Hebrews 11: 9
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Thirdly, The last thing in the words is, the commendation of the faith of Abraham, from his ignorance of the place whither he was to go upon the call of God. He had only said unto him that he should go into a land that he would show him, Gen. 12:1.
Μὴ ἐπιστάμενος. 1. But of what nature the land was, how or by whom inhabited, or what way he was to go into it, he told him not. It should seem, indeed, that God had told him from the beginning that it was the land of Canaan which he designed; for when he first left Ur of the Chaldees, he steered his course towards Canaan, Gen. 11:31: but it is yet said that "he knew it not." He did not understand any thing of the circumstances of it, nor what in that land he was called unto, nor where it was; so that it may be well said that he went whither he knew not. The sum is, that he wholly committed himself unto the power, faithfulness goodness, and conduct of God, without the least encouragement from a prospect of the place whither he was going.
2. All these things being put together, namely, what he was called from; what he was called unto; his readiness in obedience; the ground of his whole undertaking, namely, the call of God, which he received, and obeyed by faith: here is not only an eminent instance of his faith recorded, but an invincible encouragement given unto those Hebrews unto whom the apostle wrote, and unto us with them, that faith is able to carry us through all the difficulties of our profession, unto the full enjoyment of the promise. This I look upon as a second instance of the faith of Abraham, wherein it was signally exemplary. He did not only on the first call of God, through a view of his greatness and sovereign authority, forego all that he had at present, but engaged himself unto absolute obedience, without any prospect what it might cost him, or what he was to undergo on the account of it, or what was the reward proposed unto him.
And the same is required of us.
Hebrews 11: 9
Having declared the foundation of the faith of Abraham, and given the first signal instance of it, he proceeds to declare his progress in its exercise, first in general, and then in particular acts and duties; wherein he intermixeth some especial acts of it, whereby he was enabled and encouraged in and unto all other duties of it.
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That which he ascribes unto his faith in general is laid down in this verse; whereunto he adjoins that encouraging act of it which enabled him in his duty, verse 10.
Ver. 9.—Πίστει παρῴκησεν εἰς τὴν γὴν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ὡς ἀλλοτρίαν, ἐν σκηναῖς κατοικήσας μετὰ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ τῶν συγκληρονόμων τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῆς αὐτῆς.
Παρῴκησεν. Syr., " ,הַוָא ৻ַוְּב תָבָאhe was a stranger," "a sojourner." Vulg. Lat.,
"demoratus est," "he tarried." Rhem., "he abode." Erasm., "commigravit;" that is, μετῴκησεν, saith Beza, "he went," or "wandered," to answer the preposition εἰς following, "he went into the land." Beza, "commoratus est," "he abode;" and then it must refer unto κατοικήσας, "he dwelt in tents." Others, "advena fuit;" he was "a stranger," "a guest," "a sojourner." Heb., " ,২ֵר הָיָהhe was a stranger," or ,גּור
"he sojourned."
Ἐν σκηναῖς. Vulg. Lat., "in casulis." Rhem., "in cottages." "In tentoriis," "in tents" or "tabernacles."
Ver. 9.—By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as [in] a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise.
1. That which is assigned in general unto the faith of Abraham is, that "he sojourned." 2. The place where is added; "in the land of promise." 3. How he esteemed of that land, and how he used it; "as in a strange country." 4. Who were his companions therein; namely, "Isaac and Jacob," on the same account with himself, as "the heirs of promise."
Παρώκησεν. 1. "He sojourned." Παροικέω is "commoror," "to abide;" but it is to abide as a stranger. So it is used Luke 24:18, Σὺ μόνος παροικεῖς ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ;
—"Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?" a sojourner there for a season, not an inhabitant of the place. And it is nowhere else used. Thence is πάροικος, "a stranger," "a sojourner:" Acts 7:6, "Thy seed shall be πάροικον ἐν γῇ ἀλλοτρίᾳ,"—"a stranger;" "should sojourn in a strange land." So πάροικοι are joined with παρεπίδημοι, 1 Pet. 2:11, "Strangers and pilgrims;" and with ξένοι, Eph.
2:19, "foreigners;" and are opposed to πολῖται, "citizens," or the constant inhabitants of any place. Χρόνος παροικίας, is the "time of our pilgrimage" here,
1 Pet. 1:17. Wherefore παρώκησε is, "he abode as a stranger," not as a free denizen of the place; not as an inheritor, for he had no inheritance, not a foot-breadth in that place, Acts 7:5; not as a constant inhabitant or house-dweller, but as a stranger, that moved up and down as he had occasion. His several motions and stages are recorded by Moses.
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Εἰς τὴν γῆν. 2. There is the place of his sojourning; "in the land of promise,"—εἰς τὴν γῆν for ἐν τῇ γῇ, "into" for "in the land." So Acts 7:4, "The land εἰς ἣν ὑμεῖς νῦν κατοικεῖτε,"—"wherein ye now dwell;" Heb., .בָָארֶץAnd from the use of the Hebrew ,১ְּבεἰς is frequently put for ἐν in the New Testament, and on the contrary. Τῆς ἐπαγγελίας Wherefore not the removal of Abraham into that land, which he had mentioned in the foregoing verse, but his abode as a stranger, a foreigner, a pilgrim in it, is intended. And this was "the land of promise;" that is, which God had newly promised to give unto him, and wherein all the other promises were to be accomplished.
Ὡς ἀλλοτρίακ. 3. He sojourned in this place "as in a strange land." He built no house in it, purchased no inheritance, but only a burying-place. He entered, indeed, into leagues of peace and amity with some, as with Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, Gen. 14:13; but it was as a stranger, and not as one that had any thing of his own in the land. He reckoned that land at present no more his own than any other land in the world,—no more than Egypt was the land of his posterity when they sojourned there, which God had said was not theirs, nor was so to be,
Gen. 15:13.
