Hebrews 11 · Verse 38

Hebrews 11:38

(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Hebrews 11:38, King James Version

Hebrews 11:38 in other translations

BSBThe world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
WEBof whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
ASV(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
YLTof whom the world was not worthy; in deserts wandering, and in mountains, and in caves, and in the holes of the earth;
DARBY(of whom the world was not worthy,) wandering in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caverns of the earth.
BBEWandering in waste places and in mountains and in holes in the rocks; for whom the world was not good enough.
Webster(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

What does Hebrews 11:38 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
38. Of whom the world was not worthy--So far from their being unworthy of living in the world, as their exile in deserts, &c., might seem to imply, "the world was not worthy of them." The world, in shutting them out, shut out from itself a source of blessing; such as Joseph proved to Potiphar (Ge 39:5), and Jacob to Laban (Ge 30:27). In condemning them, the world condemned itself. caves--literally, "chinks." Palestine, from its hilly character, abounds in fissures and caves, affording shelter to the persecuted, as the fifty hid by Obadiah (1Ki 18:4, 13) and Elijah (1Ki 19:8, 13); and Mattathias and his sons (1 Maccabees 2:28, 29); and Judas Maccabeus (2 Maccabees 5:27).

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

Barnes' Notes
Verse 38. Of whom the world was not worthy. The world was so wicked that it had no claim that such holy men should live in it. These poor, despised, and persecuted men, living as outcasts and wanderers, were of a character far elevated above the world. This is a most beautiful expression. It is at once a statement of their eminent holiness, and of the wickedness of the rest of mankind.

They wandered in deserts, etc. On the Scripture meaning of the word desert or wilderness, Mt 3:1. This is a description of persons driven away from their homes, and wandering about from place to place to procure a scanty subsistence. Comp. 1 Mac, i. 53; 2 Mac. v. 27; vi. 7. The instances mentioned in the Books of Maccabees are so much in point, that there is no impropriety in supposing that Paul referred to some such cases, if not these very cases. As there is no doubt about their historic truth, there was no impropriety in referring to them, though they are not mentioned in the canonical books of Scripture. One of those cases may be referred to as strikingly illustrating what is here said. "But Judas Maccabeus, with nine others, or thereabout, withdrew himself into the wilderness, and lived in the mountains after the manner of beasts, with his company, who fed on herbs continually, lest they should be partakers of the pollution," 2 Mac. v. 27.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 38 Of whom the world was not worthy - Yet they were obliged to wander by day in deserts and mountains, driven from the society of men, and often obliged to hide by night in dens and caves of the earth, to conceal themselves from the brutal rage of men. Perhaps he refers here principally to the case of Elijah, and the hundred prophets hidden in caves by Obadiah, and fed with bread and water. See 1Kgs 18:4. David was often obliged thus to hide himself from Saul; 1Sam 24:3, etc.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hebrews 11:32-38

After all our searches into the Scriptures, there is more to be learned from them. We should be pleased to think, how great the number of believers was under the Old Testament, and how strong their faith, though the objects of it were not then so fully made known as now. And we should lament that now, in gospel times, when the rule of faith is more clear and perfect, the number of believers should be so small, and…

Read the full comment on Hebrews 11:32-38 →

Hebrews 11:38 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ὧνhōnof whomG3739
οὐκouknotG3756
ἦνēnwasG1510
ἄξιοςaxiosworthyG514
ὁhotheG3588
κόσμος·kosmosworld;G2889
ἐπὶepiinG1909
ἐρημίαιςerēmiaisdesertsG2047
πλανώμενοιplanōmenoiwanderingG4105
καὶkaiandG2532
ὄρεσινoresinin mountainsG3735
καὶkaiandG2532
σπηλαίοιςspēlaioisin cavesG4693
καὶkaiandG2532
ταῖςtaisin theG3588
ὀπαῖςopaisholesG3692
τῆςtēsof theG3588
γῆς.¶gēsearth.G1093

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Hebrews 11:38

  • 1 Kings 18:4

    For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

  • 1 Samuel 22:1

    David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.

  • 1 Kings 19:9

    And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

  • Isaiah 57:1

    The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

  • 1 Samuel 24:1-3

    And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En–gedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave.

  • 1 Kings 18:13

    Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

  • Psalms 142:1-7

    Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. …

  • 1 Samuel 26:1

    And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?

  • 1 Kings 17:3

    Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

  • 1 Kings 14:12-13

    Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

  • 1 Samuel 23:15

    And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

  • 1 Samuel 23:23

    See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
whom.
1Ki 14:12,13; 2Ki 23:25-29; Isa 57:1
wandered.
1Sa 22:1; 23:15,19,23; 24:1-3; 26:1; 1Ki 17:3; 18:4,13; 19:9
Ps 142:1; *title
Ps 142:2-7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Hebrews 11:37

    They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

  • Hebrews 11:38

    (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

  • Hebrews 11:39

    And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:

Read all of Hebrews 11

Hebrews 11:38 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		De los cuales el mundo no era digno; perdidos por los desiertos, por los montes, por las cuevas y por las cavernas de la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		(desquels le monde n’était pas digne,) errant dans les déserts et les montagnes, et les cavernes et les trous de la terre.
German
Elberfelder 1871		irrten umher in Wüsten und Gebirgen und Klüften und den Höhlen der Erde.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		quibus dignus non erat mundus: in solitudinibus errantes, in montibus, in speluncis, et in cavernis terræ.