What is the other side of the coin in Hebrews 11:35?
In Hebrews 11:35, the other side of the coin is that faithful believers were tortured and did not accept deliverance. They could have escaped by renouncing their faith, but they refused. The verse also mentions women receiving their dead raised to life again, showing both deliverance and suffering among God's choicest believers.
Les explains that Hebrews 11:34 describes God's choicest believers who quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Then verse 35 shows the other side of the coin: women received their dead raised to life again, while others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. They were being tested and could have escaped by simply renouncing their faith, but they did not. Les references Fox's Book of Martyrs, noting that believers in the early church went through horrible persecutions yet never flinched, going to their death singing hymns just like Paul and Silas in Philippi.
Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: