316 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying,.... Which was the usual time of blessing with the patriarchs; and the reason of it was, that what was said might be more attended to and regarded, and more strongly impressed upon the mind; and this is a proof that it was done in faith by Jacob, when there was no appearance of the fulfilment of these things,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith Joseph, when he died,.... The riches and honours of Joseph, as they could not secure him from death, so they did not make him unmindful of it; nor was he afraid of dying, or uneasy about it; nor did his prosperity make him proud, or above speaking to his brethren, nor revengeful to them, nor unthoughtful of their future afflictions; nor...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith Moses, when he was born,.... Which is to be understood, not of the faith of Moses, but of the faith of his parents, at the time of his birth; which was when Pharaoh had published an edict, ordering every male child to be cast into the river; but instead of obeying this order, Moses was hid three months of his parents; that is, in his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith Moses, when he was come to years,.... Or "was great"; a nobleman in Pharaoh's court; or when he was arrived to great knowledge, being learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians; or rather when he was well advanced in years, being full forty years of age, Acts 7:22 refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; by whom Moses was taken...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God,.... The Israelites, who were God's chosen and peculiar people, and were the true worshippers of him; Moses chose to be with those: the company and conversation of such is most eligible to every good man, because God is with them; his word and ordinances are with them; there are large...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Esteeming the reproach of Christ,.... That is, either Christ personal; meaning not any reproach that lay upon Christ, as the immediate object of it; nor upon the people of Israel for the delay of his coming; but rather for the sake of Christ: Christ was made known to the Old Testament saints, and they believed in him; he was typified by sacrifices...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith he forsook Egypt,.... Either when he fled to Midian; this was before the eating of the passover, and so it stands in its proper order; whereas, his going out of Egypt with the children of Israel was after it, and mentioned in Hebrews 11:29. The word "forsook" implies fleeing; and then it was when Pharaoh's wrath was kindled against him:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Through faith he kept the passover,.... Which Moses made, or appointed by divine direction; he kept it, with all its rites and ceremonies, and caused the people of Israel to observe it; and which he did, in faith of the speedy deliverance of the children of Israel, from the house of bondage; and in the faith of the Messiah, of whom the passover...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith they passed through the Red sea, as by dry land,.... Not through a river, but through the sea, the Red sea, the sea of Suph, or weeds; [See comments on Acts 7:36]. Some say they came out on the same side they went in; but it should seem rather, by the phrase here used, that they passed through it, from one side to the other; and that all...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down,.... Of themselves, not from any natural cause: the Jews say (n) they sunk right down into the ground, and were swallowed up; even the whole wall fell round about, as the Septuagint version in Joshua 6:20 expresses it: or, it may be, only that which was over against the camp of Israel, as Kimchi observes;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
By faith the harlot Rahab,.... The Targum on Joshua 2:1 calls her אתתא פונדקיתא, "a woman, that kept a victualling house": this paraphrase is taken notice of by Jarchi and Kimchi on the place, who interpret it, "a seller of food": and even the Hebrew word זונה, is so explained by a considerable Jewish writer (p); and this may rather seem to be the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And what shall I more say,.... Intimating he had said enough to prove the definition of faith he had given; and that the elders, by it, had obtained a good report; and yet he had not said all he could; and that he had so much to say, that he could not say all: for the time would fail me; either the time of life, and so it is an hyperbolical...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Who through faith subdued kingdoms,.... As David did particularly; who subdued Syria, Moab, Ammon, Amalek, Edom, and the Philistines, 2 Samuel 8:12. War, in some cases, is lawful; and kingdoms may be subdued; and faith makes use of means to do it: these kingdoms, though subdued by faith, yet not without fighting. Believers have no reason to be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Quenched the violence of fire,.... Which may be said to be done, when a believer, or a righteous man, is delivered out of it, as Lot from Sodom, when God rained fire and brimstone on it; when, by prayer, it is stopped, as by Moses, at Taberah, Numbers 11:1 when persons are not hurt by it, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when cast into...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ver. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again,.... As the widow of Zarephath, and the Shunammite, 1 Kings 17:22. Their sons were really dead, and they received them alive gain, from the hands of the prophets, Elijah and Elisha, in the way of a resurrection, and by faith; by the faith of the prophets: and others were tortured; racked, or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And others had trial of cruel mockings,.... As Samson by the Philistines; Elisha by the children, whom the bears devoured; Jeremiah by Pashur, and others; the Jews by Sanballat and Tobiah, when building the temple; the prophets, whom God sent to the Jews, as his messengers, Judges 16:25. and scourgings; or smitings, as Jeremiah and Micaiah,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
They were stoned,.... As Naboth, by the order of Ahab, 1 Kings 21:13, Zachariah in the court of the Lord's house; 2 Chronicles 24:21 and the character of Jerusalem is, that she stoned the prophets that were sent unto her, Matthew 23:37. They were sawn asunder; to which there seems to be an allusion in Matthew 24:51. There is no instance of any...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Of whom the world was not worthy,.... These words are inserted in a parenthesis, to remove or prevent such objections as these; that they were restless and unquiet persons, that made disturbance in the world, and so unfit to live in it; and that they were deservedly punished for crimes they were guilty of; and to show the great worth and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And these all having obtained a good report through faith,.... This may either be limited to the sufferers in the preceding verses, who were martyred, or suffered martyrdom for the faith, as the words may be rendered; and who are called martyrs or witnesses, in Hebrews 12:1 and so the Ethiopic version renders the clause, "and all these were...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
God having provided some better thing for us,.... Not a better state of the church, in such respect, as to be free from suffering reproach and persecutions; for this is the case of saints under the New Testament as under the Old; nor the felicity of the soul after death; nor any greater degree of happiness in the other world; nor the perfection of...