SEV Biblia, Chapter 11:3
Por la fe entendemos haber sido compuestos los siglos por la palabra de Dios, siendo hecho lo que se ve, de lo que no se veía.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hebrew 11:3
Verse 3. Through faith we understand] By worlds, touv aiwnav, we are to understand the material fabric of the universe; for aiwn can have no reference here to age or any measurement of time, for he speaks of the things which are SEEN; not being made out of the things which do APPEAR; this therefore must refer to the material creation: and as the word is used in the plural number, it may comprehend, not only the earth and visible heavens, but the whole planetary system; the different worlds which, in our system at least, revolve round the sun. The apostle states that these things were not made out of a pre-existent matter; for if they were, that matter, however extended or modified, must appear in that thing into which it is compounded and modified, consequently it could not be said that the things which are seen are not made of the things that appear; and he shows us also, by these words, that the present mundane fabric was not formed or reformed from one anterior, as some suppose. According to Moses and the apostle we believe that God made all things out of nothing. See the note on "Gen. i. 1", &c. At present we see trees of different kinds are produced from trees; beasts, birds, and fishes, from others of the same kind; and man, from man: but we are necessarily led to believe that there was a first man, who owed not his being to man; first there were beasts, &c., which did not derive their being from others of the same kind; and so of all manner of trees, plants, &c.
God, therefore, made all these out of nothing; his word tells us so, and we credit that word.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God , etc..] The celestial world, with its inhabitants, the angels; the starry and ethereal worlds, with all that is in them, the sun, moon, stars, and fowls of the air; the terrestrial world, with all upon it, men, beasts, etc.. and the watery world, the sea, and all that is therein: perhaps some respect may be had to the distinction of worlds among the Jews; (see Gill on Hebrews 1:2), though the apostle can scarce be thought to have any regard to their extravagant notions of vast numbers of worlds being created: they often speak of three hundred and ten worlds, in all which, they say, there are heavens, earth, stars, planets, etc.. f222 ; and sometimes of eighteen thousand f223 ; but these notions are rightly charged by Philo f224 with ignorance and folly. However, as many worlds as there are, they are made by the Word of God; by Christ, the essential Word of God, to whom the creation of all things is ascribed in ( John 1:1-3). And this agrees with the sentiments of the Jews, who ascribe the creation of all things to the Word of God, as do the Targumists f225 , and Philo the Jew f226 .
And these are framed by the Word, in a very beautiful and convenient order; the heavens before the earth; things less perfect, before those that were more so in the visible world, or terraqueous globe; and things for men, before men, for whom they were; and it is by divine revelation and faith that men form right notions of the creation, and of the author of it, and particularly of the origin of it, as follows: so that things which are seen : as the heaven, earth, and sea, and in which the invisible things of God, the perfections of his nature, are discerned: were not made of things which do appear ; they were not made from preexistent matter, but out of nothing, out of which the rude and undigested chaos was formed; and from that invisible mass, covered with darkness, were all visible things brought into a beautiful order; and all from secret and hidden ideas in the divine minds; and this also is the faith of the Jews, that the creation of all things is yam , out of nothing f227 . There seems to be an allusion to the word arb , used for creation, which signifies to make appear a thing unseen; and is rendered in the Septuagint version by deiknumi , ( Numbers 16:30) and katadeiknumi , ( Isaiah 40:26 41:20) to show, or make appear; and thus God created, or made to appear, the heavens and earth, which before were not in being, and unseen, ( Genesis 1:1,2) and created to make, as in ( Genesis 2:3) that is, made them to appear, that he might put them into the form and order they now are.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 1-3 - Faith always has been the mark of God's servants, from the beginning of the world. Where the principle is planted by the regenerating Spirit of God, it will cause the truth to be received, concerning justificatio by the sufferings and merits of Christ. And the same things that ar the object of our hope, are the object of our faith. It is a fir persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promise to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those thing now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a ful approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good. This view of faith is explained by many examples of persons in former times, wh obtained a good report, or an honourable character in the word of God Faith was the principle of their holy obedience, remarkable services and patient sufferings. The Bible gives the most true and exact accoun of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wres the Scripture account of the creation, because it does not suit with the differing fancies of men. All that we see of the works of creation were brought into being by the command of God.
Greek Textus Receptus
πιστει 4102 N-DSF πλειονα 4119 A-ASF-C θυσιαν 2378 N-ASF αβελ 6 N-PRI παρα 3844 PREP καιν 2535 N-PRI προσηνεγκεν 4374 5656 V-AAI-3S τω 3588 T-DSM θεω 2316 N-DSM δι 1223 PREP ης 3739 R-GSF εμαρτυρηθη 3140 5681 V-API-3S ειναι 1511 5750 V-PXN δικαιος 1342 A-NSM μαρτυρουντος 3140 5723 V-PAP-GSM επι 1909 PREP τοις 3588 T-DPN δωροις 1435 N-DPN αυτου 846 P-GSM του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM και 2532 CONJ δι 1223 PREP αυτης 846 P-GSF αποθανων 599 5631 V-2AAP-NSM ετι 2089 ADV {VAR1: λαλειται 2980 5731 V-PMI-3S } {VAR2: λαλει 2980 5719 V-PAI-3S }
Vincent's NT Word Studies
3. Neither does this verse belong to the list of historical instances from Genesis, in which men exercised faith. It is merely the first instance presented in O.T. history of an opportunity for the exercise of faith as the assurance and conviction of things not seen. Like ver. 2, it is closely connected with the definition. It contains the exposition of the nature of faith, by showing that in its earliest and most general expression - belief in the creation of the visible universe by God - it is a conviction of something not apprehensible by sense. 225 We understand (nooumen). Noein signifies to perceive with the nouv or reflective intelligence. In Class. of seeing with the eyes, sometimes with ojfqalmoiv expressed; but as early as Homer it is distinguished from the mere physical act of vision, as perception of the mind consequent upon seeing. Thus, ton de ijdwn ejnohse and seeing him he perceived (Il. 11. 599): oujk idon oujd' ejnohsa I neither saw nor perceived (Od. 13. 318). In N.T. never of the mere physical act. Here is meant the inward perception and apprehension of the visible creation as the work of God, which follows the sight of the phenomena of nature.The worlds (touv aiwnav). Lit. the ages. The world or worlds as the product of successive aeons. See on ch. i. 2.
Were framed (kathrtisqai). Put together; adjusted; the parts fitted to each other. See on Gal. vi. 1; Matt. xxi. 16; Luke vi. 40. Of the preparing and fixing in heaven of the sun and moon, LXX, Psalm lxxiii. 16; lxxxviii. 37: of building a wall, 2 Esdr. iv. 12, 13, 16. See also Psalm xxxix. 6. Rend. have been framed. The A.V. gives the impression of one giving his assent to an account of creation; but the perfect tense exhibits the faith of one who is actually contemplating creation itself.
By the word of God (rhmati). Comp. Genesis 1; Psalm xxxiii. 6; cxviii. 5. So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear (eiv to mh ek fainomenwn to blepomenon gegonenai). For things which are seen, rend. that which is seen. For were not made rend. hath not been made. jEiv to followed by the infinitive signifies result, not purpose. We perceive that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that (this being the case) that which is visible has not arisen out of that which is seen. 226 Mh not negatives the remainder of the clause taken as a whole. In other words, the proposition denied is, that which is seen arose out of visible things. By many early interpreters mh was transposed, and construed with fainomenwn alone, signifying "that which is seen has arisen from things which do not appear." These things were explained as chaos, the invisible creative powers of God, etc.
