God’s Word Translation
Hebrews 11:37
37Some were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. Some wore the skins of sheep and goats. Some were poor, abused, and mistreated.
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
35Women received their loved ones back from the dead. Other believers were brutally tortured but refused to be released so that they might gain eternal life. 36Some were made fun of and whipped, and some were chained and put in prison. Some were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. Some wore the skins of sheep and goats. Some were poor, abused, and mistreated. 38The world didn’t deserve these good people. Some wandered around in deserts and mountains and lived in caves and holes in the ground. 39All these people were known for their faith, but none of them received what God had promised.
Read all of Hebrews 11Hebrews 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 21:10Have two good-for-nothing men sit opposite him and accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then stone him to death outside the city.”
- 2 Chronicles 24:21But they plotted against Zechariah, and by the king’s order they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.
- Matthew 21:35The workers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned a third to death.
- Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing!
- Luke 13:34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing!
- John 10:31The Jews had again brought some rocks to stone Jesus to death.
- Acts 7:58and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.
- Acts 14:19However, Jews from the cities of Antioch and Iconium arrived in Lystra and won the people over. They tried to stone Paul to death and dragged him out of the city when they thought that he was dead.
- 2 Corinthians 11:25three times Roman officials had me beaten with clubs. Once people tried to stone me to death; three times I was shipwrecked, and I drifted on the sea for a night and a day.
- 1 Samuel 22:17“Turn and kill the Lord’s priests because they support David,” the king said to the runners standing around him. “When they knew David was fleeing, they didn’t inform me.” But the king’s men refused to attack the Lord’s priests.
- 1 Kings 18:4(When Jezebel was killing the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 prophets in caves. He put 50 prophets in each cave and kept them alive by providing bread and water for them.)
- 1 Kings 19:1Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including how he had executed all the prophets.
- Jeremiah 2:30“I have punished your children without results. They didn’t respond to correction. You killed my prophets like a raging lion.
- Jeremiah 26:23They brought Uriah from Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim. The king executed Uriah and threw his body into the burial ground for the common people.
- Lamentations 4:13⌞They got through⌟ because of the sins of Jerusalem’s prophets and the crimes of its priests, who spilled the blood of righteous people within it.
- Matthew 23:35As a result, you will be held accountable for all the innocent blood of those murdered on earth. This includes the murder of Abel, who had God’s approval, to that of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and 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
In the dictionaries
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
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