Hebrews 11:1

DIVISION VI

(Hebrews 11:1-40)

A DISCUSSION OF FAITH;

SOME CITATIONS OF OLD TESTAMENT EXEMPLARS OF FAITH;

THEY WERE NOT MADE PERFECT APART FROM US

Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

The preoccupation of scholars with their view of making this verse a logical definition of faith has resulted in the rendition before us, which is certainly no improvement on the KJV, and would even seem to be capricious, since the word translated "assurance" is the same word translated "substance" in Hebrews 1:3, and "confidence" in Hebrews 3:14. Milligan is undoubtedly correct in the observation that this is not a formal definition of faith at all, but "rather a plain statement with regard to its nature and province."[1]

Macknight said, "The word for `evidence' (or `assurance') denotes a strict proof or demonstration; a proof which thoroughly convinces the understanding and determines the will."[2] Adam Clarke followed the same line of thought, saying:

It is such a conviction as is produced in the mind by the demonstration (as to a proposition in geometry) of a problem, after which demonstration no doubt can remain, because we see from it that the thing is; that it cannot but be; and that it cannot be otherwise than as it is, as it is proved to be.[3]

Substance has several shades of meaning, including the thought of the GROUND that stands under a proposition; also, it means the ACTUAL SUBSTANCE as contrasted with the mere vision of a thing, this latter connotation making the passage mean that faith in the believer's soul actually brings reality into his existence, conveying the thought of an earnest, or pledge, of ultimate fulfillment.

Things hoped for are all of those blessings, temporal and eternal, that make up the inheritance of the faithful. Resurrection from the dead and the triumphal entry into the everlasting habitations are surely included.

Things not seen include everything in the whole area of faith, the creation of the universe, the incarnation of Christ, the judgment of the world by the deluge, the second advent of Christ, the final judgment, the ultimate reception by every man of the destiny, good or bad, that shall be assigned to him by God's enforcement of universal judgment, founded on justice and mercy. Unseen things are very strongly emphasized in this chapter, and repeated reference to them is made.

[1] R. Milligan, New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1962), Vol. 9, p. 298.

[2] James Macknight, Apostolic Epistles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1960), p. 560.

[3] Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: Carlton and Porter, 1829), Vol. 6, p. 762.