1. Hebrews 11:19 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does it mean that Abraham received his son back from the dead “figuratively”?

Hebrews 11:19 (ESV)

19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

The Greek word parabole means comparison, illustration, or figure. “Isaac functions, then, as “an illustration or type or figure of the resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Abraham, so to speak, received Isaac back from the dead, but that event anticipated another Son and another Father.1