KJV: But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
YLT: but now they long for a better, that is, an heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He did prepare for them a city.
Darby: but now they seek a better, that is, a heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he has prepared for them a city.
ASV: But now they desire a better country , that is, a heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city.
| νῦν | Now |
|
Parse: Adverb Root: νῦν Sense: at this time, the present, now. |
|
| δὲ | however |
|
Parse: Conjunction Root: δέ Sense: but, moreover, and, etc. |
|
| κρείττονος | a better [one] |
|
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular, Comparative Root: κρείττων Sense: more useful, more serviceable, more advantageous. |
|
| ὀρέγονται | they stretch forward to |
|
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Plural Root: ὀρέγω Sense: to stretch one’s self out in order to touch or to grasp something, to reach after or desire something. |
|
| τοῦτ’ | that |
|
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: οὗτος Sense: this. |
|
| ἐπουρανίου | a heavenly [one] |
|
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ἐπουράνιος Sense: existing in heaven. |
|
| ἐπαισχύνεται | is ashamed of |
|
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἐπαισχύνομαι Sense: to be ashamed. |
|
| ὁ | - |
|
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
|
| Θεὸς | God |
|
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: θεός Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities. |
|
| ἐπικαλεῖσθαι | to be called |
|
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Middle or Passive Root: ἐπικαλέω Sense: to put a name upon, to surname. |
|
| αὐτῶν | of them |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
|
| ἡτοίμασεν | He has prepared |
|
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἑτοιμάζω Sense: to make ready, prepare. |
|
| γὰρ | indeed |
|
Parse: Conjunction Root: γάρ Sense: for. |
|
| αὐτοῖς | for them |
|
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural Root: αὐτός Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself. |
|
| πόλιν | a city |
|
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: πόλις Sense: a city. |
|
Greek Commentary for Hebrews 11:16
Present middle indicative of ορεγω oregō old word for stretching out after, yearning after as in 1 Timothy 3:1. Their God Predicate nominative with the epexegetic infinitive επικαλεισται epikaleisthai (to be called) used with ουκ επαισχυνεται ouk epaischunetai (is not ashamed). [source]
Νῦν nowis logical: as the case now stands. For ὀρέγονται desiresee on 1 Timothy 3:1. [source]
Because they have commended themselves to God by their faith, so that he acknowledges them as his own. Comp. Hebrews 2:11; Mark 8:28, Mark 8:38; Romans 1:16; 2 Timothy 1:8, 2 Timothy 1:16. [source]
Lit. to be surnamed. Comp. Acts 4:36; Acts 10:5, Acts 10:18, Acts 10:32. God was called the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. See Exodus 3:6. [source]
Comp. Matthew 25:34; John 14:2; Revelation 21:2. City is significant, as showing that the fulfillment of God's promise lies in introducing them into the perfection of social life. Comp. Revelation 3:12; Revelation 21:2, Revelation 21:10; Revelation 22:19. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Hebrews 11:16
Christ responds to Peter's emphatic thou with another, equally emphatic. Peter says, “Thou art the Christ.” Christ replies, “Thou art Peter.” Πέτρος (Peter ) is used as a proper name, but without losing its meaning as a common noun. The name was bestowed on Simon at his first interview with Jesus (John 1:42) under the form of its Aramaic equivalent, CephasIn this passage attention is called, not to the giving of the name, but to its meaning. In classical Greek the word means a piece of rock, as in Homer, of Ajax throwing a stone at Hector (“Iliadvii., 270), or of Patroclus grasping and hiding in his hand a jagged stone (“Iliadxvi., 784).On this rock ( ἐπὶ ταύτῃ τῇ πέρᾳ )The word is feminine, and means a rock, as distinguished from a stone or a fragment of rock ( πέτρος , above). Used of a ledge of rocks or a rocky peak. In Homer (“Odyssey,” ix., 243), the rock ( πέτρην ) which Polyphemus places at the door of his cavern, is a mass which two-and-twenty wagons could not remove; and the rock which he hurled at the retreating ships of Ulysses, created by its fall a wave in the sea which drove the ships back toward the land (“Odyssey,” ix., 484). The word refers neither to Christ as a rock, distinguished from Simon, a stone, nor to Peter's confession, but to Peter himself, in a sense defined by his previous confession, and as enlightened by the “Father in Heaven.” The reference of πέτρα to Christ is forced and unnatural. The obvious reference of the word is to Peter. The emphatic this naturally refers to the nearest antecedent; and besides, the metaphor is thus weakened, since Christ appears here, not as the foundation, but as the architect: “On this rock will I build.” Again, Christ is the great foundation, the “chief corner-stone,” but the New Testament writers recognize no impropriety in applying to the members of Christ's church certain terms which are applied to him. For instance, Peter himself (1 Peter 2:4), calls Christ a living stone, and, in 1 Peter 2:5, addresses the church as living stones. In Revelation 21:14, the names of the twelve apostles appear in the twelve foundation-stones of the heavenly city; and in Ephesians 2:20, it is said, “Ye are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (i.e., laid by the apostles and prophets), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.” Equally untenable is the explanation which refers πέτρα to Simon's confession. Both the play upon the words and the natural reading of the passage are against it, and besides, it does not conform to the fact, since the church is built, not on confessions, but on confessors - living men. “The word πέτρα ,” says Edersheim, “was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language. According to the Rabbins, when God was about to build his world, he could not rear it on the generation of Enos, nor on that of the flood, who brought destruction upon the world; but when he beheld that Abraham would arise in the future, he said' 'Behold, I have found a rock to build on it, and to found the world,' whence, also, Abraham is called a rock, as it is said' 'Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn.' The parallel between Abraham and Peter might be carried even further. If, from a misunderstanding of the Lord's promise to Peter, later Christian legend represented the apostle as sitting at the gate of heaven, Jewish legend represents Abraham as sitting at the gate of Gehenna, so as to prevent all who had the seal of circumcision from falling into its abyss” (“Life and Times of Jesus”). The reference to Simon himself is confirmed by the actual relation of Peter to the early church, to the Jewish portion of which he was a foundation-stone. See Acts, Acts 1:15; Acts 2:14, Acts 2:37; Acts 3:12; Acts 4:8; Acts 5:15, Acts 5:29; Acts 9:34, Acts 9:40; Acts 10:25, Acts 10:26; Galatians 1:15.Church ( ἐκκλησίαν ) ἐκ out, καλέω , to call or summon. This is the first occurrence of this word in the New Testament. Originally an assembly of citizens, regularly summoned. So in New Testament, Acts 19:39. The Septuagint uses the word for the congregation of Israel, either as summoned for a definite purpose (Acts 7:38); but for this there is more commonly employed συναγωγή , of which synagogue is a transcription; σύν , together, ἄγω , to bring (Acts 13:43). In Christ's words to Peter the word ἐκκλησία acquires special emphasis from the opposition implied in it to the synagogue. The Christian community in the midst of Israel would be designated as ἐκκλησία , without being confounded with the συναγωγή , the Jewish community. See Acts 5:11; Acts 8:1; Acts 12:1; Acts 14:23, Acts 14:27, etc. Nevertheless συναγωγή is applied to a Christian assembly in Job 3:17-19 while ἐπισυναγωγή (gathering or assembling together ) is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1; Hebrews 10:25. Both in Hebrew and in New Testament usage ἐκκλησία implies more than a collective or national unity; rather a community based on a special religious idea and established in a special way. In the New Testament the term is used also in the narrower sense of a single church, or a church confined to a particular place. So of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (Romans 16:5); the church at Corinth, the churches in Judea, the church at Jerusalem, etc.Gates of hell ( πύλαι ᾅδου )Rev., Hades. Hades was originally the name of the god who presided over the realm of the dead - Pluto or Dis. Hence the phrase, house of Hades. It is derived from ἀ , not, and; ἰδεῖν , to see; and signifies, therefore, the invisible land, the realm of shadow. It is the place to which all who depart this life descend, without reference to their moral character. By this word the Septuagint translated the Hebrew Sheol, which has a similar general meaning. The classical Hades embraced both good and bad men, though divided into Elysium, the abode of the virtuous, and Tartarus, the abode of the wicked. In these particulars it corresponds substantially with Sheol; both the godly and the wicked being represented as gathered into the latter. See Genesis 42:38; Psalm 9:17; Psalm 139:8; Isaiah 14:9; Isaiah 57:2; Ezekiel 32:27; Hosea 13:14. Hades and Sheol were alike conceived as a definite place, lower than the world. The passage of both good and bad into it was regarded as a descent. The Hebrew conception is that of a