Passage

Hebrews 11.2

Book: Hebrews · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen."

"2. For therein the elders had witness borne to them."

"3. By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had witness borne to him that he was righteous, God bearing witness in respect of his gifts: and through it he being dead yet speaketh." (Hebrews 11:1-4, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen."

"2. For by this, the elders obtained testimony."

"3. By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible. 4. By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks." (Hebrews 11:1-4, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ^{substance: or, ground, or, confidence}"

"2. For by it the elders obtained a good report."

"3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4. By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. ^{yet: or, is yet spoken of}" (Hebrews 11:1-4, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And faith is of things hoped for a confidence, of matters not seen a conviction,"

"2. for in this were the elders testified of;"

"3. by faith we understand the ages to have been prepared by a saying of God, in regard to the things seen not having come out of things appearing; 4. by faith a better sacrifice did Abel offer to God than Cain, through which he was testified to be righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he being dead, doth yet speak." (Hebrews 11:1-4, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.