“And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:”
My Notes
What Does Hebrews 11:36 Mean?
Hebrews 11:36 appears in the latter half of the faith chapter — the section that shifts from victories to sufferings. After the triumphs of verses 32-35a (conquering kingdoms, stopping lions' mouths, receiving the dead back to life), the tone turns abruptly at verse 35b: "others were tortured, not accepting deliverance." Verse 36 continues that darker catalog: "cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment."
"Cruel mockings" — empaigmōn — public humiliation, being made a spectacle of ridicule. "Scourgings" — mastigōn — flogging, the physical tearing of flesh. "Bonds and imprisonment" — desmōn kai phulakēs — chains and dungeons. The author lists these without naming individuals, but the references echo Jeremiah (imprisoned, placed in stocks), Micaiah (imprisoned for prophesying truth to King Ahab), and countless unnamed faithful who suffered without seeing deliverance.
The critical point is that these people appear in the same chapter — the same honor roll — as those who won victories. Faith that conquers kingdoms and faith that endures imprisonment are presented as equal expressions of the same trust. The author refuses to create a two-tier system where miracle faith ranks higher than suffering faith. Both belong in chapter 11. Both are commended. Both are faith.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Which half of Hebrews 11 does your current season feel more like — the victories or the sufferings?
- 2.How does knowing that suffering faith and miracle faith share the same chapter change how you evaluate your own spiritual life?
- 3.Have you ever felt like your faith was less valid because it didn't produce a dramatic outcome? How does this verse speak to that?
- 4.What does it look like to 'endure by faith' when the mockery, the chains, or the imprisonment don't end?
Devotional
The faith chapter has two halves, and most of us only want to live in the first one.
The first half is spectacular: Red Seas parting, walls falling, lions' mouths shut, the dead raised. That's the faith we pray for. The miracle faith. The victory faith. But starting at verse 35, the chapter turns — and the second half is just as much a part of the story: tortured, mocked, flogged, chained, imprisoned. No rescue. No dramatic deliverance. Just endurance.
And here's what the author of Hebrews wants you to understand: both halves belong in the same chapter. The person who conquered kingdoms by faith and the person who sat in chains by faith are standing in the same hall. One isn't more faithful than the other. One isn't more loved than the other. They both trusted God. They just got different assignments.
If you're in the second half right now — not experiencing the miracle, not seeing the deliverance, enduring mockery or suffering or confinement of some kind — this verse says you're in Hebrews 11 just as much as the person whose story has a dramatic rescue scene. Faith isn't defined by outcomes. It's defined by trust. And sometimes the hardest, most commendable trust is the kind that holds on when nothing visibly changes.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Of whom the world was not worthy,.... These words are inserted in a parenthesis, to remove or prevent such objections as…
And others had trial of cruel mockings - Referring to the scorn and derision which the ancient victims of persecution…
Had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings - We do not know the cases to which the apostle refers. The mockings here can…
The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and…
mockings and scourgings "Seven brethren and their mother … being tormented with scourges and whips … and they brought…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture