Heb. 11:31-34aThe Faith of Rahab and the Judges, Kings & Prophets

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 06 Oct. 2019

Omitting greyed-out text should bring presentation time down around 45 minutes.

Intro

v.31. With faith, Rahab the prostitute did not perish together with those who were unpersuaded, since she received the spies with peace.

v.32. And what might I yet say? For the time will be totally insuf­ficient for me to narrate concerning Gideon, Barak, Sampson {and} Jepthah, David and also Samuel and the prophets –

v.33-34 who through faith wrestled down kingdoms, worked for justice, obtained promises, shut lion’s mouths, stifled the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were empow­ered after weakness, were made into mighty men during war, routed foreign army-camps.

Summary

APPENDIX: Greek Text & English Versions of Hebrews 11:31-34A

Greek NT

NAW

KJV

31 Πίστει ῾Ραὰβ ἡ πόρνη οὐ συν­απώλετοB τοῖς ἀπειθήσασι, δεξαμένη τοὺς κατασκόπους μετ᾿ εἰρήνης.

31 With faith, Rahab the pros­titute did not perish together with those who were unper­suaded, since she received the spies with peace.

31 By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

32 Καὶ τί ἔτι λέγω; ἐπιλείψ­ειC γὰρD με διη­γούμεν­ονE ὁ χρόνος περὶ Γεδεών, Βαρ­άκ [τε καὶF] Σαμψών [καὶG] ᾿Ιεφθάε, Δαυΐδ τε καὶ Σαμ­ουὴλ καὶ τῶν προφητῶν,

32 And what might I yet say? For the time will be totally insuf­ficient for me to narrate con­cern­ing Gid­eon, Bar­ak, Samson {and} Jepthah, David and both Sam­uel and the prophets -

32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and X Samuel, and of the prophets:

33 οἳ διὰ πίσ­τεως κατηγωνί­σαντοH βασιλ­είας, εἰργάσ­αντοI δικαιοσ­ύνην, ἐπέτυχον ἐπαγγελιῶν, ἔφραξαν στό­ματα λεόντων,

33 those who through faith wrestled down kingdoms, worked for jus­tice, obtained promises, shut lion’s mouths,

33 Who through faith subdued king­doms, wrought righteousness, obtained pro­mises, stopped the mouths of lions,

34 ἔσβεσανJ δύναμιν πυρός, ἔφυγονK στόμ­ατα μαχαίραςL, [ἐνM]εδυναμώθησαν ἀπὸN ἀσθεν­είας, ἐγενήθη­σαν ἰσχυροὶ ἐν πολέμῳ, παρεμβολὰς ἔκλιναν ἀλλοτρίων.

34 stifled the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were empowered after weak­ness, were made into mighty men during war, [and] routed foreign army-camps.

34 Quenched the violenceO of fire, es­caped the edge of the sword, out of weak­ness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned [to flight the] armies of [the] aliens.


1Laniado & Tanchuma apud Masum in Josh. ii. 1

2As early as the first century AD, Christian commentators were relating the scarlet rope hung from Rahab’s window to the blood of Christ that saves sinners from destruction. (“The cord showed beforehand that through the blood of the Lord there would be redemption to all them who believe and hope in God… Not only faith but also prophecy is found in this woman...” ~Clement of Rome, Epistle to the Corinthians 12)

3“The unbelieving defiance of the people of Jericho showed itself in their shutting up of the city in the expectation that it would prove impregnable to any assault by the Israelites...” ~ P.E. Hughes

4James 2:25 "Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?" (NKJV)

5List of Judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar 4) Deborah/Barak, 5)Gideon, Abimelech/Gaal, Tola, Jair, 9) Jepthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, 13) Samson, Levites/Eli?

6“Gideon was slower to take up arms than what he ought to have been; nor did he venture without some hesitation to commit himself to God. Barak at first trembled, so that he was almost forced by the reproofs of Deborah. Samson being overcome by the blandishments of a concubine, inconsiderately betrayed the safety of the whole people. Jephthah, hasty in making a foolish vow, and too obstinate in performing it, marred the finest victory by the cruel death of his own daughter. Thus, in all the saints, something reprehensible is ever to be found; yet faith, though halting and imperfect, is still approved by God. There is, therefore, no reason why the faults we labor under should break us down, or dishearten us, provided we by faith go on in the race of our calling.” ~J. Calvin

7Chrysostom however, thought it referred to Gideon’s 300, Calvin thought it referred to the Kings and Prophets in general, Owen suggested that it could refer to the prophet Samuel, Brown applied it to Joshua and David, and P.E. Hughes to the judges and David.

8Hughes mentioned Samuel (1 Sam. 12:3-5), David (2 Sam. 8:15; 1 Chr. 18:14) and Solomon (1 Kings 10:9) on this. Brown mentioned Phinehas (Num. 25:7) and Elijah (1 Kings 18:40).

9cf. Chrysostom: “I think it is of David that he says ‘they obtained promises.’ But of what sort were these? Those in which He said that his ‘seed should sit upon’ his ‘throne.’ (Ps 32:12)” The plural verb here could comprehend David with Abraham and others. To David and Abraham, P.E. Hughes added the nation of Israel (Josh. 21:43), Gideon, and Elijah as typical of the many persons in the O.T. who were blessed by the reception of God’s promises. John Brown listed Joshua, Gideon, and David.

10P.E. Hughes noted, “Samson, David, and Beniah... could also be said to have stopped the mouths of lions...”

11This was also Chrysostom’s position, but Hughes instead suggested David, Elijah, and Elisha. Brown suggested David (1 Sam. 23), Moses (Ex. 18:4), and Elijah.

12The LXX omits the word “sword” which is in the Masoretic text here.

AThe Greek is the Majority text, edited by myself to follow the majority of the earliest-known manuscripts only when the early manuscript evidence is practically unanimous. My original document includes notes on the NKJV, NASB, NIV, & ESV English translations, but since they are all copyrighted, I cannot include them in my online document. Underlined words in English versions indicate a standalone difference from all other English translations of a certain word. Strikeout usually indicates that the English translation is, in my opinion, too far outside the range of meaning of the original Greek word. The addition of an X indicates a Greek word left untranslated – or a plural Greek word translated as an English singular. [Brackets] indicate words added in English not in the Greek. Key words are colored consistently across the chart to show correlations.

BAlthough the root is used in Heb. 1:11, the compound with syn- is used no where else in the NT. It is, however, common in the LXX to denote the avoidable future of the righteous being destroyed together with the wicked (Gen. 18:23; 19:15; Num. 16:26; Deut. 29:18; Ps. 25:9; 27:3; Dan. 2:13).

CHapex legomenon. The form without the epi- prefix occurs in Job 4:11; Prov. 11:3; 19:4. Luke 18:22; Titus 1:5; 3:13; and James 1:4-5 & 2:15.

DOn the basis of a mere 5 manuscripts, the Nestle-Aland/UBS critical edition decided to disrupt the traditional text and move this word to another place in the sentence. The two oldest-known manuscripts support the traditional placement of this word. It doesn’t change the meaning, however.

EThe adverbial participle is used in , where in a poetic way time is described as going off and leaving the writer discoursing about Gideon and the rest ~Robertson’s Grammar.

FThe four oldest-known manuscripts do not have this conjunctive phrase, and they are supported by several later manuscripts and the Vulgate, so although the majority of the manuscripts and the traditional Greek New Testament Editions say “and also,” it may not have been original, but added for smoother reading without changing the meaning.

GThe four oldest-known manuscripts do not have this conjunction, and they are supported by many later manuscripts and the Vulgate, so although the majority of the manuscripts and the traditional Greek New Testament editions say “and,” it may not have been original, but added for smoother reading without changing the meaning.

HHapex Legomenon

IConstative aorist indicating their lifestyle ~Moulton’s Grammar. I would support a new unit for this word and the next meaning “did what is right,” but of the L&N choices for ergazomai,\ln 90.47,\ln 42.41, and\ln 13.9 seem to fit.

JThis verb is not found in the account of Daniel and his compatriots but is frequently cited in descriptions of God’s unquenchable wrath coming to punish (Amos 5:6; Isa. 1:31; 34:10; Jer. 4:4; 7:20; 17:27; 21:12; Ezek. 21:3-4). The Greek words for “power” and “fire” are in Dan. 3:20 (in the story of the fiery furnace), and the phrase “power of fire” is in the Apocrypha (4 Ma. 14:10; Wis. 16:19). I chose “stifle” because they didn’t actually put out the fire. The same fire killed other men, but God baffled the fire’s destructive power upon them for that occasion.

KIngressive aorist indicating the beginning of the flight ~Moulton’s Grammar. The only passages in the Greek Bible which use the same words in this phrase are 2 Sam. 15:14 (where David told his household to “flee” Jerusalem lest they be destroyed by the “mouth” of Absalom's “sword” during his revolt) and 1 Chron. 21:12 (where David defers God's punishment option of “fleeing” three months from enemy “swords”). However, the Hebrew text of ‎2 Chronicles 36:20 indicates that Daniel and his compatriots escaped the sword before captivity in Babylon: וַיֶּ֛גֶל הַשְּׁאֵרִ֥ית מִן־הַחֶ֖רֶב אֶל־בָּבֶ֑ל

LThe 5 oldest-known Greek manuscripts as well as another half-dozen through the centuries read μαχαιρης, and this is the conventional spelling of the genitive feminine singular ending after a rho, but, for some reason the vast majority of Greek manuscripts starting in the 9th century all spelled the ending -ας, which is the standard genitive feminine singular spelling, and that made it into the traditional editions of the Greek New Testament. It makes no difference in meaning.

MThe five oldest-known Greek manuscripts do not have the εν- prefix, so recent critical editions of the GNT read without it, but after the year 900, practically all the Greek manuscripts included the prefix, so all the traditional editions of the GNT have the longer spelling. The root word is the same, so it doesn’t really change the meaning except perhaps for adding some intensity. I would guess that the language changed over time such that the form without the prefix started sounding too strangely archaic, and that early editors used the form of the word in contemporary use that meant the same thing.

NMost English versions render απο circumstantially, but Turner’s Grammar suggests it is temporal “after weakness.”

ONowhere else does the KJV translate dynamis “violence”

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