Discovery BoxHebrews 11:8-12 
Context11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner 1 in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs 2 of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, 3 whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, 4 he received the ability to procreate, 5 because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children 6 were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand 7 on the seashore. 8
1 tn Or “settled as a resident alien.”
2 tn Or “heirs with him.”
3 tn Grk “that has foundations.”
4 tn Grk “past the time of maturity.”
5 tn Grk “power to deposit seed.” Though it is not as likely, some construe this phrase to mean “power to conceive seed,” making the whole verse about Sarah: “by faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and too old, she received ability to conceive, because she regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy.”
6 tn Grk “these”; in the translation the referent (children) has been specified for clarity.
7 tn Grk a collective “the sand.”
8 sn An allusion to Gen 22:17 (which itself goes back to Gen 15:5).
