The second motive that is revealed is that Noah was "moved with fear". The English

word "fear" has to stand for (1) phobos, a "fear that flees", from phebomai to flee; for

(2) deilos, a "fear that shrinks"; and for (3) eulabeia, a "fear that worships". This last

is the word used of Noah in Heb. 11: 7. He certainly did not have the fear that flees, nor

the fear that "draws back unto perdition", but the fear that reverently acquiesces in the

will of God.  We find the word, or its cognates, translated "devout" in Luke 2: 25;

Acts 2: 5 and 8: 2. The true translation of Heb. 5: 7 is "He was heard for His piety"

(or godly fear), and so it is translated in Heb. 12: 28, adding one more link to the record

of Noah that we have already seen exists. Phobos and eulabeia are definitely contrasted

in Heb. 11:, so that we need make no mistake. Moses was NOT moved with phobos

(Heb. 11: 23-27); Noah WAS moved with eulabeia (Heb. 11: 7), and both acted "by

faith".

The apostle makes no reference to "the sons of God", "the daughters of men" or "the

giants" of Gen. 6:, not because the subject was unimportant, but because, out of a

wealth of material (like John 20: 30, 31), he selected his examples with a specific object:

to help these Hebrews "to leave . . . . . and go on".

We have already seen that the chapter of UNBELIEF (Heb. 3:), is in structural

correspondence with the chapter of FAITH (Heb. 11:), but it may not be fully realized

how many items in these two chapters link them together. For instance where Heb. 11:

says "Faith is the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for" (Heb. 11: 1), Heb. 3: says "For we

are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our CONFIDENCE stedfast

unto the end" (Heb. 3: 14); in each case "substance" and "confidence" translate the one

Greek word hupostasis.  In Heb. 3: 6 this truth is expressed by using a synonymous

This brings into prominence the figure of a house. Noah is said to have saved his

"house", and Gen. 7: opens with the words "Come thou and all thy house". The nation

of Israel is repeatedly spoken of as "the house of Israel", in a sense that is unique, for no

such term is applied to any company of redeemed Gentiles. It is with the "house of

Israel" that the Lord will make the New Covenant (Heb. 8: 10), and Paul has a

particular reason to stress the saving of the "house" in Heb. 11:, because he has used a

special word in both Heb. 3: and 11: to enforce his teaching. That word is the Greek

kataskeuazo, prepare.