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

35Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. 36Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. 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. 38They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. 39All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had 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 21:10And then seat two scoundrels across from him who will accuse him of cursing God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”
• 2 Chronicles 24:21Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and King Joash ordered that they stone him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple.
• Matthew 21:35But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.
• Matthew 23:37“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
• Luke 13:34“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
• John 10:31Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.
• Acts 7:58and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.
• Acts 14:19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead.
• 2 Corinthians 11:25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.
• 1 Samuel 22:17And he ordered his bodyguards, “Kill these priests of the Lord, for they are allies and conspirators with David! They knew he was running away from me, but they didn’t tell me!” But Saul’s men refused to kill the Lord’s priests.
• 1 Kings 18:4Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves. He put fifty prophets in each cave and supplied them with food and water.)
• 1 Kings 19:1When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal.
• Jeremiah 2:30“I have punished your children, but they did not respond to my discipline. You yourselves have killed your prophets as a lion kills its prey.
• Jeremiah 26:23They took him prisoner and brought him back to King Jehoiakim. The king then killed Uriah with a sword and had him buried in an unmarked grave.
• Lamentations 4:13Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood.
• Matthew 23:35As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary 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