place of darkness; a cheerless home of a dull, joyless, shadowy life. See Psalm 6:5; Psalm 94:17; Psalm 115:17; Psalm 88:5, Psalm 88:6, Psalm 88:10; Job 10:21; James 2:2,; Job 14:10, Job 14:11; Ecclesiastes 9:5. Vagueness is its characteristic. In this the Hebrew's faith appears bare in contrast with that of the Greek and Roman. The pagan poets gave the popular mind definite pictures of Tartarus and Elysium; of Styx and Acheron; of happy plains where dead heroes held high discourse, and of black abysses where offenders underwent strange and ingenious tortures. There was, indeed, this difference between the Hebrew and the Pagan conceptions; that to the Pagan, Hades was the final home of its tenants, while Sheol was a temporary condition. Hence the patriarchs are described (Hebrews 11:16) as looking for a better, heavenly country; and the martyrs as enduring in hope of “a better resurrection.” Prophecy declared that the dead should arise and sing, when Sheol itself should be destroyed and its inmates brought forth, some to everlasting life, and others to shame and contempt (Isaiah 26:19; Hosea 13:14; Daniel 12:2). Paul represents this promise as made to the fathers by God, and as the hope of his countrymen (Acts 26:7). God was the God of the dead as well as of the living; present in the dark chambers of Sheol as well as in heaven (Psalm 139:8; Psalm 16:10). This is the underlying thought of that most touching and pathetic utterance of Job (Job 14:13-15), in which he breathes the wish that God would hide him with loving care in Hades, as a place of temporary concealment, where he will wait patiently, standing like a sentinel at his post, awaiting the divine voice calling him to a new and happier life. This, too, is the thought of the familiar and much-disputed passage, Job 19:23-27. His Redeemer, vindicator, avenger, shall arise after he shall have passed through the shadowy realm of Sheol. “A judgment in Hades, in which the judge will show himself his friend, in which all the tangled skein of his life will be unravelled by wise and kindly hands, and the insoluble problem of his strange and self-contradicting experience will at last be solved - this is what Job still looks for on that happy day when he shall see God for himself, and find his Goel (vindicator) in that Almighty Deliverer” (Cox, “Commentary on the Book of Job”). In the New Testament, Hades is the realm of the dead. It cannot be successfully maintained that it is, in particular, the place for sinners (so Cremer, “Biblico-Theological Lexicon”). The words about Capernaum (Matthew 11:23), which it is surprising to find Cremer citing in support of this position, are merely a rhetorical expression of a fall from the height of earthly glory to the deepest degradation, and have no more bearing upon the moral character of Hades than the words of Zophar (Job 11:7, Job 11:8) about the perfection of the Almighty. “It is high as heaven - deeper than Sheol. ” Hades is indeed coupled with Death (Revelation 1:18; Revelation 6:8; Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14), but the association is natural, and indeed inevitable, apart from all moral distinctions. Death would naturally be followed by Hades in any case. In Revelation 20:13, Revelation 20:14, the general judgment is predicted, and not only Death and Hades, but the sea give tip their dead, and only those who are not written in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). The rich man was in Hades (Luke 16:23), and in torments, but Lazarus was also in Hades, “in Abraham's bosom.” The details of this story “evidently represent the views current at the time among the Jews. According to them, the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life were the abode of the blessed. We read that the righteous in Eden see the wicked in Gehenna and rejoice; and similarly, that the wicked in Gehenna see the righteous sitting beatified in Eden, and their souls are troubled (Edersheim, “Life and Times of Jesus”). Christ also was in Hades (Acts 2:27, Acts 2:31). Moreover, the word γέεννα , hell (see on Matthew 5:22), is specially used to denote the place of future punishment. Hades, then, in the New Testament, is a broad and general conception, with an idea of locality bound up with it. It is the condition following death, which is blessed or the contrary, according to the moral character of the dead, and is therefore divided into different realms, represented by Paradise or Abraham's bosom, and Gehenna. The expression Gates of Hades is an orientalism for the court, throne, power, and dignity of the infernal kingdom. Hades is contemplated as a mighty city, with formidable, frowning portals. Some expositors introduce also the idea of the councils of the Satanic powers, with reference to the Eastern custom of holding such deliberations in the gates of cities. Compare the expression Sublime Porte, applied to the Ottoman court. The idea of a building is maintained in both members of the comparison. The kingdom or city of Hades confronts and assaults the church which Christ will build upon the rock. See Job 38:17; Psalm 9:13; Psalm 107:18; Isaiah 38:10. [source]
