Hebrews 11:7 - Exposition

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear ( εὐλαβηθεὶς ), prepared an ark to the saving of his house; through which ( i.e. faith) he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith ( κατὰ πίστιν ). The "things not seen as yet" were the divinely predicted events of the Deluge. The word εὐλαβηθεὶς (translated as above in the A.V) is taken by many commentators as implying godly fear, a sentiment of piety, with reference to the previous χρηματισθεὶς , since the noun εὐλαβεία seems to have this special sense in Hebrews 12:28 , μετὰ αἰδοῦς καὶ εὐλαβείας (see what was said under Hebrews 12:7 , where the word occurred); so too the adjective, εὐλαβὴς , Luke 2:25 ; Acts 2:5 ; Acts 8:2 . Hence the emendation, "moved with godly fear," in the recent "Revised Version." But, inasmuch as the verb εὐλαβείσθαι has in the New Testament, as elsewhere, only its original import of caution or circumspection, there is no need to suppose here a further meaning (cf. Acts 23:10 , the only other passage in the New Testament where the verb occurs). Ebrard, taking only prudent forethought to be expressed, enlarges on the lesson thus conveyed to the effect that he who acts on simple faith, regardless of the world's opinion or of ridicule, is the one who is truly prudent. And we may add that such prudence legitimately comes in as a motive in the religious life. The antecedent of "which" ( δἰ ἧς ), though the ancients generally understand κιβωτὸν , is taken as above by most moderns; the reason being, not only that faith (see in Acts 8:4 ) is the ruling idea of the whole passage, but also that it suits better the expressed results, especially the second, "became heir," etc. For to say that he became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith through the ark, as being the evidence of his faith, or as being the means of his preservation, is less intelligible than to say that through faith he became so. The sense in which Noah "condemned the world" is illustrated by Matthew 12:41 , Matthew 12:42 , "The men of Nineveh," etc., "The queen of the South, " etc. (cf. Romans 2:27 ). His becoming "heir," etc., rests on the view of the fulfillment of primeval promise being transmitted as an inheritance to the faithful. Noah, as he appears in Genesis, was eminently heir in this sense, as alone in his day appropriating it and as transmitting it to his seed. In like manner Abraham, who is next mentioned, was the prominent heir among the subsequent patriarchs (cf. Romans 4:13 ). The idea running through the whole Old Testament is that, in the midst of a sinful world, an inheritance of salvation was transmitted through a chosen seed, till the Christ should come as the "Heir of all things," the perfected Head and Representative of all redeemed humanity. The word δικαιοσύνη as that of which Noah was heir, may have been suggested with reference to him by his being the first who is called δίκαιος in Genesis 6:9 , and by this being his usual designation ( Ezekiel 14:14 , Ezekiel 14:20 ; Ec 44:17; Wis. 10:4, 6, Sir. 44:17; cf. 2 Peter 2:5 , κήρυξ δικαιοσύνης ) . The whole phrase, τῆς κατὰ πίστιν δικαιοσύνης , may be taken to imply the Pauline doctrine of justification by faith, which may be supposed to have been familiar to the readers of this Epistle, having been already fully enunciated by St. Paul, and dwelt on by him as especially exemplified in Abraham. St. Paul, indeed, does not use this exact phrase, but δικαιοσύνης πίστεως ( Romans 4:11 , Romans 4:13 ); ἐκ πίστεως ( Romans 10:6 ); ἐπὶ τῆ πίστει ( Philippians 3:9 ); but still the meaning may be the same. The correspondence is an instance of Pauline thought in this Epistle, while the difference of phrase affords a presumption, though by no means in itself conclusive, against Pauline authorship.