And all these, being approved by the testimony of faith, received not the promise:
και ουτοι παντες μαρτυρηθεντες δια της πιστεως ουκ εκομισαντο την επαγγελιαν
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
What are you fainthearted about, he says, because you are in the contest and have not yet received the rewards? All the saints mentioned, though they had already been testified to as pleasing God by faith, had not yet received the heavenly promises. Some, indeed, were granted earthly promises, as David was. But they were not seeking these. The things in heaven are the true promises.
And these great afflictions testify of all of them that they remained in faith, since they did not receive their promises during their lifetime.
Their struggles were many and great. Yet they have not yet been deemed worthy of the crowns, because the God of all is awaiting struggles from others. Thus, when the contest is closed, He will deem all the victors worthy of proclamation together.
"All these, having obtained testimony through faith" and having pleased God, died, yet they have not yet received the promise of the good things to come. That is, they have not yet received recompense for their labors and rewards for their struggles.
See how He promised the same thing to Isaac and Jacob. Thus He says to Isaac: "Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed" Gen 26:4. And to Jacob: "Through you and through your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed" Gen 28:14.
He does not say this to Esau, nor to Reuben, nor to any others, but only to those from whom Christ was to come according to the divine economy through the Virgin Mary.
And if you understand the blessing of Judah, you will know what I am saying. For the seed is separated from Jacob and passes through Judah, Perez, Jesse, and David.
This was a sign that some among your people would be found to be children of Abraham and in the portion of Christ. Others, though children of Abraham, would be like the sand on the seashore: unproductive and barren.
That sand is exceedingly great in number and beyond counting, yet it bears no fruit. It only drinks in the seawater. By this the great multitude of such people among your nation is exposed: they drink in the teaching of bitterness and impiety, but reject the word of God.
This must be understood in relation to all the faithful and righteous who lived before the Master's coming. For just as those who came before, the Old Testament righteous, did not attain perfection without the apostles, so neither did the apostles without the martyrs.
And they, in turn, did not attain it without those who entered after them, and those who will enter later into the good Vineyard of the Church. This is taught most clearly by the parable according to which the laborers were called into the Vineyard at different times. Yet the reward was given to all at one time, and those who came earlier received no more than those who came later, Mt 20:1-8.
The greatest Evangelist John also confirms this in Revelation: "And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Master, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? And white robes were given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest yet a little while, until their fellow servants and their brethren, who were to be killed as they were, should be completed" Rev 6:9-11.
From all this it is clear that the saints are not yet in the perfect enjoyment of those good things and of future blessedness. Nor have sinners yet received condemnation or been sent away into torment.
For how could it be that, being imperfect and as it were cut into two parts, and not having the body which they await to receive incorruptible after the resurrection, they have already entered into possession of the perfect rewards?
Therefore the Apostle says: "Christ the firstfruits; afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end" 1 Cor 15:23-24. Then, he says, they will be made manifest. Then they will shine forth. Then they will come to perfection.
And the Lord says in the Gospel: "Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of Heaven" Mt 13:43.
"They were stoned." Such was the priest Zechariah, son of Jehoiada.
"They were sawn asunder." It is said that the prophet Isaiah suffered this.
"They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes of the earth" Heb 11:37.
"So was the great Elijah. So was Elisha, the great heir of his grace. So were the greater part of the prophets, who had no houses, but cut wood and built huts for themselves" (Theodoret).
"And all these, having obtained testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us" Heb 11:39-40.
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?"
All these saints listed above, beginning with Abel, received good testimony from God for their faith. Yet during their earthly life they did not see the fulfillment of the great promises given to them.
This happened because God reserved the better and higher good things until our time. He wished all His children to sit down at the Father's table at one time, although the elder ones had earlier completed the work appointed to them. This is the meaning of the expression, "that they should not be made perfect apart from us."
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 11 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS