Font Size
Hebrews 11:2-4
New Catholic Bible
Hebrews 11:2-4
New Catholic Bible
2 Indeed, it was because of it that our ancestors were commended.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen came into being from the invisible.
The Faith of the Early Patriarchs.[a] 4 By faith Abel[b] offered to God a better sacrifice than that of Cain. Because of this he was attested as righteous, God himself bearing witness to his gifts. Although he is dead, he continues to speak through it.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Hebrews 11:4 Christian faith has firm roots in the Old Testament. Note v. 6, in which theologians have seen an assertion of the irreplaceable necessity of faith for salvation: the belief that God exists and has a personal relationship with human beings. The references to Biblical personages and the Old Testament citations are mainly from the Book of Genesis, from Exodus when speaking of Moses, and from Joshua and the following Books when speaking of the others. But the author adds non-Biblical details, such as the fate that legend attributed to Isaiah (v. 37). A similar list of heroes is found in Sirach (44:1—50:21).
- Hebrews 11:4 Abel: see Gen 4:1-15. Christ himself referred to the righteousness of Abel (see Mt 23:35).
