Hebrews 11:7
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By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
warned of God--The same Greek, Heb 8:5, "admonished of God." moved with fear--not mere slavish fear, but as in Heb 5:7; see on Heb 5:7; Greek, "reverential fear": opposed to the world's sneering disbelief of the revelation, and self-deceiving security. Join "by faith" with "prepared an ark" (Pe1 3:20). by the which--faith. condemned the world--For since he believed and was saved, so might they have believed and been saved, so that their condemnation by God is by his case shown to be just. righteousness which is by faith--Greek, "according to faith." A Pauline thought. Noah is first called "righteous" in Gen 6:9. Christ calls Abel so, Mat 23:35. Compare as to Noah's righteousness, Eze 14:14, Eze 14:20; Pe2 2:5, "a preacher of righteousness." Paul here makes faith the principle and ground of his righteousness. heir--the consequence of sonship which flows from faith.
Open source ↗The apostle having, in the close of the foregoing chapter, recommended the grace of faith and a life of faith as the best preservative against apostasy, he how enlarges upon the nature and fruits of this excellent grace. I. The nature of it, and the honour it reflects upon all who live in the exercise of it (Heb 11:1-3). II. The great examples we have in the Old Testament of those who lived by faith, and died and suffered extraordinary things by the strength of his grace (v. 4-38). And, III. The advantages that we have in the gospel for the exercise of this grace above what those had who lived in the times of the Old Testament (Heb 11:39, Heb 11:40).
Open source ↗11:7 The story of Noah (see Gen 6:1–9:17) further demonstrates that faith involves obedience in the face of the unseen. • things that had never happened before: Namely, the flood. Noah’s faith condemned the rest of the world by bearing witness to God’s reality and his desire for holiness.
Open source ↗Cross-references
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who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.
then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world was not given through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.
And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction,
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith.
But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness.
then as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they could not deliver their own sons or daughters. Their righteousness could deliver only themselves.
During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.