The feeling expressed by this word has reference to incurring dishonor or shame in the eyes of men. It is “the grief a mail conceives from his own imperfections considered with relation to the world taking notice of them; grief upon the sense of disesteem” (“South,” cit. by Trench). Hence it does not spring out of a reverence for right in itself, but from fear of the knowledge and opinion of men. Thus in the use of the kindred noun αἰσχύνη , shame, in the New Testament. In Luke 14:9, the man who impudently puts himself in the highest place at the feast, and is bidden by his host to go lower down, begins with shame to take the lowest place; not from a right sense of his folly and conceit, but from being humiliated in the eyes of the guests. Thus, Hebrews 12:2, Christ is said to have “endured the shame, ”i.e., the public disgrace attaching to crucifixion. So, too, in the use of the verb, Romans 1:16: “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” though espousing its cause subjects me to the contempt of the Jew and of the Greek, to whom it is a stumbling-block and foolishness. Onesiphorus was not ashamed to be known as the friend of a prisoner (2 Timothy 1:16). Compare Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 11:16. It is used of the Son of Man here by a strong metaphor. Literally, of course, the glorified Christ cannot experience the sense of shame, but the idea at the root is the same. It will be as if he should feel himself disgraced before the Father and the holy angels in owning any fellowship with those who have been ashamed of him. [source]
A climax to the preceding relative clause (Findlay). Prepared (ητοιμασεν hētoimasen). First aorist active indicative of ετοιμαζω hetoimazō The only instance where Paul uses this verb of God, though it occurs of final glory (Luke 2:31; Matthew 20:23; Matthew 25:34; Mark 10:40; Hebrews 11:16) and of final misery (Matthew 25:41). But here undoubtedly the dominant idea is the present blessing to these who love God (1 Corinthians 1:5-7). Heart (καρδιαν kardian) here as in Romans 1:21 is more than emotion. The Gnostics used this passage to support their teaching of esoteric doctrine as Hegesippus shows. Lightfoot thinks that probably the apocryphal Ascension of Isaiah and Apocalypse of Elias were Gnostic and so quoted this passage of Paul to support their position. But the next verse shows that Paul uses it of what is now revealed and made plain, not of mysteries still unknown. [source]
First aorist active indicative of ετοιμαζω hetoimazō The only instance where Paul uses this verb of God, though it occurs of final glory (Luke 2:31; Matthew 20:23; Matthew 25:34; Mark 10:40; Hebrews 11:16) and of final misery (Matthew 25:41). But here undoubtedly the dominant idea is the present blessing to these who love God (1 Corinthians 1:5-7). [source]
Και Kai is genuine here, though not in Colossians 1:3. The one article First aorist active participle of ευλογεω eulogeō the same word, antecedent action to the doxology (ευλογητος eulogētos). With So-called instrumental use of εν en though in is clear. Every spiritual blessing (πασηι ευλογιαι πνευματικηι pasēi eulogiāi pneumatikēi). Third use of the root ευλογ eulog (verbal, verb, substantive). Paul lovingly plays with the idea. The believer is a citizen of heaven and the spiritual blessings count for most to him. In the heavenly places in Christ In four other places in Ephesians (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12). This precise phrase (with εν en) occurs nowhere else in the N.T. and has a clearly local meaning in Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10, doubtful in Ephesians 6:12, but probably so here. In Ephesians 2:6 the believer is conceived as already seated with Christ. Heaven is the real abode of the citizen of Christ‘s kingdom (Philemon 3:20) who is a stranger on earth (Philemon 1:27; Ephesians 2:19). The word επουρανιος epouranios (heavenly) occurs in various passages in the N.T. in contrast with τα επιγεια ta epigeia (the earthly) as in John 3:12; 1 Corinthians 15:40, 1 Corinthians 15:48, 1 Corinthians 15:49; Philemon 2:10, with πατρις patris (country) in Hebrews 11:16, with κλησις klēsis (calling) in Hebrews 3:1, with δωρεα dōrea (gift) in Hebrews 6:4, with βασιλεια basileia (kingdom) in 2 Timothy 4:18. [source]
So-called instrumental use of εν en though in is clear. Every spiritual blessing (πασηι ευλογιαι πνευματικηι pasēi eulogiāi pneumatikēi). Third use of the root ευλογ eulog (verbal, verb, substantive). Paul lovingly plays with the idea. The believer is a citizen of heaven and the spiritual blessings count for most to him. In the heavenly places in Christ In four other places in Ephesians (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12). This precise phrase (with εν en) occurs nowhere else in the N.T. and has a clearly local meaning in Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10, doubtful in Ephesians 6:12, but probably so here. In Ephesians 2:6 the believer is conceived as already seated with Christ. Heaven is the real abode of the citizen of Christ‘s kingdom (Philemon 3:20) who is a stranger on earth (Philemon 1:27; Ephesians 2:19). The word επουρανιος epouranios (heavenly) occurs in various passages in the N.T. in contrast with τα επιγεια ta epigeia (the earthly) as in John 3:12; 1 Corinthians 15:40, 1 Corinthians 15:48, 1 Corinthians 15:49; Philemon 2:10, with πατρις patris (country) in Hebrews 11:16, with κλησις klēsis (calling) in Hebrews 3:1, with δωρεα dōrea (gift) in Hebrews 6:4, with βασιλεια basileia (kingdom) in 2 Timothy 4:18. [source]
is clear. Every spiritual blessing (πασηι ευλογιαι πνευματικηι pasēi eulogiāi pneumatikēi). Third use of the root ευλογ eulog (verbal, verb, substantive). Paul lovingly plays with the idea. The believer is a citizen of heaven and the spiritual blessings count for most to him. In the heavenly places in Christ In four other places in Ephesians (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12). This precise phrase (with εν en) occurs nowhere else in the N.T. and has a clearly local meaning in Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10, doubtful in Ephesians 6:12, but probably so here. In Ephesians 2:6 the believer is conceived as already seated with Christ. Heaven is the real abode of the citizen of Christ‘s kingdom (Philemon 3:20) who is a stranger on earth (Philemon 1:27; Ephesians 2:19). The word επουρανιος epouranios (heavenly) occurs in various passages in the N.T. in contrast with τα επιγεια ta epigeia (the earthly) as in John 3:12; 1 Corinthians 15:40, 1 Corinthians 15:48, 1 Corinthians 15:49; Philemon 2:10, with πατρις patris (country) in Hebrews 11:16, with κλησις klēsis (calling) in Hebrews 3:1, with δωρεα dōrea (gift) in Hebrews 6:4, with βασιλεια basileia (kingdom) in 2 Timothy 4:18. [source]
In four other places in Ephesians (Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10; Ephesians 6:12). This precise phrase (with εν en) occurs nowhere else in the N.T. and has a clearly local meaning in Ephesians 1:20; Ephesians 2:6; Ephesians 3:10, doubtful in Ephesians 6:12, but probably so here. In Ephesians 2:6 the believer is conceived as already seated with Christ. Heaven is the real abode of the citizen of Christ‘s kingdom (Philemon 3:20) who is a stranger on earth (Philemon 1:27; Ephesians 2:19). The word επουρανιος epouranios (heavenly) occurs in various passages in the N.T. in contrast with τα επιγεια ta epigeia (the earthly) as in John 3:12; 1 Corinthians 15:40, 1 Corinthians 15:48, 1 Corinthians 15:49; Philemon 2:10, with πατρις patris (country) in Hebrews 11:16, with κλησις klēsis (calling) in Hebrews 3:1, with δωρεα dōrea (gift) in Hebrews 6:4, with βασιλεια basileia (kingdom) in 2 Timothy 4:18. [source]
The use of this word instead of ἐστι isis peculiar. See on being, Phlippians 2:6. It has a backward look. It exists now in heaven, having been established there of old. Compare Hebrews 11:16; John 14:2. [source]
Better, seeketh. Only here, 1 Timothy 6:10, and Hebrews 11:16. Originally to stretch forth, to reach after. Here it implies not only desiring but seeking after. Desire is expressed by ἐπιθυμεῖ immediately following. The word implies eagerness, but not of an immoderate or unchristian character. Comp. the kindred word ὄρεξις with its terrible meaning in Romans 1:27. [source]
Condition of first class, assumed as true. Present middle indicative of ορεγω oregō old verb to reach out after something, governing the genitive. In N.T. only here, 1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 11:16. The office of a bishop (επισκοπης episkopēs). Genitive case after ορεγεται oregetai Late and rare word outside of lxx and N.T. (in a Lycaonian inscription). From επισκοπεω episkopeō and means “over-seership” as in Acts 1:20. [source]
Sharp contrast to Hebrews 12:18 with same form προσεληλυτατε proselēluthate Unto Mount Zion Dative case of ορος oros as with the other substantives. In contrast to Mount Sinai (Hebrews 12:18-21). Paul has contrasted Mount Sinai (present Jerusalem) with the Jerusalem above (heaven) in Galatians 4:21-31. City As in Hebrews 11:10, Hebrews 11:16. Heaven is termed thus a spiritual mountain and city. The heavenly Jerusalem See Hebrews 11:10, Hebrews 11:16; Isaiah 60:14. Innumerable hosts of angels “Myriads of angels.” Μυριας Murias is an old word (from μυριος murios 1 Corinthians 4:15) as in Luke 12:1. [source]