English · KJV

Hebrews 11:38

“Faith in the Period of Judges and Kings”Hebrews 11:32–38

King James Version
(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
(Of whom G3739 the world G2889 was G2258 not G3756 worthy G514:) they wandered G4105 in G1722 deserts G2047, and G2532 in mountains G3735, and G2532 in dens G4693 and G2532 caves G3692 of the earth G1093.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Whom the world was not worthie of: they wandered in wildernesses and mountaines, and dennes, and caues of the earth.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
of whom the world was not worthy; in deserts wandering, and in mountains, and in caves, and in the holes of the earth;

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
18 Greek words
  1. ὧνhōnof whomG3739R-GPMRelative pronoun Genitive Plural Masculine
  2. οὐκouknotG3756PRT-NNegative Particle Negative
  3. ἦνēnwasG1510V-IAI-3SVerb Imperfect Active Indicative 3rd Singular
  4. ἄξιοςaxiosworthyG514A-NSMAdjective Nominative Singular Masculine
  5. ὁhotheG3588T-NSMDefinite article Nominative Singular Masculine
  6. κόσμος·kosmosworldG2889N-NSMNoun Nominative Singular Masculine
  7. ἐπὶepiinG1909PREPPreposition
  8. ἐρημίαιςerēmiaisdesertsG2047N-DPFNoun Dative Plural Feminine
  9. πλανώμενοιplanōmenoiwanderingG4105V-PPP-NPMVerb Present Passive Participle Nominative Plural Masculine
  10. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  11. ὄρεσινoresinin mountainsG3735N-DPNNoun Dative Plural Neuter
  12. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  13. σπηλαίοιςspēlaioisin cavesG4693N-DPNNoun Dative Plural Neuter
  14. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  15. ταῖςtaisin theG3588T-DPFDefinite article Dative Plural Feminine
  16. ὀπαῖςopaisholesG3692N-DPFNoun Dative Plural Feminine
  17. τῆςtēsof theG3588T-GSFDefinite article Genitive Singular Feminine
  18. γῆςgēsearthG1093N-GSFNoun Genitive Singular Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

Translation
Details
In the KJVVerse 30,211 of 31,102 · 97.1%

Study this verse

Written with AI assistance. Always check it against Scripture.

This verse

The people the world drove out into deserts, mountains and caves were worth more than the world itself, and God says it was not worthy of them.

“(Of whom the world was not worthy:)”

The KJV sets this verdict in brackets in the middle of the description. Those whom the world rejected were worth more than the world.

“they wandered in deserts, and in mountains,”

Driven from settled life into the wild places, as Elijah and David were.

“and in dens and caves of the earth.”

The last hiding places, such as the cave of Adullam, where the faithful lived as fugitives.

Passage studyHebrews 11:32–38

Faith That Conquered and Faith That Endured

32And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

Summary

The writer of Hebrews has more examples of faith than time to tell them, so he names Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, and then sums up what faith did through them and many others. Some conquered kingdoms, shut the mouths of lions, came through fire and sword, and received their dead raised to life. Others were tortured and turned down release because they looked for a better resurrection, and they were mocked, flogged, chained, stoned, sawn in two and driven into deserts and caves. Both groups lived by the same faith in the same God, and he says of them that “the world was not worthy” of them. Their stories lead straight into the call to run our own race looking to Jesus.

Why the writer stops telling each story in full

“And what shall I more say?” is the question of a writer with far more examples than room. From Abel to Rahab he has told each life in turn (Hebrews 11:4), and now he speeds up. “The time would fail me” uses epileípō, literally “to leave upon”, in the figurative sense of running short. The time is chrónos, a space of time, here the time he has for writing. The verb “to tell”, diēgéomai, is made from “through” and “to lead”, and it means to relate something fully, to set it out in detail. Every name in the list stands for a whole story of faith that he could tell at length and leaves his readers to remember.

Gedeon and Jephthae are the KJV’s spellings of Gideon and Jephthah. Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah come from the time of the Judges, when Israel went again and again through a cycle of turning from God, falling under enemies and being rescued, and God raised up leaders to save his people. David is the shepherd-king known for his trust in God. Samuel is the prophet and judge through whom Israel passed into the time of the kings. “And of the prophets” gathers up the long line of God’s messengers who spoke his word and lived by faith, many of whom suffered fiercely for it, and the verses that follow describe what some of them went through.

The first readers of Hebrews were most likely Jewish Christians, perhaps in Rome, who were facing persecution and were tempted to go back to the old, familiar ways of Judaism. They knew these names well. A quick roll of so many of them shows that faith has always been the way God’s people have lived with him, in every generation and every calling, from soldiers to kings and prophets. Abraham was fully persuaded that God could do what he had promised (Romans 4:20–21), those who believe are Abraham’s children and are blessed with him (Galatians 3:7–9), and a living faith shows itself in what it does (James 2:20–26).

The list runs on to the end of the chapter, where we read that “these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us” (Hebrews 11:39–40). Then the faithful of every age become a crowd around us, “so great a cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1–3), and the writer turns to his readers and calls them to run.

Why are Samson and Jephthah on the list?

Several of the men named here had serious moral failings, Samson, Jephthah and David among them. Hebrews honours them for their acts of faith, and that is a picture of God’s grace, which works through flawed people who trust him. Samson’s last act was a prayer for strength, and God answered it (Judges 16:28–30). These stories, with their triumphs and failures side by side, point ahead to the one whose trust in the Father was complete, Jesus, who “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

What faith accomplished

Verse 33 opens with the words that govern everything up to the middle of verse 35: “Who through faith”. The word is pístis, from peíthō, “to persuade”. It means persuasion and conviction, and in the New Testament especially reliance, the trust in God’s character and promises that let these believers act. This is the faith the chapter began with, “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Their own strength came second to God’s power, and faith was how they leaned on it.

Subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness

“Subdued kingdoms” uses katagōnízomai, from katá (“against”) and agōnízomai (“to contend, to struggle”), so it means to struggle against and overcome. These victories involved real fighting. Joshua’s conquest of Canaan (Joshua 11), the judges’ rescues of Israel from oppressors and David’s wars with the Philistines (1 Samuel 17) all belong here, as God worked through his servants to carry out his will.

“Wrought righteousness” uses ergázomai, the ordinary verb for working or doing. With righteousness it means doing what is right and practising justice. Faith produced upright lives and fair dealing as well as miracles. Paul quotes the prophet for the root of it: “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). James says of Abraham, “Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?” (James 2:22).

Obtained promises

They received what God had specifically promised them. Some promises were personal, such as the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, some were for the nation, such as the land, and some were rescues from enemies. God kept his word, often in ways no one could have expected. The same chapter also says that these people “received not the promise” (Hebrews 11:39), because the great promise to which all the others pointed waited for Christ: “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Stopped the mouths of lions

This is Daniel in the lions’ den (Daniel 6). Daniel told the king, “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me” (Daniel 6:22). The event happened as Daniel records it, so the phrase is first of all literal. Set in this summary, it also stands for every time God has protected his servants in deadly danger far beyond human strength.

What does “subdued kingdoms” mean for believers today?

Few of us will ever fight in a war. The victories of faith in our day are usually won against the powers that set themselves against God, in a family, a workplace, a town or a nation. Pleading the cause of the vulnerable, standing against corruption and seeing communities changed by the gospel are all ways of trusting God’s rule over every earthly power. Paul says where the real struggle lies: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). John names how it is won: “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Through fire and sword, and weakness made strong

Verse 34 describes kinds of victory and leaves the names to the reader, though each phrase calls up a well-known account. “Quenched the violence of fire” uses dýnamis, a word for force or power, which elsewhere often means miraculous power. Here it is the raw force of the flames. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace (Daniel 3) and came out as men “upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed” (Daniel 3:27). God rules over fire, as over all he made, and he can hold back its power for those who trust him.

“Escaped the edge of the sword” covers rescue from execution, murder and death in battle. David escaped Saul’s attempts on his life again and again (1 Samuel 19:10, and all of 1 Samuel 19), and Elijah fled for his life from Jezebel (1 Kings 19:3).

“Out of weakness were made strong” uses asthéneia, feebleness of body or mind, sickness, frailty. People who were weak, outnumbered or plainly unequal to the task were strengthened by God. Gideon’s army was cut down until the LORD said, “By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you” (Judges 7:7), and the victory that followed fills Judges 7. Samson, after all his failures, prayed for strength one last time and received it (Judges 16). Paul heard the Lord say the same thing to him: “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

“Waxed valiant in fight” means they became strong in battle. The word is ischyrós, strong, mighty, powerful. Their courage came from trusting God, and it carried them against odds that would otherwise have made them afraid. “Turned to flight the armies of the aliens” means they routed foreign armies from the nations around Israel. Often outnumbered, Israel saw its enemies run, as when “David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone” (1 Samuel 17:50).

Women received their dead raised to life again

The first half of verse 35 closes the victories with the greatest of them. The word for women, gynḗ, means a woman or a wife. Two mothers are in view. Elijah raised the son of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17–24), and Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32–37). Hebrews speaks of the women who received their sons back, and God honoured their faith. Those sons came back to this earthly life, and in time they would die again, which prepares for the contrast in the rest of the verse.

Others were tortured: faith that endured

“And others” turns the chapter. The same faith that won victories also carried people through torture and death with no rescue in this life. The first readers needed both halves, because they were tempted to measure faith by escape.

“Tortured” is tympanízō, from the word for a drum. It describes a cruel form of execution in which the victim was stretched on a frame like a drum, much like a rack, and beaten to death. “Not accepting deliverance” means that release was offered and they turned it down, because the price was to deny God. The words point most strongly to the Maccabean period, about 175 to 164 BC, when the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes persecuted the Jews savagely. 2 Maccabees, one of the deuterocanonical books, describes martyrs who were tortured horribly because they refused to abandon their faith or break the law of Moses, and who said plainly that they hoped to be raised again.

What is the better resurrection?

The martyrs endured “that they might obtain a better resurrection”. Kreíttōn, “better”, means stronger, superior, more excellent. The sons raised by Elijah and Elisha returned to mortal life. The martyrs looked for resurrection to everlasting life with God, beyond the reach of suffering and death. Daniel had already spoken of it: “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Paul describes the body that rises, “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:42–44), and John writes, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:6).

Hebrews speaks often of better things. Christ brings “a better hope” (Hebrews 7:19), he is “a surety of a better testament” (Hebrews 7:22), and he is “the mediator of a better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6). The better resurrection belongs with these, and Christ has already gone ahead into it as “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). His rising is the guarantee that those who die in faith will rise as he did.

Mockings, scourgings, bonds and imprisonment

“Had trial of” in verse 36 means they went through these things. Peîra is a trial or an experience, and here it is the test that proved their faith to the utmost. The first was “cruel mockings”. Empaigmós is derision and scorn, public ridicule meant to shame a person and break his spirit and his convictions. The KJV’s “cruel” is a word its translators supplied, and it fits the malice of such abuse.

Mástix is a whip, and “scourgings” are floggings, a brutal punishment that could kill. “Bonds” are chains or fetters, and “imprisonment” often meant foul conditions, isolation and more abuse. The verse climbs from words to blows to chains, from shame to pain to the loss of liberty. The first readers knew this world, because they had faced public reproach, the seizing of their goods and prison for Christ (Hebrews 10:32–34), and Jesus had called people blessed “which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Matthew 5:10).

Stoned, tempted, slain with the sword

In verse 37, litházō, from líthos, “a stone”, means to stone. Stoning was the law’s penalty in Israel for crimes such as blasphemy and idolatry, and mobs also used it against prophets and others they saw as a threat. Stephen died this way (Acts 7:59).

“Were tempted” uses peirázō, to test, try or tempt, a word that can also mean simply to try or attempt. Set among stonings and swords, it most likely means the pressure their persecutors put on them to give up God, to betray their fellow believers or to compromise, with promises of release or threats of more pain. Some translations read “were tortured” or “were tested” here. The battle for these believers was for their loyalty as well as their bodies.

“Slain with the sword” is death by the blade, in battle, in political purges or by murder.

“They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins” pictures people stripped of every comfort, homeless and exposed, wearing rough animal hides and cast out by the world. Elijah was known by such clothing: “He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins” (2 Kings 1:8). Three words sum up their state. “Destitute” is hysteréō, from hýsteros (“later, inferior”), to fall behind or fall short, and so to lack what one needs. “Afflicted” means pressed and distressed, and “tormented” means ill-treated.

Who was sawn asunder?

Prízō means to saw in two, a death of horrible cruelty. The Old Testament does not describe it, and Jewish tradition says that the prophet Isaiah died this way under King Manasseh. The verse leaves the sufferers of verse 37 unnamed. They are faithful people of the Old Testament era, prophets and others, some known from Scripture and some from Jewish memory, who stayed loyal to God in a world hostile to his truth.

Of whom the world was not worthy

Verse 38 breaks into its description with a verdict in brackets: “(Of whom the world was not worthy:)”. Áxios means worthy, fitting or of comparable worth, and its older sense was “weighing as much”. The world here, kosmos, is humanity in its fallen state, and the people it drove out were worth more than the world itself. Its rejection of them is a judgment on the world, and in God’s sight they are precious.

“They wandered” uses planáō, to roam, a word that can also mean to go astray or deceive. Here it is physical. They were forced out of settled life and kept on the move, far from the towns of men and still on the path of truth. “Deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth” names the bleakest places there are, exposed, lonely and dangerous, and gē, “earth”, is the earth, the land or the ground. Elijah hid by the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:3), David lived as a fugitive in the cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1), and in the Maccabean persecution faithful families fled to the mountains, as 1 Maccabees 2:28–31 records. Living like this was a desperate way to survive, and many died of exposure or hunger. These wanderers were looking for “a better country, that is, an heavenly” (Hebrews 11:16).

Does faith always bring rescue?

Verses 34 and 37 answer this between them. Some through faith “escaped the edge of the sword”, and others “were slain with the sword”. Hebrews 11 makes no promise of rescue from every danger. Faith carried some over their troubles and carried others through them, as God in his wisdom purposed, and its final triumph is a perseverance that honours God and gains an eternal reward. Both groups trusted the same God, and God approved them both (Hebrews 11:39).

Miraculous rescue keeps its full worth here. The women’s sons really were raised, and God’s power was really shown. What the martyrs looked for was greater than a return to mortal life, and that is the one thing verse 35 calls “better”.

God does not want suffering for its own sake, and suffering is never the one proof of true faith. In a fallen world faithfulness can bring suffering, especially when someone stands for what is right, and Scripture says so plainly. Jesus calls the persecuted blessed and tells them their reward in heaven is great (Matthew 5:10–12). Paul writes, “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians 1:29). Peter tells believers to “think it not strange concerning the fiery trial” (1 Peter 4:12–16). We are “joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him”, and “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:17–18). Christ “suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).

Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith

Every one of these believers looked ahead to the Messiah and the better covenant he would bring, and the next chapter tells us where to look: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). He is the Lamb of God (John 1:29) to whom their sacrifices and prophecies pointed, and he alone trusted and obeyed the Father perfectly.

He went through what these verses describe. He was arrested and bound (Matthew 26:50), mocked by the soldiers (Matthew 27:27–31) and scourged (John 19:1). He had “not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). He was “despised and rejected of men” (Isaiah 53:3) and “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5), and he “suffered without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12). He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Above all the world was unworthy of him, its Maker and Redeemer, and it cast him out. He “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” and humbled himself to the cross (Philippians 2:7–8).

The victories in these verses find their fullness in him too. He overcame the kingdom of darkness and “made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them” (Colossians 2:15). He bore the fire of God’s wrath against sin, so that “being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). He went down into death and through it destroyed “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14–15), so the adversary who “as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8) has met his conqueror. Out of the weakness of the cross he was raised and seated far above every power (Ephesians 1:19–23), and we can say, “thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54–57). He wrought righteousness perfectly, and he gives it to us, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He has gone to prepare a place for his people (John 14:1–3), the heavenly country these wanderers longed for, and those who follow him share “the fellowship of his sufferings” on the way to that glory (Philippians 3:10).

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses

These verses tell us that we belong to a very large company. The time would fail to tell of all of them, and most of their names are known only to God. The faith that subdued kingdoms and the faith that wandered in caves were the same faith in the same God. When he rescues you, as he rescued Daniel, it is his gift. When he carries you through hardship, you walk the road his most faithful servants have walked, with the Son of God first among them.

The world may laugh at faith, push it to the edges or count it worthless. These verses give God’s verdict over the world’s, and the people it drove out were worth more than all of it. So we can stand firm when faith costs us something, turn down any way out that asks us to deny him, and fix our hope on the better resurrection. Our own acts of trust, however small, belong to the same story. And so, “seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses”, we lay aside every weight and run with patience, looking unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:1).

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Hebrews 11:32–40. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 9 verses
Passage under commentHebrews 11:32–40
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

The apostle having given us a classis of many eminent believers, whose names are mentioned and the particular trials and actings of their faith recorded, now concludes his narrative with a more summary account of another set of believers, where the particular acts are not ascribed to particular persons by name, but left to be applied by those who are well acquainted with the sacred story; and, like a divine orator, he prefaces his part of the narrative with an elegant expostulation: What shall I say more? Time would fail me; as if he had said, "It is in vain to attempt to exhaust this subject; should I not restrain my pen, it would soon run beyond the bounds of an epistle; and therefore I shall but just mention a few more, and leave you to enlarge upon them." Observe, 1. After all our researches into the scripture, there is still more to be learned from them. 2. We must well consider in divine matters what we should say, and suit it as well as we can to the time. 3. We should be pleased to think how great the number of believers was under the Old Testament, and how strong their faith, though the objects thereof were not then so fully revealed. And, 4. We should lament it, that now, in gospel times, when the rule of faith is more clear and perfect, the number of believers should be so small and their faith so weak.

I.In this summary account the apostle mentions,

1.Gideon, whose story we have in Judges 6:11, etc. He was an eminent instrument raised up of God to deliver his people from the oppression of the Midianites; he was a person of mean tribe and family, called from a mean employment (threshing wheat), and saluted by an angel of God in this surprising manner, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of war. Gideon could not at first receive such honours, but humbly expostulates with the angel about their low and distressed state. The angel of the Lord delivers him his commission, and assures him of success, confirming the assurance by fire out of the rock. Gideon is directed to offer sacrifice, and, instructed in his duty, goes forth against the Midianites, when his army is reduced from thirty-two thousand to three hundred; yet by these, with their lamps and pitchers, God put the whole army of the Midianites to confusion and ruin: and the same faith that gave Gideon so much courage and honour enabled him to act with great meekness and modesty towards his brethren afterwards. It is the excellency of the grace of faith that, while it helps men to do great things, it keeps them from having high and great thoughts of themselves.

2.Barak, another instrument raised up to deliver Israel out of the hand of Jabin, king of Canaan, Judges 4, where we read,

(1.)Though he was a soldier, yet he received his commission and instructions from Deborah, a prophetess of the Lord; and he insisted upon having this divine oracle with him in his expedition.

(2.)He obtained a great victory by his faith over all the host of Sisera.

(3.)His faith taught him to return all the praise and glory to God: this is the nature of faith; it has recourse unto God in all dangers and difficulties, and then makes grateful returns to God for all mercies and deliverances.

3.Samson, another instrument that God raised up to deliver Israel from the Philistines: his story we have in Judges 13, 14, 15, and 16, and from it we learn that the grace of faith is the strength of the soul for great service. If Samson had not had a strong faith as well as a strong arm, he had never performed such exploits. Observe,

(1.)By faith the servants of God shall overcome even the roaring lion.

(2.)True faith is acknowledged and accepted, even when mingled with many failings.

(3.)The believer's faith endures to the end, and, in dying, gives him victory over death and all his deadly enemies; his greatest conquest he gains by dying.

4.Jephthah, whose story we have, Judges 11, before that of Samson. He was raised up to deliver Israel from the Ammonites. As various and new enemies rise up against the people of God, various and new deliverers are raised up for them. In the story of Jephthah observe,

(1.)The grace of God often finds out, and fastens upon, the most undeserving and ill-deserving persons, to do great things for them and by them. Jephthah was the son of a harlot.

(2.)The grace of faith, wherever it is, will put men upon acknowledging God in all their ways (Judges 11:11): Jephthah rehearsed all his words before the Lord in Mizpeh.

(3.)The grace of faith will make men bold and venturous in a good cause.

(4.)Faith will not only put men upon making their vows to God, but paying their vows after the mercy received; yea, though they have vowed to their own great grief, hurt, and loss, as in the case of Jephthah and his daughter.

5.David, that great man after God's own heart. Few ever met with greater trials, and few ever discovered a more lively faith. His first appearance on the stage of the world was a great evidence of his faith. Having, when young, slain the lion and the bear, his faith in God encouraged him to encounter the great Goliath, and helped him to triumph over him. The same faith enabled him to bear patiently the ungrateful malice of Saul and his favourites, and to wait till God should put him into possession of the promised power and dignity. The same faith made him a very successful and victorious prince, and, after a long life of virtue and honour (though not without some foul stains of sin), he died in faith, relying upon the everlasting covenant that God had made with him and his, ordered in all things and sure; and he has left behind him such excellent memoirs of the trials and acts of faith in the book of Psalms as will ever be of great esteem and use, among the people of God.

