Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, April 24th, 2025
Thursday in Easter Week
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Hebrews 11:2

Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Elder;   Faith;   Thompson Chain Reference - Ancient Heroes;   Battle of Life;   Faith;   Faith-Unbelief;   Heroes, Ancient;   Reputation;   The Topic Concordance - Faith/faithfulness;   Hope;   Substance;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Faith;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Faith;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Self-Denial;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hebrews;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ethics;   Faith;   Hebrews, Epistle to;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Abel;   Honest;   Noah ;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Cherubim;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jephthah;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Presbyter;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for March 27;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For by it our ancestors won God’s approval.
King James Version (1611)
For by it the Elders obtained a good report.
King James Version
For by it the elders obtained a good report.
English Standard Version
For by it the people of old received their commendation.
New American Standard Bible
For by it the people of old gained approval.
New Century Version
Faith is the reason we remember great people who lived in the past.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For by it the men of old gained approval.
Legacy Standard Bible
For by it the men of old gained approval.
Berean Standard Bible
This is why the ancients were commended.
Contemporary English Version
It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God.
Complete Jewish Bible
It was for this that Scripture attested the merit of the people of old.
Darby Translation
For in [the power of] this the elders have obtained testimony.
Easy-to-Read Version
God was pleased with the people who lived a long time ago because they had faith like this.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For by it our elders were wel reported of.
George Lamsa Translation
And in this way it became a testimonial of the elders.
Good News Translation
It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval.
Lexham English Bible
For by this the people of old were approved.
Literal Translation
For by this the elders obtained witness.
Amplified Bible
For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval.
American Standard Version
For therein the elders had witness borne to them.
Bible in Basic English
For by it our fathers had God's approval.
Hebrew Names Version
For by this, the Zakenim obtained testimony.
International Standard Version
For by it our ancestors won approval.Hebrews 11:39;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
And for this was the testimony concerning the elders.
Murdock Translation
And for it the ancients are well testified of.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For by it, the elders obtayned a good report.
English Revised Version
For therein the elders had witness borne to them.
World English Bible
For by this, the elders obtained testimony.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
Weymouth's New Testament
For by it the saints of old won God's approval.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And in this feith elde men han gete witnessyng.
Update Bible Version
For therein the elders had witness borne to them.
Webster's Bible Translation
For by it the elders obtained a good report.
New English Translation
For by it the people of old received God's commendation.
New King James Version
For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
New Life Bible
God was pleased with the men who had faith who lived long ago.
New Revised Standard
Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, thereby, well-attested were the ancients.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For by this the ancients obtained a testimony.
Revised Standard Version
For by it the men of old received divine approval.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
By it ye elders were well reported of.
Young's Literal Translation
for in this were the elders testified of;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
By it ye Elders were well reported of.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and it was for their faith that our fore-fathers acquired so great a reputation.
Simplified Cowboy Version
Back in the old days, this is what people lived by and that brought a smile to God's face.

Contextual Overview

1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. 2 Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. 3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the elders: Hebrews 11:4-39

Reciprocal: Genesis 26:4 - multiply Joshua 2:9 - I know Ecclesiastes 7:1 - name Jeremiah 6:16 - Stand Luke 5:39 - General Acts 10:22 - of good Acts 16:2 - was Acts 22:12 - having Philippians 4:8 - are of Hebrews 11:39 - General Hebrews 12:1 - seeing

Cross-References

Genesis 10:10
He built his kingdom in the land of Babylonia, with the cities of Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh.
Genesis 11:9
That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
Genesis 13:11
Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram.
Genesis 14:1
About this time war broke out in the region. King Amraphel of Babylonia, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim
Isaiah 11:11
In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people— those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands.
Daniel 1:2
The Lord gave him victory over King Jehoiakim of Judah and permitted him to take some of the sacred objects from the Temple of God. So Nebuchadnezzar took them back to the land of Babylonia and placed them in the treasure-house of his god.
Zechariah 5:11
He replied, "To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For by it the elders obtained a good report. By whom are meant, not merely old men, or elders in age, but such who lived in ancient times; some before the flood, and to a great age, and others who were in office, civil or ecclesiastical, and were the ancestors and predecessors of the Hebrews; who in general obtained or received a good report from God; that they were the chosen of God, and were justified and accepted with him; that they were the children and friends of God, and should be glorified; and from men, from good men, for their faith and holiness; and from evil men, for their good works: and these also believed the report of the Gospel, and gave a good report of God, and of the good land, and adorned their profession; particularly, Abel received a good report, that he was righteous; and Enoch, that he pleased God, and walked with him; and Noah, that he was a just man, perfect in his generation, and also walked with God; and Abraham, that he was a believer, a friend of God, and one that feared and obeyed him; and Job, that he was a man that feared God, and shunned evil; and Moses, that he was a meek man, and a faithful one; and David, that he was a man after God's own heart, and fulfilled his will; and so others: and they received this report by faith, and as a fruit of it; which shows that faith is no new thing, and that the character of a believer is an old and honourable one. The apostle mentions this, to take off the Hebrews from any esteem of their traditionary elders, who had got a name, not by their faith, but by their traditions; and to engage their imitation of men of antiquity, authority, and wisdom superior to them; and to let them know, unless they had the same faith with their ancestors, it would be a vain thing to boast of descent from them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For by it - That is, by that faith which gives reality to things hoped for, and a certain persuasion to the mind of the existence of those things which are not seen.

The elders - The ancients; the Hebrew patriarchs and fathers.

Obtained a good report - Literally, “were witnessed of;” that is, an honorable testimony was borne to them in consequence of their faith. The idea is, that their acting under the influence of faith, in the circumstances in which they were, was the ground of the honorable testimony which was borne to them in the Old Testament; see this use of the word in Hebrews 7:8, and in Hebrews 7:4 of this chapter. Also Luke 4:22; Acts 15:8. In the cases which the apostle proceeds to enumerate in the subsequent part of the chapter, he mentions those whose piety is particularly commended in the Old Testament, and who showed in trying circumstances that they had unwavering confidence in God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Hebrews 11:2. For by it the elders obtained a good report. — By the elders are meant ancestors, forefathers, such as the patriarchs and prophets, several of whom he afterwards particularly names, and produces some fact from the history of their lives.

It is very remarkable that among the whole there is root one word concerning poor Adam and his wife, though both Abraham and Sarah are mentioned. There was no good report concerning them; not a word of their repentance, faith, or holiness. Alas! alas! did ever such bright suns set in so thick a cloud? Had there been any thing praiseworthy in their life after their fall, any act of faith by which they could have been distinguished, it had surely come out here; the mention of their second son Abel would have suggested it. But God has covered the whole of their spiritual and eternal state with a thick and impenetrable veil. Conjectures relative to their state would be very precarious; little else than hope can be exercised in their favour: but as to them the promise of Jesus was given, so we may believe they found redemption in that blood which was shed from the foundation of the world. Adam's rebellion against his Maker was too great and too glaring to permit his name to be ever after mentioned with honour or respect.

The word εμαρτυρηθησαν, which we translate obtained a good report, literally signifies, were witnessed of; and thus leads us naturally to GOD, who by his word, as the succeeding parts of the chapter show, bore testimony to the faith and holiness of his servants. The apostle does not mention one of whom an account is not given in the Old Testament. This, therefore, is God's witness or testimony concerning them.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile