Hebrews 11:34 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Hebrews 11:34
Quenched 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.
to extinguish (literally or figuratively) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
violence
δύναμινdunamin
G1411
force (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
fire
πυρός,puros
G4442
"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
escaped
ἔφυγονephugon
G5343
to run away (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
edge
στόματαstomata
G4750
the mouth (as if a gash in the face) · noun — accusative plural neuter
sword
μαχαίρης,machairēs
G3162
a knife · noun — genitive singular feminine
of
ἀπὸapo
G575
"off · preposition
weakness
ἀσθενείας,astheneias
G769
feebleness (of mind or body) · noun — genitive singular feminine
strong
ἐνδυναμόωendynamóō
G1743
to empower
waxed
ἐγενήθησανegenēthēsan
G1096
to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist passive deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
valiant
ἰσχυροὶischuroi
G2478
forcible (literally or figuratively) · adjective — nominative plural masculine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
fight
πολέμῳ,polemō
G4171
warfare (literally or figuratively · noun — dative singular masculine
flight
ἔκλινανeklinan
G2827
to slant or slope · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
armies
παρεμβολὰςparembolas
G3925
a throwing in beside (juxtaposition) · noun — accusative plural feminine
aliens
ἀλλοτρίων.allotriōn
G245
another's · adjective — genitive plural masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 17:51-52 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his…
2 Kings 6:16-18 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
Judges 15:8 And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock Etam.
Psalms 144:10 It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
2 Chronicles 32:20-22 And for this cause Hezekiah the king, and the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz, prayed and cried to heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory…
Judges 7:19-25 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but…
Judges 8:4-10 And Gideon came to Jordan, and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing them.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Hebrews 11:32–end
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 sh…
Quenched the violence of fire-- (Dan 3:27). Not merely "quenched the fire," but "quenched the power (so the Greek) of the fire." Dan 3:19-30 and Dan 6:12-23 record the last miracles of the Old Testament. So the martyrs of the Reformation, though not escaping the fire, were delivered from its having power really or lastingly to hurt them.
escaped . . . sword--So Jephthah (Jdg 12:3); and so David escaped Saul's sword (Sa1 18:11; Sa1 19:10, Sa1 19:12); Elijah (Kg1 19:1, &c.; Kg2 6:14).
out of weakness . . . made strong--Samson (Jdg 16:28; Jdg 15:19). Hezekiah (Isa. 37:1-38:22). MILTON says of the martyrs, "They shook the powers of darkness with the irresistible power of weakness."
valiant…
Quenched the violence of fire - As in the case of the three faithful Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who, for their steady attachment to God's worship, were cast into a fiery furnace, in which they were preserved, and from which they escaped unhurt. Dan. 3.
Escaped the edge of the sword - Moses, who escaped the sword of Pharaoh, Exo 18:4; Elijah, that of Jezebel; and David, that of Saul: and many others.
Out of weakness were made strong - Were miraculously restored from sickness, which seemed to threaten their life; as Hezekiah, Isa 38:21.
Waxed valiant in fight - Like Gideon, who overthrew the camp of the Midianites, and Jonathan, that of the Philistines, in such a way as must ha…
The Church Fathers
"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.
"Stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword." See how they were in death itself, Daniel encompassed by the lions, the three children abiding in the furnace, the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, in divers temptations; and yet not even so did they despair. For this is Faith; when things are turning out adversely, then we ought to believe that nothing adverse is done, but all things in due order. "Escaped the edge of the sword.": I think that he is again speaking of the three children. "Out of weakness were made strong." Here he alludes to what took place at their return from Babylon. For "out of weakness," is out of captivity. When the condition of the Jews had now become desperate, when they were no better than dead bones, who could have expected that they would return from Babylon, and not return only; but also "wax valiant" and "turn to flight armies of aliens"? But to us (some one says) no such thing has happened. But these are figures of the things to come.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Barak — Lightning, the son of Abinoam (Judg. 4:6). At the summons of Deborah he made war against Jabin. She accompanied him into the battle, and gave the signal for the little army to make the attack; in…
Daniel, The Book Of — stands at the head of a series of writings in which the deepest thoughts of the Jewish people found expression after their close of the prophetic era. Daniel is composed partly in the vernacular…
Shadrach — Aku’s command, the Chaldean name given to Hananiah, one of the Hebrew youths whom Nebuchadnezzar carried captive to Babylon (Dan. 1:6, 7; 3:12-30). He and his two companions refused to bow down…
Prophets · Were mighty through faith — Were mighty through faith
Warfare Of Saints · Victory in, is: By faith — Victory in, is: By faith
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Quenched the violence of fire,.... Which may be said to be done, when a believer, or a righteous man, is delivered out of it, as Lot from Sodom, when God rained fire and brimstone on it; when, by prayer, it is stopped, as by Moses, at Taberah, Numbers 11:1 when persons are not hurt by it, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when cast into Nebuchadrezzar's fiery furnace; and many of the martyrs have triumphed in the flames: so believers are delivered out of the fire of afflictions, and are not consumed thereby; and quench the fiery darts of Satan, thrown at them; and are untouched by the fire of God's wrath, in every state and case; and shall not be hurt of the second death, which is a lake o…
Hebrews 11:32-34
32. And 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:
32. Et quid amplius dicam? deficiet enim me tempus narrantem de Gedeon, Barac, et Samson, et Jephta, et David, et Samuel, et Prophetis;
33. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
33. Qui per fidem expugnaverunt regna operati sunt justitiam, adepti sunt promissiones, obturarunt ora leonum.
34. Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armi…
quenched the flames of fire: See Dan 3:16-30. • escaped death by the edge of the sword: E.g., Elijah and Jeremiah (see 1 Kgs 19:2; 2 Kgs 1:1-18; Jer 26:10-16; 38:1-13).
