Hebrews 11:37

Hebrews 11:37 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
• New International Version (NIV)They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated—
• English Standard Version (ESV)They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—
• New King James Version (NKJV)They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—

Context of Hebrews 11:37

35Some women who trusted God received their friends and family back from death. God raised those people who had died to become alive again. Other people refused to turn against God so that their enemies would not hurt them. As a result, their enemies killed them. These people agreed to die because they were sure that they would live again with God. They knew that would be better for them. 36Other people who trusted God received insults. Some of them were hit with whips. Enemies of God tied these people up and they put them in prison. Some of them died when people killed them with stones. Some of them died when people cut them into two pieces. Some of them died when people killed them with swords. Some of these people wore the skins of sheep and goats while they travelled about. They were very poor and they had a lot of trouble. People did bad things to them. 38These people who trusted God were too good for this world. Some of them had to travel about in the wilderness and on the hills. Some had to live in holes in the rocks and in the ground. 39God said good things about all these people because they trusted him. But they still did not receive everything that God had promised to give to them.

Hebrews 11:37 word by word

ἐλιθάσθησαν, ἐπρίσθησαν, ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρης ἀπέθανον· περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακουχούμενοι,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They were stonedλιθάζωlithazō · to stoneG3034
• they were sawn asunderπρίζωprizō · to saw (in two)G4249
• were temptedπειράζωpeirazō · to test/tempt: temptG3985
• were slainἀποθνήσκωapothnēskō · to dieG599
• withἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• ·φόνοςphonos · murderG5408
• the swordμάχαιραmachaira · swordG3162
• they wandered aboutπεριέρχομαιperierchomai · to go aroundG4022
• sheepskinsμηλωτήmēlōtē · sheepskinG3374
• goatskinsαἴγειοςaigeios · goat'sG122
• goatskinsδέρμαderma · leatherG1192
• being destituteὑστερέωhustereō · to lackG5302
• afflictedθλίβωthlibō · to press onG2346
• tormentedκακουχέωkakoucheō · to tormentG2558

Cross-references for Hebrews 11:37

• 1 Kings 21:10Put two wicked men in seats near him. Tell them to accuse Naboth that he has insulted God and the king. Then take him out. Throw stones at him until he is dead.’
• 2 Chronicles 24:21The people decided to punish Zechariah. The king gave a command to punish him with death. So they threw stones at him to kill him in the yard of the Lord's temple.
• Matthew 21:35But the farmers took hold of the servants. They hit one of them with sticks. They killed another one. They threw stones at another servant and killed him.
• Matthew 23:37Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed God's prophets. They have thrown stones to kill other people that God has sent to you. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of your people near to me. A female bird covers her babies with her body to make them safe. But you would not let me keep you from danger like that.
• Luke 13:34Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Your people have killed God's prophets. And they have thrown stones to kill other people that God has sent to you. Many times, I have wanted to bring all of your people near to me. A female bird covers her babies with her body to make them safe. But you would not let me keep you from danger like that.
• John 10:31Then the Jewish leaders picked up stones again to throw at Jesus so that they could kill him.
• Acts 7:58They took hold of Stephen and they pulled him out of the city. They removed their coats. They gave them to a young man to keep them safe. This young man was called Saul. Then they began to throw stones at Stephen to kill him.
• Acts 14:19Then some Jews arrived there in Lystra. They had travelled from Antioch and from Iconium. They talked to the people, so that they turned against Paul. Then these Jews threw stones at Paul to kill him. They pulled his body to outside the town. They thought that he was dead.
• 2 Corinthians 11:25Three times the Romans punished me with sticks. People threw stones at me to kill me once. Three times I have been on ships that broke in the sea. Once I was in the sea for a night and a day.
• 1 Samuel 22:17Then the king said to the guards who were near him, ‘Now kill the Lord's priests! They have been helping David. They knew that he was running away from me. But they did not tell me.’ But the king's officers refused to hurt the Lord's priests.
• 1 Kings 18:4At one time, Ahab's wife Jezebel was killing many of the Lord's prophets. While she was doing this, Obadiah had kept 100 prophets safe. He had hidden them in two caves, with 50 prophets in each cave. He had also given them food and water.
• 1 Kings 19:1King Ahab told Jezebel about everything that Elijah had done. He told her how Elijah had killed all Baal's prophets with a sword.
• Jeremiah 2:30‘When I punished your people, they did not change how they lived. When I sent my prophets to you, you killed them as if you were a hungry lion.’
• Jeremiah 26:23They brought Uriah back from there to King Jehoiakim. The king punished Uriah with death. They threw his dead body in the place where they buried poor people.
• Lamentations 4:13God punished Jerusalem and its people because their leaders sinned. God did not like the things that their prophets and priests did. They had caused good people to die.
• Matthew 23:35Because of all this, God will punish you for all the good people that you and your ancestors have killed. Long ago, Abel was the first of those good people. You also killed Zechariah, the son of Berekiah. He died in the yard of the temple near the altar.

Commentaries on Hebrews 11:37

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 37They 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 37They were stoned - A common method of punishment among the Jews; see the notes on Matthew 21:35, Matthew 21:44. Thus, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, was stoned; see 2 Chronicles 24:21; compare 1 Kings 21:1-14. It is not improbable that this was often resorted to in times of popular tumult, as in the case of Stephen; Acts 7:59; compare John 10:31; Acts 14:5. In the time of the terrible persecutions under Antiochus Epiphanes, and under Manasseh…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 32-38Verses 32-38 After all our searches into the Scriptures, there is more to be learned from them. We should be pleased to think, how great the number of believers was under the Old Testament, and how strong their faith, though the objects of it were not then so fully made known as now. And we should lament that now, in gospel times, when the rule of faith is more clear and perfect, the number of believers should be so small, and their faith so weak. It is…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 37Tradition says that people killed the prophet Jeremiah by throwing stones at him, and they sawed the prophet Isaiah in half.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3737. stoned--as Zechariah, son of Jehoiada (2Ch 24:20-22; Mt 23:35). sawn asunder--as Isaiah was said to have been by Manasseh; but see my Introduction to Isaiah. tempted--by their foes, in the midst of their tortures, to renounce their faith; the most bitter aggravation of them. Or else, by those of their own household, as Job was [Estius]; or by the fiery darts of Satan, as Jesus was in His last trials [Glassius]. Probably it included all three; they…Read the comment

Topics related to Hebrews 11:37

• Faith
• Martyrdom
• Persecution
• Prophets
• Saw
• Stoning
• War

In the dictionaries

• Builder
• Conceive
• Confess
• Cruel
• Faith
• Impossible
• Leather
• Proper
• Rewarder
• Trial

Commentaries on Hebrews 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings