These all died in faith. — We must not change the order of the original. Seven verses up to this point have begun with the emphatic words “by faith.” There is a change here, but not in the emphasis of this thought. We should not expect to read “By faith these died;” what is said is, “In accordance with faith all these died;” faith had been the support and guide of their life, and their death was in accordance with the same principle. That is, they (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah) did not die in possession of what had been promised (Hebrews 11:39), but saw at a distance the blessings of which God had spoken (Hebrews 11:1).
And were persuaded of them. — These words do not belong to the true text; and the word “embraced” should be rendered “greeted,” or “saluted.” We read, therefore: “Not having received the promises, but having seen and greeted them from far” (Genesis 49:18), “and having confessed that they were strangers and sojourners upon the earth” (Genesis 47:9; Genesis 23:4). (Comp. 1 Chronicles 29:15; Psalms 39:12; Psalms 119:19; Psalms 119:54; also 1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:11. The verses which follow are a comment on this. For the last words, “on the earth.” see Hebrews 11:16.