Introduction
The theme of Hebrews is “Better,” and chapter 11 is the famous chapter of the Hall of Faith. The writer, beginning with Abel, described the different Old Testament heroes of faith and concluded in verse 39, stating that “All of them pleased God because of their faith.” But still they died without being given what had been promised (CEV). At first glance, this verse might seem contradictory when compared with the truth that faith always receives victory; however, a closer look, study of what the promise refers to, and the scriptural definition of victory suggest otherwise.
1. Scriptural Victory through Faith Defined
True victory gained by faith is God-ward focused and eternal. God always leads us in victory (2 Corinthians 2:14), and the victory that overcomes the world is our faith (1 John 5:4). It is neither a magic wand nor based on immediate earthly success or rewards, but based on the truth that it pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). All the saints referred to in Hebrews 11 focused on God and eternity, received their victories by faith: Abraham received his promised son, Isaac, Noah and his family were saved, the Israelites were delivered from Egypt through Moses etc. They pleased God, this is victory.
2. The Promise Explained
The promise referred to in Hebrews 11:39 is the coming of the Messiah and the salvation that comes with Him. Every one of the Old Testament saints referred to in Hebrews 11 died before Jesus appeared. They entered Heaven with the promise unfulfilled. The reason for this is given in verse 40: “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect”. No one was “made perfect” under the Old Covenant, because Christ had not yet died. They were saved, but not until Jesus’ work on the cross was complete could salvation be perfect. Their salvation looked ahead to what Christ would do. Ours looks back to what He has done.
Wuest in his exposition explains that ‘And these all,’ that is, those who have been named in this chapter, ‘although they had witness borne to them through their faith,’ as has been recorded (vv. 2–38), ‘did not receive the promise,’ that is, as already said in verse 13, they only foresaw that it would be fulfilled and died in that faith. But this failure to obtain the fulfilment of the promise was not due to any slackness on the part of God nor to any defect in their faith; there was a good reason for it, and that reason was that ‘God had in view some better thing for us, that without us they should not be perfected.’ The ‘better thing’ is that which this Epistle has made it its business to expound, the perfect revelation (Hebrews 1:1) of the Son and His perfect covenant (Hebrews 8:7–13), and His better sacrifice (Heb 9:23).
3. Reconciling both Perspectives
The truth about victory by faith in Hebrews 11 comprises both earthly and eternal dimensions. Although many of the examples of faith above resulted in a great deliverance of some sort, God’s promise of a full restoration of the earth and an end to death still remained to be fulfilled. So even those who experienced victories still did not receive their full inheritance. This does not mean that their faith failed.
The writer’s point in emphasizing that the New Testament saint has a better covenant is that if the Old Testament saints were faithful through all of these trials, even though they didn’t receive the promise of Christ in the flesh, how much more should we be faithful, since we have Christ.
In conclusion, Hebrews 11:39 does not negate the power of faith to produce earthly victories; it, however, places them within the larger context of God’s eternal plan for salvation.

Reference
Austin, P. (2022). Hebrews 11:39-40 Commentary. Retrieved from https://www.preceptaustin.org/hebrews_1139-40#11:39. Retrieved Date, July 22, 2025.