“Women received their dead raised to life again : and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:”
My Notes
What Does Hebrews 11:35 Mean?
This verse pivots dramatically in the middle. The first half: women received their dead raised to life — an echo of Elijah and Elisha's miracles, where mothers received their sons back from death. The second half: others were tortured and refused deliverance, choosing death for the sake of a better resurrection.
The juxtaposition is deliberate. Faith sometimes results in miraculous deliverance. And faith sometimes results in choosing death. Both are presented as equal expressions of faith — neither is more faithful than the other. The women who received their children back and the martyrs who refused release are listed in the same verse, in the same hall of faith.
"Not accepting deliverance" means they were offered a way out — likely recantation or compromise — and refused it. They chose torture over apostasy because they believed in something beyond this life. The "better resurrection" is the resurrection of the body at the end of the age — better than the temporary resuscitations the women's sons received.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Which half of this verse describes your current experience — receiving miracles or enduring without them?
- 2.How does it change your definition of faith to see both miraculous deliverance and faithful suffering honored equally?
- 3.Have you ever been tempted to believe that unanswered prayer means weaker faith?
- 4.What does the 'better resurrection' mean to you — and is it real enough to sustain you when this life is hard?
Devotional
Faith healed and faith died in the same verse. That's important because we often define faith by its outcomes. If things go well, we had faith. If things don't, something was wrong.
Hebrews refuses that framework. The women who received their dead back had faith. The people who were tortured to death had the same faith. The difference wasn't in the quality of their trust — it was in the purpose God was working through each story.
Some of you are in the first half of this verse. God is doing something miraculous, and you're receiving something back that you thought was lost. Celebrate it.
Some of you are in the second half. The miracle hasn't come. The deliverance hasn't arrived. And you're being asked to keep trusting in a "better resurrection" you can't see. That's not lesser faith. According to Hebrews, it's the same faith.
The martyrs who refused deliverance aren't the B-team of faith. They're in the same sentence as the ones who received miracles. God doesn't rank His people by the outcomes they received. He honors the trust they gave.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
They were stoned,.... As Naboth, by the order of Ahab, Kg1 21:13, Zachariah in the court of the Lord's house; Ch2 24:21…
Women received their dead raised to life again - As in the case of the woman of Zarephath, whose child was restored to…
Women received their dead - As did the widow of Zarephath, Kg1 17:21, and the Shunammite, Kg2 4:34. What other cases…
The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and…
Women received their dead The woman of Sarepta (1Ki 17:22), the Shunamite (2Ki 4:32-36).
raised to life again Lit., "by…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture