Words of Hope

A Word Study on the Biblical Word "Hope"

Study #34 - A Secure Hope



Our next Hebrew synonym for "hope" is the word "batah" and its derivatives (Strong's #s 982 - 987; Theological Wordbook #233).  The etymology of this word is not well established.  Strong states that it properly means "to hie (hasten) for refuge" but "not so precipitately" (abruptly, suddenly, violently) as "hasa" (which happens to be next in our Hebrew word studies).  While there is a clear connection between "hasa" and taking refuge in a shelter (as we will see in future posts), there is no place that I could find in the Scriptures where "batah" is literally associated with this idea.  The Theological Wordbook states that "There is no clear cognate in the other Semitic languages", but cites one scholar who connects it with the Arabic word meaning "to be stretched out, taut" which would suggest the idea of "firmness" or "solidity".  This would be in keeping with some of the previous words for "hope" we have studied that are based on the root idea of "strength" that inspires "confidence".  Gesenius in his Lexicon has another take on this word and its root meaning.  He connects it with an Arabic word meaning "to throw one down on his back" and proposes that the root meaning of "batah" may  perhaps be "to throw oneself or one's cares on any one" and therefore "to confide in any one, to set one's hope and confidence upon any one".  Whatever its etymology, whether that of taking refuge, trusting in strength, or casting one's self down,  it is clear that this word is used of a feeling of security and therefore of confident trust.  The Theological Wordbook concludes that "in Hebrew, batah expresses that sense of well-being and security whic'h results from having something or someone in whom to place confidence" (emphasis mine).  It is important to recognize that this word "batah" is one of the main words used in the Old Testament to convey the idea of trust.  In fact, while it is only translated with the word "hope" five times in the King James Version of the Bible, it is translated as "trust" around a hundred times!  Other times it is rendered by such words as "safe" or "safely" (28x), "confidence" (10x), "secure" (8x), "bold" (2x), "sure" (1x), and "assurance" (1x).  It can even have a negative connotation of being "careless" (8x) whenever a person's "secure feeling" is based on the wrong things! (More about this later).  It is instructive to note that despite this strong association with "trusting" or "relying upon" in the Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek Version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, consistently translates "batah" with the Greek word for "hope" (elpis, elpizo) but never with the word for "believe" (pisteuo).  The Theological Wordbook concludes from this observation that "This would seem to indicate that batah does not connote that full-orbed intellectual and volitional response to revelation which is involved in 'faith,' rather stressing the feeling of being safe or secure.  Likewise, all the derivatives have the same meaning 'to feel secure', 'be unconcerned'." (Emphasis mine).  One of the most endearing pictures of this feeling of safety and security is found in the use of this word in Psalm 22:9 - "But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts."  Is there any greater mental picture of a feeling of safety and security than that of a nursing infant in its mother's loving arms?  Does such a child have any cares at all?  Any anxiety at all?  Any worries or fears?  No, not one!  There may not be any intellectual or volitional action taking place in the mind or heart of this child, but there is certainly a feeling of contentment and well-being!  What a picture of the believer's hope in God.  No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ said that we must become as little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and that one who will humble himself as a little child is greatest in God's Kingdom (Matthew 18:1-4).  I have learned more about trust from young children, especially Christian children, than from most preachers I have known.  There is something so simple, yet so profound in the faith of young children that escapes and confounds most adults.  We need to be more child-like and yet not become childish in our relationship with God.  We could learn a lot about true hope just from studying this one passage in Psalm 22.  We must remember that this Psalm is primarily Messianic in its interpretation.  It is a prophetic picture of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the Cross.  In the midst of that suffering and in response to the taunts of the jeering crowd our Lord spoke of his batah hope in God: The Son's feeling of safety and security in the Father that existed in His humanity as the God-Man.  There was never a time in the humanity of Christ that that hope did not exist!  He was apparently conscious of that hope from the very moment of his birth! While the crowd mocked Him and shouted "let Him trust in the LORD to deliver Him now", the Lord replied to His Father, "I always have" - "I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou  art my God from my mother's belly" (Psalm 22:8-10).  His sense of hope was as secure then as it had been when He was in the arms of His earthly mother Mary. As always, Christ is our Example as well as our Source of true hope.  Fanny Crosby captured the thought well:

"Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast,

There, by His love o'er-shaded, Sweetly my soul shall rest."