Hebrews 11:12

Translations

Modern

And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Traditional

Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Literal

Therefore also were born from one man, and these of one having become as dead, as the stars of heaven in multitude, and as the sand by the shore of the sea, countless.

Latin

Propter quod et ab uno orti sunt (et hoc emortuo) tamquam sidera cæli in multitudinem, et sicut arena, quæ est ad oram maris, innumerabilis.

Original

Greek

English

And so from one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Notes

Hebrews 11:12

and he as good as dead: Abraham, who was very old, became the ancestor of an entire nation. Faith means believing that God can fulfill his promises, even when it seems impossible.
as the stars … and the sand: See Genesis 22:17. God kept his promise (Exodus 1:7).

Hebrews 11:1–40

Chapter 11 gives a long list of people who trusted God. This shows clearly that living by faith is the only true way to follow God. The writer keeps repeating the words “by faith” to make this message clear. Each example follows the same pattern:

(a) the phrase by faith,
(b) the person's name,
(c) the event or action showing faith, and
(d) the result.

Theme notes and profiles

Abraham Sarah “Belief” in the Gospel of John By Faith Faith and Good Deeds God Protects His Servant Infertility

Related verses

Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
Genesis 32:12
But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
Genesis 15:5
And the LORD took him outside and said, “Now look to the heavens and count the stars, if you are able.” Then He told him, “So shall your offspring be.”
Hosea 1:10
Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
Jeremiah 33:22
As the hosts of heaven cannot be counted and as the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so too will I multiply the descendants of My servant David and the Levites who minister before Me.”
Genesis 26:4
I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed,
Isaiah 10:22
Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
Revelation 20:8
…and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
Exodus 32:13
Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
Isaiah 48:19
Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand, and your offspring as numerous as its grains; their name would never be cut off or eliminated from My presence.”
Deuteronomy 28:62
You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 1:10
The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Hebrews 11:12

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