6.Samuel, raised up to be a most eminent prophet of the Lord to Israel, as well as a ruler over them. God revealed himself to Samuel when he was but a child, and continued to do so till his death. In his story observe,

(1.)Those are likely to grow up to some eminency in faith who begin betimes in the exercise of it.

(2.)Those whose business it is to reveal the mind and will of God to others had need to be well established in the belief of it themselves.

7.To Samuel he adds, and of the prophets, who were extraordinary ministers of the Old Testament church, employed of God sometimes to denounce judgment, sometimes to promise mercy, always to reprove sin; sometimes to foretell remarkable events, known only to God; and chiefly to give notice of the Messiah, his coming, person, and offices; for in him the prophets as well as the law center. Now a true and strong faith was very requisite for the right discharge of such an office as this.

II.Having done naming particular persons, he proceeds to tell us what things were done by their faith.

He mentions some things that easily apply themselves to one or other of the persons named; but he mentions other things that are not so easy to be accommodated to any here named, but must be left to general conjecture or accommodation.

1.By faith they subdued kingdoms, Hebrews 11:33. Thus did David, Joshua, and many of the judges. Learn hence,

(1.)The interests and powers of kings and kingdoms are often set up in opposition to God and his people.

(2.)God can easily subdue all those kings and kingdoms that set themselves to oppose him.

(3.)Faith is a suitable and excellent qualification of those who fight in the ways of the Lord; it makes them just, bold, and wise.

2.They wrought righteousness, both in their public and personal capacities; they turned many from idolatry to the ways of righteousness; they believed God, and it was imputed to them for righteousness; they walked and acted righteously towards God and man. It is a greater honour and happiness to work righteousness than to work miracles; faith is an active principle of universal righteousness.

3.They obtained promises, both general and special. It is faith that gives us an interest in the promises; it is by faith that we have the comfort of the promises; and it is by faith that we are prepared to wait for the promises, and in due time to receive them.

4.They stopped the mouths of lions; so did Samson, Judges 14:5, Judges 14:6, and David, 1 Samuel 17:34, 1 Samuel 17:35, and Daniel, Daniel 6:22. Here learn,

(1.)The power of God is above the power of the creature.

(2.)Faith engages the power of God for his people, whenever it shall be for his glory, to overcome brute beasts and brutish men.

5.They quenched the violence of the fire, Hebrews 11:34. So Moses, by the prayer of faith, quenched the fire of God's wrath that was kindled against the people of Israel, Numbers 11:1, Numbers 11:2. So did the three children, or rather mighty champions, Daniel 3:17-27. Their faith in God, refusing to worship the golden image, exposed them to the fiery furnace which Nebuchadnezzar had prepared for them, and their faith engaged for them that power and presence of God in the furnace which quenched the violence of the fire, so that not so much as the smell thereof passed on them. Never was the grace of faith more severely tried, never more nobly exerted, nor ever more gloriously rewarded, than theirs was.

6.They escaped the edge of the sword. Thus David escaped the sword of Goliath and of Saul; and Mordecai and the Jews escaped the sword of Haman. The swords of men are held in the hand of God, and he can blunt the edge of the sword, and turn it away from his people against their enemies when he pleases. Faith takes hold of that hand of God which has hold of the swords of men; and God has often suffered himself to be prevailed upon by the faith of his people.

7.Out of weakness they were made strong. From national weakness, into which the Jews often fell by their unbelief; upon the revival of their faith, all their interest and affairs revived and flourished. From bodily weakness; thus Hezekiah, believing the word of God, recovered out of a mortal distemper, and he ascribed his recovery to the promise and power of God (Isaiah 38:15, Isaiah 38:16), What shall I say? He hath spoken it, and he hath also done it. Lord by these things men live, and in these is the life of my spirit. And it is the same grace of faith that from spiritual weakness helps men to recover and renew their strength.

8.They grew valiant in fight. So did Joshua, the judges, and David. True faith gives truest courage and patience, as it discerns the strength of God, and thereby the weakness of all his enemies. And they were not only valiant, but successful. God, as a reward and encouragement of their faith, put to flight the armies of the aliens, of those who were aliens to their commonwealth, and enemies to their religion; God made them flee and fall before his faithful servants. Believing and praying commanders, at the head of believing and praying armies, have been so owned and honoured of God that nothing could stand before them.

9.Women received their dead raised to life again, Hebrews 11:35. So did the widow of Zarepath (1 Kings 17:23), and the Shunamite, 2 Kings 4:36.

(1.)In Christ there is neither male nor female; many of the weaker sex have been strong in faith.

(2.)Though the covenant of grace takes in the children of believers, yet it leaves them subject to natural death.

(3.)Poor mothers are loth to resign up their interest in their children, though death has taken them away.

(4.)God has sometimes yielded so far to the tender affections of sorrowful women as to restore their dead children to life again. Thus Christ had compassion on the widow of Nain, Luke 7:12, etc.

(5.)This should confirm our faith in the general resurrection.

III.The apostle tells us what these believers endured by faith.

1.They were tortured, not accepting deliverance, Hebrews 11:35. They were put upon the rack, to make them renounce their God, their Saviour, and their religion. They bore the torture, and would not accept of deliverance upon such vile terms; and that which animated them thus to suffer was the hope they had of obtaining a better resurrection, and deliverance upon more honourable terms. This is thought to refer to that memorable story, 2 Macc. 7, etc.

