being from things that are visible.”

[11:9]  ⁶ tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”

[11:9]  ⁷ tn Or “heirs with him.”

[11:10]  ⁸ tn Grk “that has foundations.”

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.

[11:12]  ¹² tn Grk a collective “the sand.”

[11:12]  ¹³ sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).

[11:13]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the promises,” referring to the things God promised, not to the pledges themselves.

[11:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “sojourners.”

[11:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “now.”