SEV Biblia, Chapter 11:15
Que si se acordaran de aquella de donde salieron, cierto tenían tiempo para volverse;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hebrew 11:15
Verse 15. If they had been mindful of that country] They considered their right to the promises of God as dependent on their utter renunciation of Chaldea; and it was this that induced Abraham to cause his steward Eliezer to swear that he would not carry his son Isaac to Chaldea; see Gen. xxiv. 5-8. There idolatry reigned; and God had called them to be the patriarchs and progenitors of a people among whom the knowledge of the true God, and the worship required by him, should be established and preserved.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 15. And truly if they had been mindful of that country , etc..] Chaldea, which was Abraham's country: from whence they came out ; as Abraham and Sarah did, in person, and their posterity in them: they might have had opportunity to have returned : for the way from Canaan or Egypt, where they sojourned, was short and easy: and though Abraham sent his servant thither to take a wife for his son Isaac, yet he would not go thither himself, nor suffer his son; nay, made his servant swear that he would not bring him thither, if even the woman should refuse to come; so unmindful was he of that country; so little did he regard it; yea, so much did he despise it: so when men are called by grace, and converted, they come out of a country, this world, which is a land of sin and iniquity, of great folly and ignorance, of darkness, and of the shadow of death; a desert, a mere wilderness; a country where Satan reigns, full of wicked and ungodly men; and which is the land of their nativity, as to their first birth: and they may be said to come out of it, not in a natural and civil sense, but in a spiritual one; and it is the character of a converted man, or one that is come out of the world, and is separated from it, to be unmindful of it; not so as not to consider from whence he came out, as owing to rich grace; nor so as not to lament the iniquities of it; nor so as not to pray for the conversion of the inhabitants of it; but he is unmindful of it, so as to be desirous of the company of the men of it, or to have the affections set upon it, and the heart tickled with the pleasures of it, or so as to desire to return to it, for which there is a great deal of reason: for this country is not worth minding; and there is much in it to set a gracious mind against it; a good man has better things to mind; and it is below, and unworthy of a Christian, to mind the world; and besides, worldly mindedness is attended with bad consequences. Moreover, though the saints have opportunities of returning, yet they do not; they are near it, and the country they are seeking is afar off: many things in it are alluring and ensnaring; a corrupt and deceitful heart often lingers after them, and Satan is not wanting to tempt unto, and by them. And yet they do not return; some that bear the name of Christians, but are not truly such, may wholly return, and never come back more; and true believers may strangely go back again in some instances; but they shall not return finally and totally: for they are held and drawn with the cords of love; they are in the hands of Christ, and are secured in the covenant of grace; they are returned to Christ, in the effectual calling, who will keep them; they are of the household of God, and shall be no more foreigners; should they return in such sense, they would be condemned with the world, which cannot be.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 8-19 - We are often called to leave worldly connexions, interests, an comforts. If heirs of Abraham's faith, we shall obey and go forth though not knowing what may befall us; and we shall be found in the way of duty, looking for the performance of God's promises. The trial of Abraham's faith was, that he simply and fully obeyed the call of God Sarah received the promise as the promise of God; being convinced of that, she truly judged that he both could and would perform it. Many who have a part in the promises, do not soon receive the thing promised. Faith can lay hold of blessings at a great distance; can make them present; can love them and rejoice in them, though strangers; a saints, whose home is heaven; as pilgrims, travelling toward their home. By faith, they overcome the terrors of death, and bid a cheerfu farewell to this world, and to all the comforts and crosses of it. An those once truly and savingly called out of a sinful state, have n mind to return into it. All true believers desire the heavenl inheritance; and the stronger faith is, the more fervent those desire will be. Notwithstanding their meanness by nature, their vileness be sin, and the poverty of their outward condition, God is not ashamed to be called the God of all true believers; such is his mercy, such is his love to them. Let them never be ashamed of being called his people, no of any of those who are truly so, how much soever despised in the world. Above all, let them take care that they are not a shame an reproach to their God. The greatest trial and act of faith upon recor is, Abraham's offering up Isaac, Ge 22:2. There, every word shows trial. It is our duty to reason down our doubts and fears, by looking as Abraham did, to the Almighty power of God. The best way to enjoy ou comforts is, to give them up to God; he will then again give them a shall be the best for us. Let us look how far our faith has caused the like obedience, when we have been called to lesser acts of self-denial or to make smaller sacrifices to our duty. Have we given up what wa called for, fully believing that the Lord would make up all our losses and even bless us by the most afflicting dispensations?
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 ει 1487 μεν 3303 εκεινης 1565 εμνημονευον 3421 5707 αφ 575 ης 3739 εξηλθον 1831 5627 ειχον 2192 5707 αν 302 καιρον 2540 ανακαμψαι 344 5658
Vincent's NT Word Studies
15. If they had been mindful (ei emnhmoneuon). In N.T. habitually remember. So invariably in LXX. The meaning here is, that if, in their declaration (ver. 14) that they were seeking a country, they had called to mind the country from which they came out, they could have returned thither, so that it is evident that they did not mean that country. 231 To have returned (anakamyai). Rend. "to return." Lit. bend their way back again (ana).
