Hebrews: Many Suffered
Hebrews 11:35-40; 1 Kings 17:8-24 - Faith IS….
“Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.”
Hebrews 11:35-40 NASB1995
This final passage in Hebrews 11 starts with a positive statement (commentators often combine verse 35a with the previous text) but then goes into a long laundry list of terrible ways that the saints in the OT were treated and/or killed.
First, here’s a resurrection story from the Old Testament, which follows after another miracle that came through Elijah:
“Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and stay there; behold, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Please get me a little water in a jar, that I may drink.” As she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar; and behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.” Then Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go, do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first and bring it out to me, and afterward you may make one for yourself and for your son. For thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth.’ ” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate for many days. The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.
Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return to him.” The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.””
1 Kings 17:8-24 NASB1995
Of course, the son of this widow only lived the years that were allotted to him after he was brought back to life and then he died, just like Lazarus.
Moving into the next verses, let’s do a couple of word studies from the Blue Letter Bible lexicon:
Were tortured comes from the Greek verb τυμπανίζω or tympanízō (Strong’s G5178), with the following Biblical usages and Thayer’s definition:
to beat the drum or timbrel
to torture with the tympanum, an instrument of punishment
“the tympanum seems to have been a wheel-shaped instrument of torture, over which criminals were stretched as though they were skins, and then horribly beaten with clubs or thongs (cf. our 'to break upon the wheel'”.
Yikes! If there is a torture or murder method to be found in this fallen world, be assured that humans working with the enemy will find it. This is the only use of this verb in the NT.
Scourgings comes from the Greek noun μάστιξ or mastic (Strong’s G3148), with the following Biblical usages:
a whip, scourge
metaph. a scourge, plague
a calamity, misfortune, esp. sent by God to discipline or punish
The whip used in scourgings during the time that Hebrews was written is usually described as a Roman flagellum. According to my search engine, here is how it is described: The Roman flagellum, also known as a scourge, is a whip made of leather thongs with metal or bone pieces attached, used for inflicting severe punishment. It was commonly employed in ancient Rome as a form of corporal punishment, especially before executions.
As we know, Jesus was scourged (beaten beyond recognition) before His crucifixion. Paul escaped scourging because he pulled his Roman citizen “card” at the last minute. It was a terrible punishment method.
Enduring Word describes some of the people affected by these punishments, deaths and banishments in the OT:
a. Tortured: This is a brutal word in the ancient Greek language. It carries the idea “to beat with a stick or a baton.”
b. A better resurrection: As Jesus said in John 5:29, there is a resurrection unto life and a resurrection unto condemnation. These worthies received the better resurrection.
c. Trial of mockings: Isaac endured the cruel mocking of Ishmael, and Samson was mocked at the feast of the Philistines.
d. Chains and imprisonments: Joseph was cast into prison for his faith, and the evil King Ahab imprisoned the prophet Micaiah.
e. They were stoned: Zechariah was stoned to death between the altar and the temple and Naboth was stoned to death by Jezebel’s henchmen.
f. Sawn in two: According to reliable tradition, Isaiah was killed by being sawn in two.
g. Were tempted: Among these terrible physical tortures, the writer brings up being tempted in the same context. Some think the text was corrupted here and the writer to the Hebrews originally wrote, “branded,” “burnt alive,” “mutilated,” or “strangled.” But for those who know the pain of temptation, it is not unreasonable to think that the writer regarded overcoming temptation as a true triumph of faith.
i. “‘They were tempted’: it does not say how. If one form of temptation had been mentioned, we should have surmised that they did not suffer in other ways, but when the statement is, ‘they were tempted,’ we shall not be wrong in concluding that they were tried in any and every form.” (Spurgeon)
h. Were slain with the sword: Such as the eighty-five priests murdered by Doeg, or the prophets murdered in Elijah’s day.
i. Wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins: Such as Elijah, who wore this kind humble clothing and did not mind the humility or the discomfort.
j. Of whom the world was not worthy: The world is not necessarily friendly to people of faith, and the world isn’t necessarily worthy of them either.
i. “The despised and ill-treated group of servants of God was of greater real worth than all the rest of humanity put together.” (Morris)
k. In dens and caves of the earth: David, Elijah, and prophets under the leadership of Obadiah were all forced to flee and hide in caves.
