Hebrews 11:12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 11:4-31

The apostle, having given us a more general account of the grace of faith, now proceeds to set before us some illustrious examples of it in the Old-Testament times, and these may be divided into two classes:?1. Those whose names are mentioned, and the particular exercise and actings of whose faith are specified. 2. Those whose names are barely mentioned, and an account given in general of the exploits of their faith, which it is left to the reader to accommodate, and apply to the particular... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 11:11-12

11:11-12 It was by faith that Sarah, too, received power to conceive and to bear a son, although she was beyond the age for it, for she believed that he who gave the promise could be absolutely relied upon. So from one man, and he a man whose body had lost its vitality, there were born descendants, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, as countless as the sand upon the seashore. The story of the promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah is told in Genesis 17:15-22 ; Genesis 18:9-15 ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:12

That is, Abraham: the Arabic version has here a strange interpolation; "this faith Isaac and Rebecca conceived in mind, and so there were born of one, Esau and Jacob.' And him as good as dead ; being an hundred years of age; See Gill on Romans 4:19 . The Ethiopic version reads, "the bodies of both were like a dead carcass"; both of Abraham and Sarah: so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable ; as was promised to Abraham, ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:12

Him as good as dead - According to nature, long past the time of the procreation of children. The birth of Isaac, the circumstances of the father and mother considered, was entirely supernatural; and the people who proceeded from this birth were a supernatural people; and were and are most strikingly singular through every period of their history to the present day. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:12

Verse 12 12.Therefore sprang there even of one, etc. He now also reminds the Jews, that it was by faith that they were the descendants of Abraham; for he was as it were half dead, (220) and Sarah his wife, who had been barren in the flower of her age, was now sterile, being far advanced in years. Sooner then might oil be expected to flow from a stone, than a nation to proceed from them: and yet there sprang from them an innumerable multitude. If now the Jews are proud of their origin, let them... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 11:8-19

Faith of the Hebrew Pilgrim Fathers. What Anglo-Saxon could look without emotion on the granite boulder at New Plymouth—"the corner-stone of a nation"—upon which the Pilgrim Fathers of New England stepped ashore from the Mayflower? And, in like manner, what Jew can think but with enthusiasm of those three glorious names—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? The verses before us were well fitted to stir the hearts' blood of the Hebrews to whom this treatise was addressed. And they should stir ours... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 11:11-12

By faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, even when she was past age , because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea-shore innumerable. The vitality of Abraham's faith is represented as evinced by its surviving and triumphing over a succession of trials, over apparent impossibilities. One such peculiar trial was the long... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Hebrews 11:12

Therefore sprang there even of one - From a single individual. What is observed here by the apostle as worthy of remark, is, that the whole Jewish people sprang from one man, and that, as the reward of his strong faith he was made the father and founder of a nation.And him as good as dead - So far as the subject under discussion is concerned, To human appearance there was no more probability, that he would have a son at that period of life, than that the dead would have.So many as the stars in... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Hebrews 11:11-12

Hebrews 11:11-12. Through faith also Sara Though at first she laughed at the promise through unbelief; received strength Εις καταβολην σπερματος , for the conception of seed; and was delivered of a child when she was past age That is, beyond the due time of age for such a purpose, when she was ninety years old, and in the course of nature absolutely incapable of being a mother. “I believe,” says Dr. Owen, “that this was not a mere miraculous generation, but that she received a general... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:1-22

Examples of true faith (11:1-22)In the previous chapter the writer asserted that people must join faith to perseverance if they are to enjoy the thing hoped for. He now supports this statement with illustrations from the Old Testament. If people have faith, it means they believe that things hoped for according to God’s promises will be achieved and that unseen powers of God are real. Those with faith look beyond what they see. They know that they cannot explain the existence of the world solely... read more

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