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44:17; Wisd. 10:4, 6; 2 Pet. 2:5.

‘Faith’ and ‘righteousness’ are placed in different connexions one with the other, which will repay study.

( a ) hJ dik. th'" pivstew" ( dik. pivst. ) Rom. 4:11, 13. ( b ) dik. hJ ejk p. ( hJ ejk p. dik. ) Rom. 9:30; 10:6.

( g ) hJ ejk qeou' dik. ejpi; th'/ p. Phil. 3:9. ( d ) hJ kata; p. dik.

The righteousness according to faith ,’ the righteousness which ‘answers to,’ ‘corresponds with’ faith, is that righteousness which God alone can give, which answers to, corresponds with, that spiritual order which faith alone enters.

For kata; pivstin see Heb. 11:13 note. klhronovmo" ] The righteousness was something which came to him as having its source without, and yet according to a certain law. It was his by an unquestionable right: it corresponded with the position of a son; and this position Noah shewed by his conduct to be his. Compare Heb. 1:14
(
klhronomei'n swthrivan ); 12:17 ( klhr. th;n eujlogivan ). The righteousness was not a hope for the future but a real possession by the gift of God. Compare Addit. Note on 6:12.

(3) Heb. 11:8-22. The Faith of the Patriarchs. With the call of Abraham the records of Faith enter on a new phase. Faith is treated henceforth in relation to a society, a people of God, through whom the divine blessings were to be extended to mankind. Under this wider aspect Faith is regarded in two forms as shewn by the representative founders of the ancient people in ( a ) the Faith of patient Obedience which is the foundation of the Kingdom of God, and in ( b ) the Faith of Sacrifice which is the principle of its development.

( a ) The patriarchal Faith of Obedience and Patience (11:8-16). The Faith of patient Obedience is traced mainly in the life of Abraham who impressed his own character upon his descendants (11:8-12) ( a ). In him and in them it was openly shewn that the societies of earth have a spiritual archetype which is the true object of human endeavour (11:13-16) ( b ).

( a ) The Faith of patient Obedience seen in the Faith of Abraham (11:8-
12).

The Faith of the patriarchs, represented by the Faith of Abraham, is presented under three different aspects:

(i) As Abraham trusted God wholly, going forth he knew not whither (11:8). (The Faith of self-surrender.)

(ii) As he waited on the scene of his hope looking for God's work (11:9 f.). (The Faith of patience.)

(iii) As he communicated his faith to Sarah, so that through them (‘one flesh’) the innumerable offspring of faith were born (11:11 f.). (The Faith of influence.)

In each case Abraham cast himself upon the unseen and realised the future.

The promise was thus carried to its first typical fulfilment (6:15). The Faith of Abraham is no less conspicuous in later Jewish teaching than in Christian teaching. He is said ( Mechilta on Ex. 14:31, ap. Delitzsch
l.c. ) to have gained this world and the world to come by Faith. In this respect he is spoken of as a father of the Gentiles (Delitzsch, Brief an d. Ro1mer p.


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