A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"
Study #44 - Faith and Hope
As we continue in our study of Biblical "hope" as expressed in the Scriptures, we find that the word "hope" is often linked with the word "faith" in the New Testament. This is not very surprising since we found a strong link between "hope" and "trust" even in the Old Testament, especially in the translation of the Hebrew words "batah" and "hasa". While "batah" is translated as "trust" around 100 times in the Old Testament and "hasa" around 30 times, both of these words are often translated by the Greek word "hope" (elpizo) in the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint. In a similar way the Greek verb "elpizo" is translated with some form of the word "trust" nearly 20 times in the King James Version of the English Bible and the noun "elpis" is translated by the word "faith" only once in Hebrews 10:23: "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith (elpis) without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)", the context having just spoken of drawing near "with a true heart in full assurance of faith" (vs.22). And so there is a strong connection between the concepts of "hope" and "faith" or "trust" throughout the Bible. And yet as we enter into the New Testament we are made aware of a distinct difference between these two words. It is striking to find out that in the four Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John combined we find the Greek word for "hope" only five times, three of which are translated as "trust" in the KJV: 1) Matthew 12:21 - the Messianic prophecy of the Gentiles placing their hope in the Christ; 2) Luke 6:34,35 - the Lord's instructions concerning lending without hoping to receive anything in return; 3) Luke 23:8 - the curious hope of Herod who wanted to see Christ perform some miracle; 4) Luke 24:21 - the dashed hope of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus; and 5) John 5:45 - the misplaced hope of the Jews which they had centered in Moses. Of these five occurrences only the Messianic hope of the Gentiles and the expectant hope of the two Emmaus Disciples may be classified with a true Biblical hope that is associated with trusting faith. We will take a look at this Messianic hope in a future post, but this is a key to understanding the shift of emphasis in the Gospels away from hope and toward saving faith: The Messiah that was hoped for had now come! Now the time to believe and trust in the One who was the Desire of Nations had come! Once that faith in the Promised One was established in the Gospels, we once again find hope and saving faith closely united in the Epistles:
Romans 4:18-20 - "Who against hope believed in hope, that he (Abraham) might become the father of many nations ... And being not weak in faith ... He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God."
Romans 8:24 - "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?" (We may also include here I Thes.5:8 and Titus 1:2; 3:7 as well).
I Corinthians 13:13 - "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
I Peter 1:21 - "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."
We will continue to look at this close connection between faith and hope next time and will spend some time commenting on these passages and others like them. But for now we will close with the observations on faith and hope made by Griffith Thomas:
"Faith looks backward and upward, hope looks onward;
Faith accepts, but hope expects;
Faith is concerned with Him who promises, but hope is occupied
with the good things promised;
Faith appropriates, but hope anticipates."
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