Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by Faith.
- By faith (he says) Noah being warned of God. As the Son of God, speaking of His own coming, said, In the days of Noah they married and were given in marriage, therefore the Apostle also recalled to their mind an appropriate image. For the example of Enoch, was an example only of Faith; that of Noah, on the other hand, of unbelief also. And this is a complete consolation and exhortation, when not only believers are found approved, but also unbelievers suffer the opposite.
For what does he say? By faith being warned of God. What is being warned of God? It is, It having been foretold to him. But why is the expression divine communication used? For in another place also it is said, and it was communicated to him by the Spirit, and again, and what says the divine communication? Do you see the equal dignity of the Spirit? For as God reveals, so also does the Holy Spirit. But why did he speak thus? The prophecy is called a divine communication.
Of things not seen as yet, he says, that is of the rain.
Moved with fear, prepared an ark. Reason indeed suggested nothing of this sort; For they were marrying and being given in marriage; the air was clear, there were no signs [of change]: but nevertheless he feared: By faith (he says) Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
How is it, By the which he condemned the world? He showed them to be worthy of punishment, since they were not brought to their senses even by the preparation.
And he became (he says) heir of the righteousness which is by Faith: that is, by his believing God he was shown to be righteous. For this is the [part] of a soul sincerely disposed towards Him and judging nothing more reliable than His words, just as Unbelief is the very contrary. Faith, it is manifest, works righteousness. For as we have been warned of God respecting Hell, so was he also: and yet at that time he was laughed at; he was reviled and ridiculed; but he regarded none of these things.
Hebrews 11:8-9
- By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. [By faith]: for (tell me) whom did he see to emulate? He had for father a Gentile, and an idolater; he had heard no prophets; he knew not whither he was going. For as they of the Hebrews who believed, looked to these [patriarchs] as having enjoyed blessings innumerable, he shows that none of them obtained anything as yet; all are unrewarded; no one as yet received his reward. He escaped from his country and his home, and went out not knowing whither he went.
And what marvel, if he himself [were so], when his seed also dwelt in this same way? For seeing the promise disproved (since He had said, To you will I give this land, and to your seed), he saw his son dwelling there; and again his grandson saw himself dwelling in a land not his own; yet was he nowise troubled. For the affairs of Abraham happened as we might have expected, since the promise was to be accomplished afterwards in his family (although it is said even to himself, To you, and to your seed, not, to you through your seed, but to you and to your seed): still neither he, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, enjoyed the promise. For one of them served for hire, and the other was driven out: and he himself even was failing through fear: and while he took some things indeed in war, others, unless he had had the aid of God, would have been destroyed. On this account [the Apostle] says, with the heirs of the same promise; not himself alone, he means; but the heirs also.
Hebrews 11:13
- These all died in faith, he says, not having obtained the promises. At this place it is worth while to make two enquiries; how, after saying that [God] translated Enoch, and he was not found, so that he did not see death, does he say, These all died in Faith. And again, after saying, they not having obtained the promises, he declares that Noah had received a reward, to the saving of his house, and that Enoch had been translated, and that Abel yet speaks, and that Abraham had gained a hold on the land, and yet he says, These all died in Faith, not having obtained the promises. What then is [meant]?
It is necessary to solve the first [difficulty], and then the second. These all (he says) died in faith. The word all is used here not because all had died, but because with that one exception all these had died, whom we know to be dead.
And the [statement] not having obtained the promises, is true: for surely the promise to Noah was not to be this [which is here spoken of]. But further, of what kind of promises is he speaking? For Isaac and Jacob received the promises of the land; but as to Noah and Abel and Enoch, what kind of promises did they receive? Either then he is speaking concerning these three; or if concerning those others also, the promise was not this, that Abel should be admired, nor that Enoch should be translated, nor that Noah should be preserved; but these things came to them for their virtue’s sake, and were a sort of foretaste of things to come. For God from the beginning, knowing that the human race needs much condescension, bestows on us not only the things in the world to come, but also those here; as for instance, Christ said even to the disciples, Whosoever has left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit everlasting life. And again, Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Do you see that these things are given by Him in the way of addition, that we might not faint? For as the athletes have the benefit of careful attention, even when engaged in the combat, but do not then enjoy entire ease, living under rules, yet afterwards they enjoy it entire: so God also does not grant us here to partake of entire ease. For even here He does give [some].
- But having seen them afar off, he says, and embraced them. Here he hints at something mystical: that they received beforehand all the things which have been spoken concerning things to come; concerning the resurrection, concerning the Kingdom of Heaven, concerning the other things, which Christ proclaimed when He came, for these are the promises of which he speaks. Either then he means this, or, that they did not indeed receive them, but died in confidence respecting them, and they were [thus] confident through Faith only.
Having seen them afar off: four generations before; for after so many [generations], they went up out of Egypt.
And embraced them, says he, and were glad. They were so persuaded of them as even to embrace [or salute] them, from the metaphor of persons on ship-board seeing from afar the longed-for cities: which, before they enter them, they take and occupy by words of greeting.