2.They endured trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, and bonds and imprisonment, Hebrews 11:36. They were persecuted in their reputation by mockings, which are cruel to an ingenuous mind; in their persons by scourging, the punishment of slaves; in their liberty by bonds and imprisonment. Observe how inveterate is the malice that wicked men have towards the righteous, how far it will go, and what a variety of cruelties it will invent and exercise upon those against whom they have no cause of quarrel, except in the matters of their God.

3.They were put to death in the most cruel manner; some were stoned, as Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:21), sawn asunder, as Isaiah by Manasseh. They were tempted; some read it, burnt, 2 Macc. 7:5. They were slain with the sword. All sorts of deaths were prepared for them; their enemies clothed death in all the array of cruelty and terror, and yet they boldly met it and endured it.

4.Those who escaped death were used so ill that death might seem more eligible than such a life. Their enemies spared them, only to prolong their misery, and wear out all their patience; for they were forced to wander about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented; they wandered about in deserts, and on mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, Hebrews 11:37, Hebrews 11:38. They were stripped of the conveniences of life, and turned out of house and harbour. They had not raiment to put on, but were forced to cover themselves with the skins of slain beasts. They were driven out of all human society, and forced to converse with the beasts of the field, to hide themselves in dens and caves, and make their complaint to rocks and rivers, not more obdurate than their enemies. Such sufferings as these they endured then for their faith; and such they endured through the power of the grace of faith: and which shall we most admire, the wickedness of human nature, that is capable of perpetrating such cruelties on fellow creatures, or the excellency of divine grace, that is able to bear up the faithful under such cruelties, and to carry them safely through all?

IV.What they obtained by their faith.

1.A most honourable character and commendation from God, the true Judge and fountain of honour - that the world was not worthy of such men; the world did not deserve such blessings; they did not know how to value them, nor how to use them. Wicked men! The righteous are not worthy to live in the world, and God declares the world is not worthy of them; and, though they widely differ in their judgment, they agree in this, that it is not fit that good men should have their rest in this world; and therefore God receives them out of it, to that world that is suitable to them, and yet far beyond the merit of all their services and sufferings.

2.They obtained a good report (Hebrews 11:39) of all good men, and of the truth itself, and have the honour to be enrolled in this sacred calendar of the Old Testament worthies, God's witnesses; yea, they had a witness for them in the consciences of their enemies, who, while they thus abused them, were condemned by their own consciences, as persecuting those who were more righteous than themselves.

3.They obtained an interest in the promises, though not the full possession of them. They had a title to the promises, though they received not the great things promised. This is not meant of the felicity of the heavenly state, for this they did receive, when they died, in the measure of a part, in one constituent part of their persons, and the much better part; but it is meant of the felicity of the gospel-state: they had types, but not the antitype; they had shadows, but had not seen the substance; and yet, under this imperfect dispensation, they discovered this precious faith. This the apostle insists upon to render the faith more illustrious, and to provoke Christians to a holy jealousy and emulation; that they should not suffer themselves to be outdone in the exercise of faith by those who came so short of them in all the helps and advantages for believing. He tells the Hebrews that God had provided some better things for them (Hebrews 11:40), and therefore they might be assured that he expected at least as good things from them; and that since the gospel is the end and perfection of the Old Testament, which had no excellency but in its reference to Christ and the gospel, it was expected that their faith should be as much more perfect than the faith of the Old Testament saints; for their state and dispensation were more perfect than the former, and were indeed the perfection and completion of the former, for without the gospel-church the Jewish church must have remained in an incomplete and imperfect state. This reasoning is strong, and should be effectually prevalent with us all.

Historical interpretation

Nine Centuries of Reception

19 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

19 quotes · AD 99–990
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly Medieval
1002003004005006007008009001000

