Hebrews 11:38 (DBY)

Passage

(of whom the world was not worthy,) wandering in deserts and mountains, and [in] dens and caverns of the earth.

Nearby Context

Hebrews 11:36 and others underwent trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, and of bonds and imprisonment.

Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, were sawn asunder, were tempted, died by the death of the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, evil treated,

Hebrews 11:38 (of whom the world was not worthy,) wandering in deserts and mountains, and [in] dens and caverns of the earth.

Hebrews 11:39 And these all, having obtained witness through faith, did not receive the promise,

Hebrews 11:40 God having foreseen some better thing for us, that they should not be made perfect without us.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "world", "worthy", "wandering", "deserts", "mountains", "dens", "caverns", and "earth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "world" and "worthy", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 37's "They were stoned were sawn asunder were..." into verse 39's "And these all having obtained witness through...", so "world" and "worthy" 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 "world" and "worthy" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.