Commentary on Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

In Hebrews 10:39, while interpreting Habakkuk 2:4, the author says, “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.” Then the author begins to answer the question of what it means to have this faith: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This translation understands the Greek words hypostasis (“assurance”) and elenchos (“conviction”) to describe subjective realities. This interpretation could be paraphrased: “Faith is the assurance [for me] of things hoped for, [providing] a conviction [for me] of things not seen.” Though the dominant interpretation represented by translations, this is not the dominant interpretation in commentaries on Hebrews.

Most understand those Greek terms to describe objective realities because, for both of these words, that is a more common and natural interpretation. My translation is: “Now faith is the foundation for things being hoped for, proof for things we do not see.” Faith is the reason they hope for things, trusting that God will fulfill his promises, and faith provides proof (in a manner of speaking) that unseen things exist. This explanation or definition of faith is operative throughout the rest of the chapter. The author says this first in order that every time a reader encounters “by faith,” they will have this definition in view.

This becomes clearer in 11:2, where the author says that it is because of this, because of faith, that the ancestors received approval. Before explaining all the faithful acts of the ancestors, the author begins with a surprising act of faith—ours. He says, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible” (11:3). At its most basic level, this means that “we” are commended because we trust that God created the universe from unseen things. This likely contains an allusion to Genesis 1, where God creates through speech acts (“Let there be light!”).¹

After recounting what Abel, Enoch, and Noah did “by faith,” the author spends a considerable amount of time talking about Abraham. First, alluding to Genesis 12:1–3, the author commends Abraham for leaving his homeland to travel to an unknown place when God called upon him (11:8). This led to Abraham and his offspring living in tents—in a state of transience (11:9). The reason he did not settle, the author says, is because he “looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (11:10). The mention of foundations almost certainly introduces a contrast with the ancestors’ tents. This city is permanent, and the city planner is God.

The next set of narratives from Abraham’s life that come into focus are those around the birth of Isaac. The author notes that Abraham received the power to “sow seed” (literally), or procreate, though he was past the normal childbearing age, as was Sarah (11:11).

This verse is challenging to interpret because the author introduces Sarah, and she appears to be the subject of this verse (in other words, the one given power to sow seed). This makes the most sense for the initial clause, but 11:12 clearly refers to a masculine figure when it says, “Therefore from one person,” because the word translated “one person” is masculine in Greek. The author may intend for the comment about Sarah to be an aside or may simply switch back to Abraham quickly without warning. The latter is more likely since a male and a female figure are in view, and this switch would be easy for native speakers to follow. Either way, it is Abraham who is said to have innumerable descendants.

Although the author will return to Abraham, yet again some summary comments appear. The author says that all the people mentioned already in the list (and, presumably, those yet to be mentioned) died “in faith.” They died without receiving what was promised but still trusting that God would provide (11:13). They continued living as migrants, not settling anywhere, because they were looking forward to a true homeland (11:14). The author makes clear that they are not homesick for the lands they had left; they desired something better—something heavenly (11:15–16).

The city God has prepared for them will appear again in Hebrews 12:22. They will “come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” This suggests that the heavenly homeland is a reality they will experience more fully in the future.

Notes

1. The author may also make a christological claim. See Madison N. Pierce, “The World Spoken Through the Son: Divine Speech and Creation in the Epistle to the Hebrews,” JSNT 46, no. 1 (2023): 37–58.