Hebrews 11:35-37

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 11:35-40

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 11:35

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

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

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:36

Had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings - We do not know the cases to which the apostle refers. The mockings here can never mean such as those of Ishmael against Isaac, or the youths of Bethel against Elisha. It is more probable that it refers to public exhibitions of the people of God at idol feasts and the like; and Samson's case before Dagon, when the Philistines had put out his eyes, is quite in point. As to scourgings, this was a common way of punishing minor culprits: and even those... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:37

They were stoned - As Zechariah, the son of Barachiah or Jehoida, was, between the altar and the temple; see the account, 2 Chronicles 24:21 ; and See the notes on Matthew 23:35 . And as Naboth the Jezreelite, who, on refusing to give up his father's inheritance to a covetous king, because it had respect to the promise of God, was falsely accused and stoned to death; 1 Kings 21:1-14 . They were sawn asunder - There is a tradition that the Prophet Isaiah was thus martyred. In... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Hebrews 11:35

Verse 35 35.Women received, etc. He had already mentioned instances in which God had remunerated the faith of his servants, he now refers to examples of a different kind, — that saints, reduced to extreme miseries, struggled by faith so as to persevere invincible even to death. These instances at the first view widely differ: some triumphed gloriously over vanquished enemies, were preserved by the Lord through various miracles, and were rescued by means new and unusual from the midst of death;... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Hebrews 11:30-38

Exploits and endurances of faith. The last two specific examples here cited are connected with the entrance of Israel into Canaan under Joshua. 1. The fall of Jericho. (Verse 30) That stronghold was not reduced as the result of a long siege. It was not successfully assaulted with engines of war. The only means employed were processions, trumpets, and shouts. But the Israelites did not doubt that the word of Jehovah would be fulfilled; and, as the Divine reward of their faith, which... read more

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