Hebrews 11:3

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Hebrews 11:3 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 11:3

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God
The celestial world, with its inhabitants, the angels; the starry and ethereal worlds, with all that is in them, the sun, moon, stars, and fowls of the air; the terrestrial world, with all upon it, men, beasts and the watery world, the sea, and all that is therein: perhaps some respect may be had to the distinction of worlds among the Jews; (See Gill on Hebrews 1:2), though the apostle can scarce be thought to have any regard to their extravagant notions of vast numbers of worlds being created: they often speak of three hundred and ten worlds, in all which, they say, there are heavens, earth, stars, planets ^F6; and sometimes of eighteen thousand ^F7; but these notions are rightly charged by Philo ^F8 with ignorance and folly. However, as many worlds as there are, they are made "by the Word of God"; by Christ, the essential Word of God, to whom the creation of all things is ascribed in ( John 1:1-3 ) . And this agrees with the sentiments of the Jews, who ascribe the creation of all things to the Word of God, as do the Targumists ^F9, and Philo the Jew ^F11. And these are "framed" by the Word, in a very beautiful and convenient order; the heavens before the earth; things less perfect, before those that were more so in the visible world, or terraqueous globe; and things for men, before men, for whom they were; and it is by divine revelation and faith that men form right notions of the creation, and of the author of it, and particularly of the origin of it, as follows:

so that things which are seen:
as the heaven, earth, and sea, and in which the invisible things of God, the perfections of his nature, are discerned:

were not made of things which do appear;
they were not made from pre-existent matter, but out of nothing, out of which the rude and undigested chaos was formed; and from that invisible mass, covered with darkness, were all visible things brought into a beautiful order; and all from secret and hidden ideas in the divine minds; and this also is the faith of the Jews, that the creation of all things is (Nyam) , "out of nothing" ^F12. There seems to be an allusion to the word (arb) , used for creation, which signifies to make appear a thing unseen; and is rendered in the Septuagint version by (deiknumi) , ( Numbers 16:30 ) and (katadeiknumi) , ( Isaiah 40:26 ) ( 41:20 ) to show, or make appear; and thus God created, or made to appear, the heavens and earth, which before were not in being, and unseen, ( Genesis 1:1 Genesis 1:2 ) and created to make, as in ( Genesis 2:3 ) that is, made them to appear, that he might put them into the form and order they now are.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Misn. Oketzim, c. 3. sect. 12. Targum Jon. in Exod. xxviii. 30. Kettoreth Hassamim in Targum Jon. in Gen. fol. 4. 4. Lex. Cabel. p. 60, 61.
F7 T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 3. 2. Yalkut, par. 2. fol. 50. 4.
F8 De Opificio, p. 39.
F9 Targum Oak. in Deut. xxxiii. 27. & Ben Uzziel in Isa. xlviii. 13.
F11 De Opificio, p. 4. & Leg. Alleg. l. 1. p. 44.
F12 Tzeror Hammor, fol. 1. 1. Kettoreth Hassamim in Targ. Jon in Gen. fol. 5. 1, 2.

Hebrews 11:3 In-Context

1 Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see.

2 This is why the ancients were commended.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.

5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.