(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB (of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
- BSB The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.
- NKJV of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
- NASB (people of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes in the ground.
- NLT They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The world was not worthy of these faithful sufferers, who wandered homeless in deserts, mountains, and caves. The world despised the very people God most honored.
Overview
In a striking reversal, the author declares that the world that rejected and exiled these believers was "not worthy" of them. Driven into wildernesses and caves, they were esteemed of little account by men but precious to God. This anticipates how the world treated Christ and warns believers that God's valuation often runs contrary to the world's.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 1 Kgs 18:4For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- 1 Kgs 19:9And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
- 1 Sam 22:1David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.
- Isa 57:1The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
- 1 Sam 24:1–3And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.
- 1 Kgs 14:12–13Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
- 1 Kgs 18:13Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
- 1 Kgs 17:3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.
- 1 Sam 26:1And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?
- Ps 142:1–7I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication.
- 1 Sam 23:19Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
- 2 Kgs 23:25–29And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
- 1 Sam 23:23See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
- 1 Sam 23:15And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
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Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 11:38 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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