Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 11:34

"quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens." — Hebrews 11:34 (ASV)

When he speaks of those who “quenched the fury of the flames,” the writer probably has in mind the three Jews whom Nebuchadnezzar had cast into the furnace and who then emerged unharmed (Daniel 3:23–27). Those who “escaped the edge of the sword” may refer to people who ran away successfully when forced to flee, or to people who emerged unscathed from battle. Probably the writer is thinking of people like Elijah, who was not killed by Jezebel (1 Kings 19:2ff.). The OT contains many examples of those “whose weakness was turned to strength,” such as Gideon, who also “became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.” It might fairly be said that the typical deliverance of Israel in OT times came about when a small number of Israelites (like Gideon’s three hundred [Jdg 7:7] or the tiny armies of Israel “like two little flocks of goats” [1 Kings 20:27]) fought at God’s direction against vastly superior forces and defeated them. It was God’s power that prevailed; he made these puny forces strong enough to defeat mighty enemies.