Hebrews 11:13

13-16. Summary of the characteristic excellencies of the patriarchs' faith died in faith--died as believers, waiting for, not actually seeing as yet their good things promised to them. They were true to this principle of faith even unto, and especially in, their dying hour (compare He 11:20). These all--beginning with "Abraham" (He 11:8), to whom the promises were made (Ga 3:16), and who is alluded to in the end of He 11:13 and in He 11:15 [Bengel and Alford]. But the "ALL" can hardly but include Abel, Enoch, and Noah. Now as these did not receive the promise of entering literal Canaan, some other promise made in the first ages, and often repeated, must be that meant, namely, the promise of a coming Redeemer made to Adam, namely, "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." Thus the promises cannot have been merely temporal, for Abel and Enoch mentioned here received no temporal promise [Archbishop Magee]. This promise of eternal redemption is the inner essence of the promises made to Abraham (Ga 3:16). not having received--It was this that constituted their "faith." If they had "received" THE THING PROMISED (so "the promises" here mean: the plural is used because of the frequent renewal of the promise to the patriarchs: He 11:17 says he did receive the promises, but not the thing promised), it would have been sight, not faith. seen them afar off--(Joh 8:56). Christ, as the Word, was preached to the Old Testament believers, and so became the seed of life to their souls, as He is to ours. and were persuaded of them--The oldest manuscripts omit this clause. embraced them--as though they were not "afar off," but within reach, so as to draw them to themselves and clasp them in their embrace. Trench denies that the Old Testament believers embraced them, for they only saw them afar off: he translates, "saluted them," as the homeward-bound mariner, recognizing from afar the well-known promontories of his native land. Alford translates, "greeted them." Jacob's exclamation, "I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord" (Ge 49:18) is such a greeting of salvation from afar [Delitzsch]. confessed ... were strangers--so Abraham to the children of Heth (Ge 23:4); and Jacob to Pharaoh (Ge 47:9; Psa 119:19). Worldly men hold fast the world; believers sit loose to it. Citizens of the world do not confess themselves "strangers on the earth." pilgrims--Greek, "temporary (literally, 'by the way') sojourners." on the earth--contrasted with "an heavenly" (He 11:16): "our citizenship is in heaven" (Greek: He 10:34; Psa 119:54; Php 3:20). "Whosoever professes that he has a Father in heaven, confesses himself a stranger on earth; hence there is in the heart an ardent longing, like that of a child living among strangers, in want and grief, far from his fatherland" [Luther]. "Like ships in seas while in, above the world."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Verse 13. These all died in faith. That is those who had been just mentioned--Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Sarah. It was true of Abel and Noah also, that they died in faith, but they are not included in this declaration, for the "promises" were not particularly entrusted to them; and if the word "these" be made to include them, it must include Enoch also, who did not die at all. The phrase here used, "these all died in faith," does not mean that they died in the exercise or possession of religion, but more strictly that they died not having possessed what was the object of their faith. They had been looking for something future, which they did not obtain during their lifetime, and died believing that it would yet be theirs.

Not having received the promises. That is, not having received the fulfilment of the promises; or the promised blessings. The promises themselves they had received. Comp. Lk 24:49, Acts 1:4,11,16, Gal 3:14 Heb 11:33,39. In all these places the word promise is used by metonymy for the thing promised.

But having seen them afar off. Having seen that they would be fulfilled in future times. Comp. Jn 8:56. It is probable that the apostle here means that they saw the entire fulfilment of all that the promises embraced in the future that is, the bestowment of the land of Canaan, the certainty of a numerous posterity, and of the entrance into the heavenly Canaan --the world of fixed and permanent rest. According to the reasoning of the apostle here, the "promises" to which they trusted included all these things.

And were persuaded of them. Had no doubt of their reality.

And embraced them. This word implies more than our word embrace frequently does; that is, to receive as true. It means, properly, to draw to one's self; and then to embrace, as one does a friend from whom he has been separated. It then means to greet, salute, welcome, and here means a joyful greeting of those promises; or a pressing them to the heart, as we do a friend. It was not a cold and formal reception of them, but a warm and hearty welcome. Such is the nature of true faith when it embraces the promises of salvation. No act of pressing a friend to the bosom is ever more warm and cordial.

And confessed that they were strangers. Thus Abraham said, Gen 23:4, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you." That is, he regarded himself as a foreigner; as having no home and no possessions there. It was on this ground that he proposed to buy a burial place of the sons of Heth.

And pilgrims. This is the word-- παρεπιδημος--which is used by Abraham, as rendered by the Seventy in Gen 23:4, and which is there translated "sojourner" in the common English version. The word pilgrim means, properly, a wanderer, a traveller, and particularly one who leaves his own country to visit a holy place. This sense does not quite suit the meaning here, or in Gen 23:4. The Hebrew word-- means, properly, one who dwells in a place, and particularly one who is a mere resident without the rights of; a citizen. The Greek word means a by-resident; one who lives by another or among a people not his own. This is the idea here. It is not that they confessed themselves to be wanderers, or that they had left their home to visit a holy place, but that they resided as mere sojourners in a country that was not theirs. What might be their ultimate destination, or their purpose, is not implied in the meaning of the word. They were such as reside awhile among another people, but have no permanent home there.

On the earth. The phrase here used--επιτηςγης--might mean merely on the land of Canaan, but the apostle evidently uses it in a larger sense as denoting the earth in general. There can be no doubt that this accords with the views which the patriarchs had--regarding themselves not only as strangers in the land of Canaan, but feeling that the same thing was true in reference to their whole residence upon the earth--that it was not their permanent home.

(1) "in faith" "according to" (*) "promises" "the promised blessings" (d) "confessed" 1Chr 29:15, 1Pet 2:11

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 13 These all died in faith - That is, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, continued to believe, to the end of their lives, that God would fulfill this promise; but they neither saw the numerous seed, nor did they get the promised rest in Canaan. Strangers and pilgrims - Strangers, ξενοι, persons who are out of their own country, who are in a foreign land: pilgrims, παρεπιδημοι, sojourners only for a time; not intending to take up their abode in that place, nor to get naturalized in that country. How many use these expressions, professing to be strangers and pilgrims here below, and yet the whole of their conduct, spirit, and attachments, show that they are perfectly at home! How little consideration and weight are in many of our professions, whether they relate to earth or heaven!

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain