Hebrews 11:30-40
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. (v. 37a) I don’t know of any Biblical references to any Jewish “followers” being sawn in two. And while there are references to people being killed with the sword (e.g., leaders in the David-Absalom wars), it’s not clear that any of these men were killed for their faith. It’s possible that the author of Hebrews is referring to torture and lives lost in the Maccabean wars (2nd century B.C.), information that might be found in the Apocryphal or other lost writings or as word-of-mouth handed down by faithful Jews through the ages. It’s quite a list that the author has compiled of torture and death associated with men of faith in the Old Testament. And the author is not even including those of his own and later generations who were tortured and killed for their faith.
And all these … did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (vv. 39-40) What a gift we and the author of Hebrews have of living on this side of the Resurrection. Those “saints” of old had some idea, but really did not know what they were praying for and hoping for. We have the advantage of knowing Jesus and His Resurrection and eternal life; in that sense we have much more for which to be thankful!
Slava Bohu!
My notes on v. 37 about “sawn in two” say other ancient texts read “tempted”. That makes better sense to me, though we don’t know all the manner of deaths.
My notes say “they were tempted” is included in some earlier manuscripts, in addition to “sawn in two” already in the text.