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 99Clement of RomeAnte-NiceneSource1 CLEMENT 16.17-17.2
You see, dear friends, the kind of example we have been given.… If the Lord humbled himself in this way, what should we do who through him have come under the yoke of his grace? Let us be imitators even of those who wandered around “in the skins of sheep and goats” and preached the coming of the Christ. We refer to the prophets Elijah and Elisha—yes, and Ezekiel, too—and to the heroes of old as well.
d. AD 165Justin MartyrAnte-NiceneSourceDialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXX
"Observe, too, how the same promises are made to Isaac and to Jacob. For thus He speaks to Isaac: 'And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' And to Jacob: 'And in thee and in thy seed shall all families of the earth be blessed.' He says that neither to Esau nor to Reuben, nor to any other; only to those of whom the Christ should arise, according to the dispensation, through the Virgin Mary. But if you would consider the blessing of Judah, you would perceive what I say. For the seed is divided from Jacob, and comes down through Judah, and Phares, and Jesse, and David. And this was a symbol of the fact that some of your nation would be found children of Abraham, and found, too, in the lot of Christ; but that others, who are indeed children of Abraham, would be like the sand on the sea-shore, barren and fruitless, much in quantity, and without number indeed, but bearing no fruit whatever, and only drinking the water of the sea.
d. AD 165Justin MartyrAnte-NiceneSourceDialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXX
But from those which are even now admitted by you, which had your teachers comprehended, be well assured they would have deleted them, as they did those about the death of Isaiah, whom you sawed asunder with a wooden saw. And this was a mysterious type of Christ being about to cut your nation in two, and to raise those worthy of the honour to the everlasting kingdom along with the holy patriarchs and prophets; but He has said that He will send others to the condemnation of the unquenchable fire along with similar disobedient and impenitent men from all the nations. "For they shall come," He said, "from the west and from the east, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness."
d. AD 373Ephrem the SyrianPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
In order not to repeat all the details in his review of the works of faith, Paul stopped relating the stories of these ancient fathers, deciding not to describe their actions in their different aspects. However, he did not omit other cases, which he included in a short account, … that is, about the faith of Gideon, who defeated ten thousand Midianites with three thousand soldiers, and Barak, who by his faith destroyed the army of Sisera; and Samson, who by his faith killed one thousand men with the jaw of an ass; and Jephthah, who by his faith conquered twenty-two cities of the sons of the Ammonites; and David, who by his faith beat and killed Goliath; and Samuel, who by his faith prevailed among the Philistines; “and about the other prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms” (in prophecy, not in the sword), “enforced justice” (that is, through the revenges and punishments that they inflicted on the impious), “received promises” (like Elisha, who went into ecstasy), “stopped the mouths of lions” (like the house of Daniel), “quenched raging fire” (like the house of Hananiah), “escaped the edge of the sword” (like those whom the Chaldaeans tried to slay together with the wise men of Babylon, and also Uriah and Elijah, and other prophets), “won strength out of weakness” (like King Hezekiah and Elisha), “became mighty in war” (like Abraham, Lot, Moses and Joshua), and “put foreign armies to flight” (like Samson, Barak, David and his companions, who were mentioned above).“Women received their dead by resurrection,” like Silomaea and Zarephath, who had them from Elijah and his disciple. Others, however, who were given to death despised their own life, like the seven brothers together with their mother. Even though they did not do what their companions had done in faith, they nevertheless desired death in their expectation and believed that they would have deserved to obtain “a better resurrection.”
“Others had trial of mocking and scourging,” like Elisha, or “were imprisoned and chained,” like Jeremiah and Micah.
“They were stoned,” like Moses and Naboth; “sawn in two,” like Zechariah and Isaiah; “tempted” in different manners, like Job; and “killed with the sword” like Micah, Uriah and John. “They went about in the skins of sheep and goats,” like Elijah and Elisha. “They were destitute, afflicted and ill-treated—of whom the world was not worthy,” like the prophets whom Obadiah hid and nourished with food. “They wandered in deserts, in mountains, in dens and caves of the earth,” and when Jezebel heard about the reputation of those hiding, she looked for them, but Obadiah made them run away and take refuge in other places.
Their great afflictions testify before everybody that they remained in faith “and did not even receive their promises.”
d. AD 373Ephrem the SyrianPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
Even though we come later in the test of temptations, it was previously promised to us that “apart from us they should not be made perfect.” In fact it does not happen that, since our brothers lived before, they will have their reward before. There is a single day of retribution for all the afflictions which people endured and endure.
d. AD 379Basil of CaesareaPost-NiceneSourceLETTER 42
Here is the narrow and close way that leads to life. Here are the teachers and prophets, “wandering in deserts, mountains, caves and holes in the earth.” Here are the apostles and evangelists … living as citizens of the desert.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on Hebrews 27
And thou canst not say (he says) that these were sinners and worthless. For even if you put the whole world against them, I find that they weigh down the beam and are of greater value. What then were they to receive in this life? Here he raises up their thoughts, teaching them not to be riveted to things present, but to mind things greater than all that are in this present life, since the "world is not worthy" of them. What then dost thou wish to receive here? For it were an insult to thee, shouldst thou receive thy reward here.

Let us not then mind worldly things, nor seek our recompense here, nor be so beggarly. For if "the" whole "world is not worthy of" them, why dost thou seek after a part of it? And with good reason; for they are friends of God.

Now by "the world" does he mean here the people, or the creation itself? Both: for the Scripture is wont to use the word of both. If the whole creation, he would say, with the human beings that belong to it, were put in the balance, they yet would not be of equal value with these; and with reason. For as ten thousand measures of chaff and hay would not be of equal value to ten pearls, so neither they; for "better is one that doeth the will of the Lord, than ten thousand transgressors"; meaning by "ten thousand" not merely many, but an infinite multitude.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceDISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 8.8.3
After he said, “They were put to death by the sword, and others were tortured,” after he recounted many and different modes of martyrdom, he went on to say, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and run with perseverance.” Do you see that he called Abel a martyr, as well as Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? For some of these died for God’s sake in the same way that Paul spoke of when he said, “I die daily"; they died not by dying but only by their willingness to die.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on Hebrews 28
For "they wandered about" (he says) "in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom this world was not worthy."

They had not even raiment, he says, through the excess of affliction, no city, no house, no lodging-place; the same which Christ said, "but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." (Matt. viii. 20.) Why do I say "no lodging-place"? No standing-place: for not even when they had gained the wilderness, were they at rest. For he said not, They sat down in the wilderness, but even when they were there, they fled, and were driven thence, not out of the inhabited world only, but even out of that which was uninhabitable. And he reminds them of the places where they were set, and of things which there befell them.

Then next, he says, they bring accusations against you for Christ's sake. What accusation had they against Elijah, when they drove him out, and persecuted him, and compelled him to struggle with famine? Which these Hebrews were then suffering. At least, the brethren, it is said, decided to send relief to those of the disciples who were afflicted. "Every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren that dwelt in Judea" (Acts xi. 29), which was the case of these also.

"Tormented" [or "ill-treated"], he says that is, suffering distress, in journeyings, in dangers.