Ἐν σκηναῖς κατοικήσας. The manner of his sojourning in this land was, that he "dwelt in tabernacles;" "in cottages," saith the Vulgar Latin, absurdly. It was no unusual thing in those days, and in those parts of the world, for many, yea some nations, to dwell in such movable habitations. Why Abraham was satisfied with this kind of life the apostle declares in the next verse. And he is said to dwell in tabernacles, or tents, because his family required more than one of them; though sometimes they are called a tent only, with respect unto that which was the peculiar habitation of the master of the family. And the women had tents unto themselves. So Isaac brought Rebekah into his mother Sarah's tent, Gen. 24:67. So Jacob and his wives had all of them distinct tents, Gen. 31:33.
These tents were pitched, fixed, and erected only with stakes and cords, so as that they had no foundation in the earth; whereunto the apostle in the next verse opposeth a habitation that hath a foundation. And with respect unto their flitting condition in these movable houses, God in an especial manner was said to be their dwelling-place, Ps. 90:1.
Μετὰ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ. 4. He thus sojourned and dwelt in tents "with Isaac and Jacob." It is evident that Abraham lived until Jacob was sixteen or eighteen years old; and therefore may be said to live with him, as unto the same time wherein they both lived. Nor is there any force in the objection, that Isaac had a
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separate tent from Abraham; for it is not said that they lived in the same tents, but that at the same time they all lived in tents. Yet there is no need to confine it unto the same time; the sameness of condition only seems to be intended. For as Abraham was a sojourner in the land of Canaan, without any inheritance or possession, living in tents, so was it also with Isaac and Jacob, and with them alone. Jacob was the last of his posterity who lived as a sojourner in Canaan; all those after him lived in Egypt, and came not into Canaan until they took possession of it for themselves.
Τῶν συγκληρονόμων τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τῆς αὐτῆς. And they were "heirs with him of the same promise;" for not only did they inherit the promise as made unto
Abraham, but God distinctly renewed the same promise unto them both;— unto Isaac, Gen. 26:3, 4; and unto Jacob, Gen. 28:13–15. So were they heirs with him of the very same promise. See Ps. 105:9–11.
The sense of the words being declared, we may yet further consider the matter contained in them.
We have here an account of the life of Abraham after his call. And it fell under a twofold consideration: 1. As unto the internal principle of it; so it was a life of faith. 2. As unto the external manner of it; so it was a pilgrimage, without a fixed, settled habitation. Both are proposed in the first words of the text, "By faith he sojourned."
1. As unto the internal principle of it, it was a life of faith.
(1.) The life which he now led was a life of faith with respect unto things spiritual and eternal. For he had for the foundation and object hereof, [1.] The promise of the blessed Seed, and the spiritual blessing of all nations in him, as a confirmation of the first fundamental promise to the church, concerning the Seed of the woman that was to break the serpent's head. And, [2.] God entered expressly into covenant with him, confirming it with the seal of circumcision, wherein he obliged himself to be his God, his God almighty, or all-sufficient, for his temporal and eternal good. To suppose that Abraham saw nothing in this promise and covenant but only things confined unto this life, nothing of spiritual grace or mercy, nothing of eternal reward or glory, is so contrary to the analogy of faith, to express testimony of Scripture, so destructive of all the foundations of religion, so unworthy of the nature and properties of God, rendering his title of "the father of the faithful," and his example in believing, so useless, as that it is a wonder men of any tolerable sobriety should indulge to such an imagination.
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(2.) It was a life of faith with respect unto things temporal also. For as he was a sojourner in a strange land, without friends or relations, not incorporated in any political society or dwelling in any city, he was exposed unto all sorts of dangers, oppression and violence, as is usual in such cases. Besides, those amongst whom he sojourned were for the most part wicked and evil men, such as, being fallen into idolatry, were apt to be provoked against him for his profession of faith in the most high God. Hence, on some occurrences of his life that might give them advantage, it is observed, as a matter of danger, that "the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land," Gen. 13:7, 12:6. And this he feared, chap. 20:11. Moreover he had sundry particular trials, wherein he apprehended that his life was in imminent danger, Gen. 12:11–13, 20:2. In all these dangers and trials, with others innumerable, being helpless in himself, he lived in the continual exercise of faith and trust in God, his power, his allsufficiency, and faithfulness. Hereof his whole story is full of instances, and his faith in them is celebrated frequently in the Scripture.
(3.) In things of both sorts, spiritual and temporal, he lived by faith, in a constant resignation of himself unto the sovereign will and pleasure of God, when he saw no way or means for the accomplishment of the promise. So was it with him with respect unto the long season that he lived without a child, and under the command he had to offer him for a sacrifice, when he had received him.
On all these accounts he was the father, the pattern, or example of believers in all generations. We saw before the foundation of his faith and the entrances of his believing; here we have a progress of them proposed unto our imitation.
And that wherein we are instructed hereby is, that when we are once engaged, and have given up ourselves to God in a way of believing, there must be no choice, no dividing or halting, no halving; but we must follow him fully, wholly, and universally, living by faith in all things.
2. For the external part, or manner of his life, it was a pilgrimage, it was a sojourning. Two things are required unto such a state of life: (1.) That a man be in a strange country; (2.) That he have no fixed habitation of his own. If a man be free from either of these, he is not a pilgrim. A man may want a habitation of his own as his inheritance, and yet, being in his own country, not be a pilgrim; and a man may be in a strange country, and yet, having a fixed habitation of his own therein, he may not be a pilgrim: but when both these concur, there is a state of pilgrimage. And so it was with Abraham. He was in a strange land. Though it was "the land of promise," yet having no interest in it,