Hebrews 11:37Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Always, but especially when I reflect on the contests of the saints, the thought comes to me to condemn my own deeds. We have not even in sleep experienced what these men spent their whole lives enduring. They did this not as punishment for sins, but while constantly doing good and constantly being subjected to afflictions.

Consider Elijah, about whom our discourse now begins. The Apostle speaks of him here in the words, "they wandered in sheepskins," and with him he ends the examples. Yet he does not omit the others, since the same thing was customary for them also.

After saying of the apostles that "they were stoned, sawn asunder, tempted, died by the sword," he again ascends to Elijah, who suffered similarly to them. Since they did not yet hold such an opinion of the apostles, he offers exhortation and consolation through the example of one who was taken up, and whom they greatly admired.

"They wandered," he says, "in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated; those of whom the world was not worthy." Because of the excess of their afflictions, he says, they had no clothing to cover themselves, no city, no house, no refuge.

So also Christ said of Himself: "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head" Mt 8:20. Why do I say, no refuge? They did not even have rest. Even in the deserts they found no rest. The Apostle did not say that they dwelt in deserts, but that even there they wandered.

They were driven from there also, not only from inhabited lands, but from uninhabited ones as well. Here he mentions both the places where they were and what happened to them there: "being destitute," he says, "afflicted."

You are condemned for Christ, he says. The same was done to Elijah. But for what was he condemned, persecuted, pursued, and forced to waste away in hunger? They too endured the same thing then, as he says elsewhere, that the brethren resolved to send aid to the suffering disciples: "Then the disciples determined, each according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea" Acts 11:29.

So it was with them. "Being ill-treated," he says, that is, suffering and being subjected to banishments and dangers. The same was true of them also.

"They wandered in sheepskins and goatskins." For example, the disciples of Elijah. So free from possessions were they. Since the Hebrews did not yet have such an opinion of the apostles, after mentioning them he passes to the glorious prophet who was taken up into heaven.

The expression "wandered" indicates that they were subjected to persecutions, and therefore did not remain in one place. A sheepskin cloak is the hide of a goat or a sheep.

"Being destitute." For example, Elijah himself and Elisha, for women fed them.

"Afflicted, ill-treated." Jezebel, who persecuted Elijah, caused him no small afflictions.

The tradition that Isaiah was sawn asunder by command of the Jewish king Manasseh is found in the apocryphon Ascensio Jesaiae, Vat. 5, 11-14; the Talmudic tractates Jevamoth, fol. 49b, and Sanhedrin, fol. 103b; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, ch. 120; Tertullian, De patientia, ch. 14; Scorpiace 8; Jerome, In Isaiah I, 10; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 13, 6; and many others.

Both works of faith are worthy of wonder: that one escapes a great danger, and that another endures a great calamity. Some, surrounded by dangers and believing that they would be saved, truly were saved. Others, perishing, believed that they would obtain great good things, despised death, and willingly resolved to die.

"They went about in sheepskins and goatskins." By using the word "sheepskins," he explained it with the following word. Properly, a sheepskin is a garment made from the skins of sheep; improperly, it can also mean one made from goatskins.

Elijah and Elisha "went about" in such skins because of their extreme poverty, for he returns again to them. Since the apostles and other praiseworthy disciples of Christ did not yet enjoy such great glory in the eyes of the Hebrews, he transfers their thoughts to Elijah and Elisha, whom they greatly honored.

By reminding them of what these men endured, he gives them encouragement and consolation for good courage and steadfastness in temptations.

"Destitute, afflicted, ill-treated." These examples were familiar to those to whom this Epistle was written, for they themselves had endured the same things.

For what purpose does the Apostle make this concluding remark? Having said that the Old Testament ascetics of faith, as it were, still do not receive their full reward because of us, the Apostle wishes to instruct the impatient and fainthearted Hebrews of Palestine, and with them all of us.

They had not yet finished the Christian contest, yet already wished to see the fulfillment of Christian hopes. Instead of crowns they saw only afflictions and trials. Because of this they began to waver in patience, and even to doubt the truth of Christian hope.

Speaking in the name of the Apostle Paul, Chrysostom cries out to the fainthearted: "So much time has already passed since they remained victors, and they have still not received the reward. Yet you, still in the struggle, are grieving? What then should Abel do, who conquered before all others and remains uncrowned? What should Noah do? What should the others do, who lived in those times and are waiting for you and for those who will come after you?"

But in what sense should we understand the Apostle's words, that the Old Testament righteous, though testified to in faith, have not yet received what was promised? Where is the limit of their expectation?

The promise of God must here be understood in its loftiest object, which is the Kingdom of Heaven. Yet this Kingdom must be taken in the full breadth of the concept, and through the whole extent of its duration, from its beginning in this world to its final completion on the day of the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.

Only then will the redemption of the body take place, according to the expression of the holy fathers, Augustine, Jerome, and Chrysostom.

The Apostle had already noted above, Heb 9:8, that as long as the former tabernacle stood, that is, as long as the Old Covenant existed, heaven was closed to men. This means that, for the sake of Christ's future sacrifice, the ancient patriarchs received justification, but had not yet received the fruits of justification.

They had to await the actual offering of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, so that they might have the possibility of entering heaven with Him. Even now, however, the Kingdom of glory has not yet been opened to them. It will not be opened until the New Testament times are fulfilled.

"They preceded us in struggles," says Chrysostom, "but they will not precede us in receiving crowns. This is not injustice toward them, but honor for us, for they are waiting for their brethren. The righteous are worthy of wonder precisely because they rejoice in the good things of their brethren as in their own. God has appointed that all be crowned at one time. Do you see God's care for us?"