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;
• 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—
• New Living Translation (NLT)Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.

Context of Hebrews 11:37

35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 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— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised,

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 21:10But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
• 2 Chronicles 24:21But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.
• Matthew 21:35“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.
• Matthew 23:37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
• Luke 13:34“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
• John 10:31Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him,
• Acts 7:58dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
• Acts 14:19Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.
• 2 Corinthians 11:25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
• 1 Samuel 22:17Then the king ordered the guards at his side: “Turn and kill the priests of the Lord, because they too have sided with David. They knew he was fleeing, yet they did not tell me.” But the king’s officials were unwilling to raise a hand to strike the priests of the Lord.
• 1 Kings 18:4While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)
• 1 Kings 19:1Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
• Jeremiah 2:30“In vain I punished your people; they did not respond to correction. Your sword has devoured your prophets like a ravenous lion.
• Jeremiah 26:23They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who had him struck down with a sword and his body thrown into the burial place of the common people.)
• Lamentations 4:13But it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, who shed within her the blood of the righteous.
• Matthew 23:35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, 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

• 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