Hebrews 11:40

Hebrews 11:40 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
• New International Version (NIV)since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
• English Standard Version (ESV)since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
• New King James Version (NKJV)God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

Context of Hebrews 11:40

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. God had already decided to prepare something better for all of us. As a result, those people did not receive everything until we could join with them.

Hebrews 11:40 word by word

τοῦ θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένου, ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσιν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• having providedπροβλέπωproblepō · to foresee/planG4265
• someτιςtis · oneG5100
• betterκρείττωνkreittōn · strongerG2909
• forπερίperi · aboutG4012
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• withoutχωρίςchōris · withoutG5565
• shouldτελειόωteleioō · to perfectG5048
• notμήmē · notG3361

Cross-references for Hebrews 11:40

• Hebrews 7:19God's Laws that he gave to Moses could not make anything completely right. But now God has brought us something better to hope for. And in that way, we ourselves can come near to God.
• Hebrews 8:6But now God has given Jesus a much better way to serve him as a priest. The new agreement that God makes with his people is possible because of Jesus. Because of Jesus' work on our behalf, the new agreement is better than the old one. It is much better because it started with better promises.
• Hebrews 9:23The tabernacle and the things that were in it needed animals' blood to make them clean. That was a picture of the true place in heaven where people worship God. But the true things in heaven need better sacrifices to make them clean than the sacrifices of animals.
• Hebrews 12:24You have come to Jesus, who brought the new agreement from God to his people. In that agreement, the blood of Jesus' death makes us clean from our sins. It tells us that God has forgiven us. When Cain killed his brother Abel, Abel's blood brought God's punishment. So we see that Jesus' blood brought us something much better than that.
• Hebrews 9:8In this way, God's Holy Spirit was showing that the most holy place was not yet open to everyone. While the tent with its first room was still there, those were the rules for people to worship God.
• Hebrews 10:11Every day, the priests do their work to serve God. They offer the same sacrifices to God again and again. But those sacrifices can never take away people's sins.
• Romans 3:25God showed everyone that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. God forgives us if we trust in Jesus and the blood of his sacrifice. God did this to show clearly that he is always right and fair. In past times, God was patient. He did not punish people who did wrong things.
• Hebrews 5:9As a result, Jesus became the person who can save everyone who obeys him. Because of Jesus, God forgives their sins for ever.
• Hebrews 12:23All God's people meet together there. They are like his most important sons. They belong in heaven because God has written down their names. You have come to God himself, who will judge all people. You have come to the place where the spirits of God's people are. Those people have become right with God. God has now finished his work in them.
• Revelation 6:11Then each believer received white clothes. God told them to wait for a short time more. They must wait until other believers on earth also died. These believers are also servants of God. God will wait until people kill those believers too. Then the number of them will be complete.

Commentaries on Hebrews 11:40

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 40God having provided some better thing for us - This is the dispensation of the Gospel, with all the privileges and advantages it confers. That they without us should not be made perfect - Believers before the flood, after the flood, under the law, and since the law, make but one Church. The Gospel dispensation is the last, and the Church cannot be considered as complete till the believers under all dispensations are gathered together. As the Gospel is the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 40God having provided some better thing for us - Margin, “foreseen.” That is, “God having provided, or determined on giving some better thing than any of them realized, and which we are now permitted to enjoy.” That is, God gave them promises; but they were not allowed to see their fulfillment. We are permitted now to see what they referred to, and in part, at least, to witness their completion; and though the promise was made to them, the fulfillment more…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 39-40Verses 39-40 The world considers that the righteous are not worthy to live in the world, and God declares the world is not worthy of them. Though the righteous and the worldlings widely differ in their judgment, they agree in this, it is not fit that good men should have their rest in this world. Therefore God receives them out of it. The apostle tells the Hebrews, that God had provided some better things for them, therefore they might be sure that he…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 39-40The way to live as God’s people under the new covenant is the same way people lived under the old covenant: by trusting God’s promises and enduring difficulties in this world. commended for their faith: God recognized their faithfulness (see also Hebrews 11:2). yet they did not receive what was promised: They died before Christ's promised coming. The better promise began with Christ's sacrifice (8:3–10:18) and looks forward to the future completion of…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4040. provided--with divine forethought from eternity (compare Ge 22:8, 14). some better thing for us--(He 7:19); than they had here. They had not in this world, "apart from us" (so the Greek is for "without us," that is, they had to wait for us for), the clear revelation of the promised salvation actually accomplished, as we now have it in Christ; in their state, beyond the grave their souls also seem to have attained an increase of heavenly bliss on the…Read the comment

Topics related to Hebrews 11:40

• Law

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Builder
• Conceive
• Confess
• Cruel
• Faith
• Impossible
• Proper
• Rewarder

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