“They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword : they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;”
My Notes
What Does Hebrews 11:37 Mean?
"They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented." The author catalogs the suffering of faithful people who did not receive the promise in their lifetime. The list is visceral and specific: stoning, being sawn in half (traditionally associated with Isaiah's martyrdom under Manasseh), death by sword. And for those who survived: poverty, persecution, and homelessness — wandering in animal skins, lacking everything.
The next verse delivers the verdict: "Of whom the world was not worthy." These weren't failures. The world wasn't good enough for them. Hebrews reframes their suffering not as evidence of divine abandonment but as proof of their superior value.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How does this passage challenge the assumption that faith should always produce visible blessing?
- 2.Who in your life or in history exemplifies faith that persisted without receiving the promise?
- 3.What does it mean that 'the world was not worthy' of these suffering saints?
- 4.How do you maintain faith when the outcome looks like Hebrews 11:37 rather than Hebrews 11:33?
Devotional
Sawn in half. The author doesn't sanitize the faith hall of fame. After the triumphant stories — the Red Sea crossings, the walls of Jericho, the lion's mouths stopped — comes this. The other side of faith. The heroes who didn't get a happy ending.
Stoned. Sawn apart. Killed by swords. Homeless, wearing animal skins, living in caves and holes in the ground. These aren't failures of faith. These are exhibits of faith — faith that held when everything else fell apart. Faith that continued believing without receiving.
The world wasn't worthy of them. That's the verdict. Not: they weren't worthy of the world's approval. The world wasn't worthy of having them. The system that stoned and sawed and slaughtered these people was the one found lacking, not the people it killed.
This reframes every apparent failure of faith. Every unanswered prayer. Every faithful person who died without seeing the breakthrough. Every saint who suffered without relief. The world looks at them and sees losers. Heaven looks at them and says: you weren't worthy of them.
If your faith hasn't produced the results the prosperity gospel promised — if you've been faithful and things haven't gotten better — this passage says your story isn't a failure. It might be the kind of faith that makes the world unworthy, not the other way around.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And these all having obtained a good report through faith,.... This may either be limited to the sufferers in the…
They were stoned - A common method of punishment among the Jews; see the notes on Mat 21:35, Mat 21:44. Thus, Zechariah,…
They were stoned - As Zechariah, the son of Barachiah or Jehoida, was, between the altar and the temple; see the…
The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and…
they were stoned Zechariah (2Ch 24:20-21). Jewish tradition said that Jeremiah was stoned. See Mat 23:35-37; Luk…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture