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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Hebrews 11:32-40

The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and actings of their faith recorded, now concludes his narrative with a more summary account of another set of believers, where the particular acts are not ascribed to particular persons by name, but left to be applied by those who are well acquainted with the sacred story; and, like a divine orator, he prefaces his part of the narrative with an elegant expostulation: What shall... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 11:32-34

11:32-34 And what more shall I say? Time will fail me if I try to recount the story of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson, or Jephthah, of David. of Samuel and of the prophets, men who, through faith, mastered kingdoms, did righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword. from weakness were made strong, showed themselves strong in warfare, routed the ranks of aliens. In this passage the writer lets his mind's eye roam back over... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Hebrews 11:35-40

11:35-40 Women received back their own folk as if they had been raised from the dead. Others were crucified because they refused to accept release, for they were eager to obtain a better resurrection. Others went through scoffing and scourging, yes, and chains and imprisonment. They were stoned; they were sawn asunder; they underwent every kind of trial; they died by the murder of the sword. They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, they were in want, they were oppressed, they were... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:34

Quenched the violence of fire ,.... Which may be said to be done, when a believer, or a righteous man, is delivered out of it, as Lot from Sodom, when God rained fire and brimstone on it; when, by prayer, it is stopped, as by Moses, at Taberah, Numbers 11:1 when persons are not hurt by it, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when cast into Nebuchadrezzar's fiery furnace; and many of the martyrs have triumphed in the flames: so believers are delivered out of the fire of afflictions, and are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:35

Women received their dead raised to life again ,.... As the widow of Zarephath, and the Shunammite, 1 Kings 17:22 . Their sons were really dead, and they received them alive gain, from the hands of the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, in the way of a resurrection, and by faith; by the faith of the prophets: and others were tortured ; racked, or tympanized; referring to the sufferings of seven brethren, and their mother, in the times of Antiochus, recorded in 2 Maccabees 7 as appears from... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:36

And others had trial of cruel mockings ,.... As Samson by the Philistines; Elisha by the children, whom the bears devoured; Jeremiah by Pashur, and others; the Jews by Sanballat and Tobiah, when building the temple; the prophets, whom God sent to the Jews, as his messengers, Judges 16:25 . and scourgings ; or smitings, as Jeremiah and Micaiah, Jeremiah 20:22 . yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment ; as Joseph, Samson, and Jeremiah, Genesis 39:20 . Now of these things they had... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:37

They were stoned ,.... As Naboth, by the order of Ahab, 1 Kings 21:13 , Zachariah in the court of the Lord's house; 2 Chronicles 24:21 and the character of Jerusalem is, that she stoned the prophets that were sent unto her, Matthew 23:37 . They were sawn asunder ; to which there seems to be an allusion in Matthew 24:51 . There is no instance of any good men being so used in Scripture: perhaps reference is had to some that suffered thus in the time of Antiochus. The Jews have a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Hebrews 11:38

Of whom the world was not worthy ,.... These words are inserted in a parenthesis, to remove or prevent such objections as these; that they were restless and unquiet persons, that made disturbance in the world, and so unfit to live in it; and that they were deservedly punished for crimes they were guilty of; and to show the great worth and inestimable value of the people of God, which exceeds that of the whole world; and to intimate the removal of them out of the world, or from dwelling among... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:34

Quenched the violence of fire - As in the case of the three faithful Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who, for their steady attachment to God's worship, were cast into a fiery furnace, in which they were preserved, and from which they escaped unhurt. Dan. 3. Escaped the edge of the sword - Moses, who escaped the sword of Pharaoh, Exodus 18:4 ; Elijah, that of Jezebel; and David, that of Saul: and many others. Out of weakness were made strong - Were miraculously restored... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:35

Women received their dead - As did the widow of Zarephath, 1 Kings 17:21 , and the Shunammite, 2 Kings 4:34 . What other cases under all the above heads the apostle might have in view, we know not. Others were tortured - Ετυμπανισθησαν . This is a word concerning the meaning of which the critics are not agreed. Τυμπανον signifies a stick, or baton, which was used in bastinadoing criminals. And τυμπανιζω signifies to beat violently, and is thus explained by the best... read more

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