Hebrews 11:33 (DBY)

Passage

who by faith overcame kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped lions' mouths,

Nearby Context

Hebrews 11:31 By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with the unbelieving, having received the spies in peace.

Hebrews 11:32 And what more do I say? For the time would fail me telling of Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David and Samuel, and of the prophets:

Hebrews 11:33 who by faith overcame kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped lions' mouths,

Hebrews 11:34 quenched [the] power of fire, escaped [the] edge of the sword, became strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, made [the] armies of strangers give way.

Hebrews 11:35 Women received their dead again by resurrection; and others were tortured, not having accepted deliverance, that they might get a better resurrection;

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "faith", "overcame", "kingdoms", "wrought", "righteousness", "obtained", "promises", and "stopped". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "faith" and "overcame", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 32's "And what more do I say For..." into verse 34's "quenched the power of fire escaped the...", so "faith" and "overcame" belong inside that flow. In Hebrews context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "faith" and "overcame" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.