But "They wandered about," what is this? "Wandering," he says, "in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth," like exiles and outcasts, as persons taken in the basest of crimes, as those not worthy to see the sun, they found no refuge from the wilderness, but must always be flying, must be seeking hiding-places, must bury themselves alive in the earth, always be in terror.
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceON LAZARUS AND DIVES 86
Moses and the prophets went about in goatskins, wandering in their caves and in holes in the ground. They were poor men just like Lazarus, and they suffered calamities and endured hunger.
d. AD 425Severian of GabalaPost-NiceneSourceFRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.38
“Of whom the world was not worthy.” … He does not say this about everyone but about the latter ones whom he sees as martyrs, witnesses of faith. He reminds us that these put foreign armies to flight and through their service to their people received grace.
d. AD 428Theodore of MopsuestiaPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON 1 THESSALONIANS 4:16-17
It is also clear from the passage that when he says, “the dead in Christ will rise first,” he does not mean to neglect the just who died before Christ’s coming. Otherwise, how could he explicitly say in the epistle to the Hebrews, “And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.”
d. AD 458Theodoret of CyrusPost-NiceneSourceINTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11
Their trials, then, were of this kind and number, but they did not yet receive their crowns. The God of all is waiting for the trials of the others so that, with the stadium no more, he may award acclaim to all the victors together.
d. AD 893Photios I of ConstantinopleEarly MedievalSourceFRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 11.3
I suppose he says these things concerning David. And he calls his benevolence “righteousness.”
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceThe Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews
"of Gideon." What kind Gideon was.
"of David." As for what David was, in that he was established on his throne, according to the literal sense indeed Solomon, but according to the spiritual understanding, Solomon, the spiritual Lord Jesus.
"through faith." All these did what they did by faith: Abraham, Moses, Joshua.
"they conquered." They defeated, they destroyed whom? Abraham defeated the kings who had taken his nephew Lot captive, and the king of Gerar. Moses defeated the king of Egypt, and many others. Joshua, most of all. (Gen. 14:20; 15; Num. 25)
"enforced justice. " Abraham, Phinehas.
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceThe Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews
When he had finished speaking about the harlot and had urged them based on the quality of the person, for the sake of conciseness he does not enumerate all the names: yet he does not cease the discourse.
AD 990Pseudo-OecumeniusEarly MedievalSourceThe Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews
"obtained promises," of the Patriarchs, namely, Elijah, David, Joshua, Caleb, and many others.
"closed the mouths of lions." Daniel, Samson.
"quenched the power of fire." The three boys, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael.
"escaped the edge of the sword," For example, Elijah, from Jezebel, and David himself, from Saul.
"were made strong out of weakness." And he speaks of those who returned from Babylonian captivity, and of Hezekiah.
"became mighty in war." Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Samson, and David. Or that they not only returned from captivity through faith but also defeated neighboring nations.
"Women received back their dead." The Shunammite through Elisha, and before that the woman of Zarephath through Elijah.
"Some were tortured." They were cut off, like James and John, and those who were beheaded. Or they died by clubs. Others say that being tortured means being flayed. It is also said about the Maccabees, "refusing to accept release." (2 Macc. 7:1) As if they did not accept to be released from the punishment that was brought upon them. Although it was possible for them, he says, to live, they did not wish to. And this was also a matter of faith, therefore he says: "so that they might rise again to a better life;" or the other people. For the resurrection is common to all, but these will rise, he says, to eternal life, and those to eternal punishment.
"Others suffered mocking," such as Elisha (2 Kings 2), those around Peter later and John.
"and even chains and imprisonment." Jeremiah and Micah. (Jer. 32:38; 1 Kings 22)
"they were stoned." He speaks about Stephen and Naboth. (Acts 7; 1 Kings 21)
"they were sawn in two." It is said about Isaiah, whom they also sawed with a wooden saw, so that the punishment would last a long time.
"they were tempted." Like Abraham (Gen. 22:1-2), Jacob, Moses, and Job. (Job 1:2)
"they were killed with the sword." Micah, John, James, and Zechariah.
"they went about in skins of sheep." Like Elijah, Elisha. This they suffered from poverty. (2 Kings 4)
"destitute." As the prophets whom Obadiah nourished. (1 King 18)
“afflicted.” Effected by evil.
"of whom the world was not worthy." This also encourages them. For if this world was not worthy of those who suffer badly for the sake of God, that is, all people and this creation itself, why do you, he says, wish to receive the rewards here for the sufferings endured for Christ? For being better than the world, do not seek anything in this world.
"wandering about in deserts." But Elijah, and the prophets whom Obadiah fed. (1 Kings 23:19) Note, however, that it does not say, "They found rest in the occupied desert," but rather that they also wandered there in fear of their persecutors.
"And all these." What, he says, do you mourn and become indignant, you who are still in the struggle, if you do not receive the rewards? Yet all those previously mentioned saints, having earned a testimony by faith that pleased God, have not yet obtained the good things promised to the righteous.
"since God had provided something better for us." How is it better? Indeed, so that they would not have anything more than we do in that they were crowned before us, He defined one time, so that we may also be crowned with them. This, however, is for us: for they sit in honor, awaiting our completion.
"that apart from us they should not be made perfect." He did not say, "They would be crowned," but rather, with greater emphasis, "they should not be made perfect," or "They would be perfected," that is, they would receive the end of goods, for which all effort and toil of one who is endowed with virtue strives.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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