Faith is the constancy of things hoped for and the verification of things not seen.
Summary: Chapter 10 ends, exhorting the readers to persevere in the faith, as the only means of avoiding apostasy and subsequent perdition. Now this chapter describes the nature and triumphs of faith. The readers being Hebrews, the author points to the Old Testament Scriptures that narrate events in the lives of the ancients, of the patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, which illustrate the necessity of faith to please God and receive good testimony from him. . In every age faith has been the means by which man has pleased God and will ultimately receive eternal life! Faith is the power that overcomes the world (1Jn 5:4).
11:1
— This is the biblical definition of faith. — “Then faith is certainty.” “Substance”, says the old version of Valera, and the Hispanoamericana. “Security”, says Moderna. The Greek word is jupostasis. It is used in 1:3 (“substance”) and in 3:14 (“confidence”). The other two texts where it appears are 2Co 9:4 Y 11:17. It is made up of two parts: jupo = low, and stasis = to stand or stand. Literally and primarily it means what it holds as a foundation. Faith, then, is firm and well-grounded confidence in the objects of hope. Faith gives substance to what is hoped for and not yet seen. — “of what is hoped for” = spiritual blessings now and in the future, in heaven. — “conviction,” from the Greek word elegkos, occurring only here and elsewhere 2Ti 3:16 (“rebuke”), (“rebuke”, Modern version). It means a proof or demonstration of some proposition, and then conviction or persuasion. Translates “rebuke” in 2Ti 3:16, because the Word of God is a proof that convinces the sinner of his guilt. — “of things not seen,” past tense (eg, verse 3), present, or future. In particular, the phrase refers to the existence of God, heaven and the glories promised regarding the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. Faith is a convincing argument to the mind. It is not a good argument, or proof, all faith, because faith in any case depends on evidence. But the Christian’s faith is based on the incontrovertible and abundant evidences of the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Now if the Bible is false, our faith in things not visible is false. But the attacks of unbelievers through the centuries have not been able to destroy the truth of the Bible. Many have “faith,” but not in the truth. Eve believed Satan, who deceived her with a lie (“you will not die”). She presented him with a lie as if it were the truth. In the same way, many believe a lie to date (2Thess 2:11). Without faith (in any field of belief) we would be limited to the narrow world of the five senses (taste, touch, see, hear, smell). No one limits himself like this, not even the professed atheist! Everyone exercises faith. But a given faith cannot be more valid than the evidence on which it is based. Note the several references in this chapter to how things not seen were “seen” through faith (verses 3,7,13, etc.).
Source: Commentary on the New Testament by Partain
Faith. Hebrews 11:13; Hebrews 10:22, Hebrews 10:39; Ac 20:21; 1Co 13:13; Gal 5:6; Tit 1:1; 1Pe 1:7; 2Pe 1:1.
it is the substance, or the certainty. Ps 27:13; Ps 42:11; Hebrews 2:3; Hebrews 3:14; 2Co 9:4; 2Co 11:17.
of what is expected. Hebrews 6:12, Hebrews 6:18, Hebrews 6:19.
the conviction of what is not seen. Hebrews 11:7, Hebrews 11:27; Romans 8:24, Romans 8:25; 2Co 4:18; 2Co 5:17; 1Pe 1:8.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
what faith is, Hebrews 11:1-5.
Without faith we cannot please God, Hebrews 11:6.
The worthy fruits shown in the fathers of old, Hebrews 11:7-40.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
Having concluded the fourth exhortation with the statement that believers should live by faith (Hebrews 10:38, Hebrews 10:39), now the author talks about faith in detail, giving many examples from the OT. of people who trusted in God.
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
This verse is not a definition of the faithbut a description of what faith does.
certainty it means “substance” or “reality.” Faith considers as a reality what is expected.
conviction it means “proof” or “evidence.” The same faith demonstrates that what is not seen is real, as the rewards of believers in the return of Christ (2Co 4:18).
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
IS, WELL; Faith. The cap. Hebrews 11:1-40 it demonstrates the nature of the only kind of faith that God accepts, which is the faith that triumphs in the worst of circumstances. It is the faith that believes in spiritual realities (v. Hebrews 11:1), leads to justice (v. Hebrews 11:4), seek God (v. Hebrews 11:6), believe in his goodness (v. Hebrews 11:6), trust his word (vv. Hebrews 11:7; Hebrews 11:11), obeys his commands (v. Hebrews 11:8), lives according to his promises (vv. Hebrews 11:13; Hebrews 11:39), rejects the spirit of the current evil world (v. Hebrews 11:13), longs for the heavenly home (vv. Hebrews 11:14-16; see Hebrews 13:13-14), perseveres in the midst of trials (vv. Hebrews 11:17-19), bless the next generation (v. Hebrews 11:21), rejects the pleasures of sin (v. Hebrews 11:25), endure persecution (v. Hebrews 11:27), performs mighty deeds of righteousness (vv. Hebrews 11:33-35), suffer for God (vv. Hebrews 11:25; Hebrews 11:35-38) and does not return to the land from which he had left, that is, to the world (vv. Hebrews 11:15-16; see ARTICLE FAITH AND GRACE, P. 1582. ).
Source: Full Life Study Bible
Commendation of faith, 11:1-3.
1 Now then, faith is a guarantee of what we hope for, proof of what we do not see; 2 For by her the ancients acquired a great name. 3 By faith we know that the worlds have been arranged by the word of God, so that the visible has originated from the invisible.
With examples taken from history, the author is going to show the recipients how true what he has just told them is that the just man “will live by faith.” All our great ancestors, so praised in Scripture, have lived driven and sustained by faith.
As a prelude to this long recount of characters, models of faith, which is to follow, he begins by saying what faith is, with a definition that has become classic: “guarantee (υπόσταση) of what we expect, proof (έλεγχος) of what we do not see” (v.1). On another occasion, when commenting on Rom 1:16-17, we spoke about the notion of faith and its complex meaning in the Pauline letters. Although here in Hebrews the perspective is different, everything that was said then should be taken into account. Here too it is not a question of giving a complete theoretical definition of faith; Only the aspect that interests the intended purpose is insisted on, considering it in terms of things or goods not yet possessed, but that we will possess. It can be said that “faith” appears nuanced with the colors of hope, and its object is “promises.” The sense of “confidence” as a virtue of the pilgrim who marches in search of the homeland is very accentuated. Of those goods not yet possessed, which we “hope for,” faith is a “guarantee,” insofar as it not only assures us of their existence, but also of their possession, if we remain firm in our waiting; In other words, it is “proof” or argument of goods that “we do not see,” about which only by faith we have certain and sure knowledge441.
That faith, brought to practical life, is what has accredited, before God and before the world, the great men of the Old Testament (v.2). Now that generic statement is enough for the author; then (v.4-40) names will be given. It is also by faith, through the testimony of Scripture, that we know that the world was created by divine command, so that “out of the invisible came the visible” (v.3). In these last words, some see an allusion, not precisely to the fact that the world was created from nothing, but to the fact that, before creation, there already existed in God, from whom everything proceeds, the realities that later had to be visible. If this is so, we would have here one of the clearest proofs of the philonism of the letter.
The righteous of the primitive age, Rom 11:4-7.
4 By faith Abel offered to God more excellent sacrifices than Cain and was declared righteous by them, God bearing witness to his offerings; and by it he speaks even after death* 5 By faith Enoch was translated, bypassing death, and was not found, because God translated him. But before being transferred he received the testimony that he had pleased God, 6 which is impossible without faith. That it is necessary that whoever approaches God believes that he exists and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him. 7 By faith, Noah, warned by divine revelation of what was not yet seen, moved by fear, built the ark for the salvation of his house; and by that same faith he condemned the world, making himself heir to righteousness according to faith.
It speaks here (v.4-7) of three holy characters, in the very dawn of humanity, who, with their conduct, showed great faith in the word of God, despite persecutions and insults: Abel (cf. Gen 4:2-10), Enoch (cf. Gen 5:21-24; Ecli 44:16), Noah (cf. Gen 6:9-8:19).
The phrase, regarding Abel, that by faith “he speaks even after death” (v.4) refers to his blood shed by Cain, which, according to the testimony of the same Scripture (Gen 4:10), continued crying out to God for vengeance (cf. 12:24). As for the “transfer” of Enoch (v.5), we have no more certain data than the laconic phrases, not easy to interpret, of the Holy Scripture442. As regards Noah, it is said that he “condemned the world” with his faith (v.7), insofar as, with his conduct, believing the word of God, he revealed the perversity of those who did not believe ( compare Wis 4:16). And this faith in God took place when “it was not yet seen” (vy), that is, when there were no signs of the future deluge. This made him heir to “righteousness according to faith” (vy), a phrase that was already explained when commenting on Rom 4:3 and 9:32.
In v.6, on the occasion of Enoch’s conduct, the author states a principle of great doctrinal importance: to be saved, it is necessary to believe “that God exists and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.” Indeed, for those who do not believe in the existence of God, religious life has no basis; and without believing that he will reward, there is no point, for, as St. Thomas comments, “no one would go to God if he did not expect to receive some reward from Him.” The God to be believed in is the personal God of invisible nature, as revealed (cf. Joh 1:18; Matt 6:4-6; Rom 1:20).
The patriarchs, Rom 11:8-22.
8 By faith Abraham, being called, obeyed and set out for the land he was to receive as an inheritance, but not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of his promises as in a strange land, dwelling in tents, the same as Isaac and Jacob, joint heirs of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to a city set on firm foundations, whose architect and builder would be God. 11 By faith, Sarah herself received vigor, the beginning of a descendant, and this was already of her propitious age, because she believed that he who had promised her was faithful. 12 And because of that one, and this one without strength to…