Read & explore together
The Faith of Many (Joshua–Malachi)
Hebrews 11:30–40 gathers many examples of faith into a fast-moving summary. It shows faith in victory, in hardship, and in a promise that reaches beyond one generation.
Understanding the passage
The setting of these words
The writer starts with Jericho and Rahab, then names several leaders and the prophets without retelling their stories. After that come two linked lists: actions and deliverances connected with faith, then sufferings endured in faith. The passage ends by saying these people were commended, yet still awaited the promise.
Hebrews 11:30–40Main takeaway
Faith in this passage is shown both in great deliverances and in steadfast endurance, while God’s promise is presented as shared and still reaching its completion.
Follow the letter’s teaching
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01Jericho and RahabThe passage opens with two brief examples. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after seven days of encircling them.
Explanation
The passage opens with two brief examples. By faith the walls of Jericho fell after seven days of encircling them. By faith Rahab did not perish with the disobedient because she received the spies in peace. Both verses connect faith with a concrete response and outcome.
02More examples than time allowsThe writer then says there is not enough time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets.
Explanation
The writer then says there is not enough time to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. These names are presented as a compressed list, showing that the argument about faith stretches across many people without retelling each account here.
03Faith in strength and in sufferingVerses 33–34 describe victories and rescues through faith, including subduing kingdoms, working out righteousness, gaining strength from weakness and escaping danger.
Explanation
Verses 33–34 describe victories and rescues through faith, including subduing kingdoms, working out righteousness, gaining strength from weakness and escaping danger. Then the tone shifts. Verses 35–38 speak of torture, mocking, imprisonment, death, poverty and wandering. The passage presents faith in both kinds of experience.
04Commended and still waitingThe closing summary gathers all these faithful people together. They were commended for faith, yet did not receive the promise.
Explanation
The closing summary gathers all these faithful people together. They were commended for faith, yet did not receive the promise. God had provided something better concerning “us”, so that apart from “us” they should not be made perfect. The ending points to a shared future still being completed.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What two examples begin this passage, and what result is linked with faith in each one?
Look closely at the different outcomes described in the first two verses.
02How does the passage change from verses 33–34 to verses 35–38?
Compare the kinds of experiences listed and notice that faith is connected with both triumph and hardship.
03What do the final verses say these faithful people had and had not yet received?
Notice the words about being commended for faith, not receiving the promise, and God providing something better concerning “us”.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Hebrews 11:30–40
30By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.
31By faith Rahab the prostitute didn’t perish with those who were disobedient, having received the spies in peace.
32What more shall I say? For the time would fail me if I told of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets—
33who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked out righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
34quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, grew mighty in war, and caused foreign armies to flee.
35Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
36Others were tried by mocking and scourging, yes, moreover by bonds and imprisonment.
37They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat skins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated—
38of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
39These all, having been commended for their faith, didn’t receive the promise,
40God having provided some better thing concerning us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.