John Bengel Commentary - Hebrews 11:23 - 11:23

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John Bengel Commentary - Hebrews 11:23 - 11:23


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Heb 11:23. Πίστει, by faith) It is not the faith of Moses that is referred to in this verse, but that of his parents; as in Heb 11:30 it is not the faith of the citizens of Jericho, but that of the Israelites.-πατέρων, of his fathers) In Exo 2:2, the LXX. relate the fact as follows: and seeing that he was a goodly (ἀστεῖον) child, they [not she, as in the Hebrew] hid him three months; and when they could no longer hide him, the mother took to him an ark or wicker-basket. In the Hebrew, the whole is ascribed to the mother; by the apostle, to the fathers. By the term, fathers, the Syrians understand father and mother; but we can scarcely prove that this was the case among the Hebrews and Greeks. Chrys. on this passage remarks, ἄρχεται ἀπὸ τῶν γονέων τοῦ Μωϋσέως, ἀσήμων τινῶν ΑΝΔΡΩΝ: he begins with the parents (γονεῖς) of Moses, some undistinguished MEN. Hesychius explains πατέρες as πλούσιοι ἢ πρόγονοι, wealthy [men of note], or ancestors. So πατέρες, Heb 1:1, Heb 3:9, Heb 8:9; Eph 6:4, note. The LXX. never use γονεῖς for אבות, nor will it be found in the New Testament that πατέρας can be appropriately substituted for the word γονεῖς, which so often occurs. Moses was concealed by his fathers, that is, by his father (Amram) and by his grandfather, not the maternal grandfather, who was Levi himself, but by the paternal grandfather, who was (Kohath) Kahath. Therefore Kahath (Kohath) was alive when Moses was born. We find great advantage in the right explanation of this passage with respect to sacred chronology. See Ord. Temp., p. 68 [Ed. ii. p. 58].-εἶδον, they saw) with a kind of presage of great events.-ἀστεῖον, beautiful) Act 7:20, note.-οὐκ ἐφοβήθησαν, they were not afraid) The mental feeling is put for the effect, Heb 11:27, note.