In case anyone thinks that humanity has improved in their disposition and tendency towards cruelty since Biblical times, the photo above is from this Wikipedia article about 21 Christian martyrs who were beheaded by Islamist extremists in Libya in 2015. I believe this Coptic group (except one, who was a Christian from Ghana) is part of those referred to in the David Guzik commentary excerpted above who were targeted and beheaded in recent years. And let’s not go into the death tolls from Communist and National Socialist regimes since 1917…
This Steven Cole commentary from Precept Austin is quite good:
So the first part of the list [previous commentary] teaches us that sometimes God blesses those who trust Him with spectacular results. Even though they are flawed people, God uses those who trust Him to accomplish things that are explainable only by His power. That part of our text is exciting. But we must keep reading: Sometimes God blesses those who trust Him with the grace to endure horrible trials without wavering (Heb 11:35b-38). “Women receiving back their dead by resurrection” is the apex of the spectacular. It doesn’t get any more impressive than that! Yet without skipping a beat, the author continues (He 11:35b-38), “and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection; and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted [this has weak manuscript support and may not be original], they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”
After reading the first part of the list, you want to say, “These guys on the second half of the list must not have had faith, right?” But the author continues (He 11:39), “And all these, having gained approval through their faith,…” Those on the second half of the list were just as much people of faith as those on the first half! In fact, you could argue that they had greater faith, because it’s not as easy to trust God when you’re being scourged, stoned, or sawn in two as it is when you’re seeing foreign armies put to flight and the dead raised to life. While all of us, if we could, would sign up to be in the first group, we need to recognize that sometimes God is pleased to withhold spectacular results and bless us instead with His grace as our sufficiency in overwhelming trials (2Co 12:9, 10). With one exception, many names could fit into the various categories on this list of persecutions. That exception is “sawn in two,” which is not in the Bible. Tradition says that the wicked King Manasseh killed the prophet Isaiah by sawing him in two. A Jewish work, The Martyrdom of Isaiah, recounts this terrible ordeal, saying, “Isaiah neither cried aloud nor wept, but his lips spoke with the Holy Spirit until he was sawn in two” (in Philip Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews [Eerdmans], p. 514). (Faith's Reward).
Isaiah’s fate is something I just learned about doing the research for this devotional. The writer of Hebrews is telling the wobbly believers who want to run away that these many saints from the OT walked in a manner worthy of the Lord, yet suffered in their lifetimes or died horrible deaths but they were steadfast in their faith for the promise of a better reward, even though they did not receive it in their mortal lives.
How do we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord? Precept Austin has a handy list!
The Bible defines a worthy walk as consisting of the following
A worthy walk is a walk in…
In short, “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1John 2:6), because that pleases God (1Thes 4:1 - note).
Only through the gift of the Holy Spirit can we truly model these ways to walk with the Lord when we abide in Him. I found this today on a Charles Spurgeon page:
Here’s one more commentary from Enduring Word on the last two verses in Hebrews 11:
a. Having obtained a good testimony through faith: Though they obtained this good testimony, they did not receive the promise, the testimony of the completed work of the Messiah on their behalf. If these followers of God were steadfast without receiving the promise, those who have received the promise have even more reason to continue on through trials and difficulty.
b. God having provided something better for us: We are provided something better (seeing and enjoying the completed work of Jesus on our behalf) and therefore have much more reason to hold on to faith, and to not let discouragement and tough times defeat us.
c. They should not be made perfect apart from us: The idea of perfect is “complete.” They could not be made complete until the work of Jesus. They looked forward to Jesus and His work, we look at it from behind – and enjoy the fruit of His work.
i. “This chapter proves that the saints of all ages are essentially one. There is a link which unites them; a thrill which passes from one hand to hand around the circle.” (Meyer)
ii. Their faithfulness makes our faith a little easier. The writer to the Hebrews began this chapter speaking of faith in the present tense: Now faith is… By faith we understand (Hebrews 11:1 and 11:3). The end of the chapter reminds us that faith is and it is for we who follow in the footsteps of the faithful men and women of previous ages.
iii. “It is what Christ has done that opens the way into the very presence of God for them as for us. Only the work of Christ brings those of Old Testament times and those of the new and living way alike into the presence of God.” (Morris)
Chapter 11 of Hebrews is so helpful in building a life of faith, by understanding the stories of faith from those who believed in the promises of God.
My next devotional jumps into Hebrews 12:1-3 - Run the race with endurance.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Please help me to walk in a manner worthy of Your presence, Lord. Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 02/09/2026 to review commentary for Hebrews 11:35-40. Within the Precept Austin Commentary:
https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-43-faith’s-reward-hebrews-1132-40, Copyright @2004: Steven Cole.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Within the Enduring Word commentary:
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon The New Park Street Pulpit, Volumes 1-6and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)
Morris, Leon “Hebrews” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Volume 12 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981)
Meyer, F.B. The Way Into the Holiest: Expositions of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: Christian Literature Crusade, 1982)