Bible Greek Word Nerd - Hope #5

Hope #5 - someone is speaking Greek

July 5, 2022

In the previous few posts, we have looked at the concept of “hope” in the Scriptures. Because we tip that way, we have focused on the Hebrew Bible and the four Hebrew words translated as “hope” in English: QAVAH (קָוָה), YACHAL (יָחַל), SABAR (שָׂבַר), and NABAT (נָבַט). Today we take a walk on the wild side into the Greek words that give us “hope” in the New Testament.

 

Generally, the Greek offers two verbs that translators take to mean hope: ELPIZÓ (ἐλπίζω) and HUPOMENÓ (ὑπομένω). ELPIZÓ is the more common of the two, so we will discuss it first.

 

ELIPIZÓ occurs 31 times in the New Testament. 

 

Matthew 12:21 says, “In his name the nations will put their HOPE.” Paul says to King Agrippa in Acts 26:, “This is the promise our twelve tribes ARE HOPING to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this HOPE that these Jews are accusing me.” St. Paul in the famous “love” chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 writes that love “always protects, always trusts, always HOPES, always perseveres.” A final example, also from Paul, in 1 Timothy 4:10: “That is why we labour and strive, because we have put our HOPE in the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, and especially of those who believe.”

 

 

 

In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures read by many diaspora Jews and by the Fathers of the early Church, ELPIZO makes frequent appearances in the Text.

At the conclusion of Genesis 4, the Text tells us that to Seth was born Enosh, who HOPED in the Lord G-d and began to call on His Name (ούτος ήλπισεν επικαλείσθαι το όνομα κυρίου του θεού). In 2 Kings 18, the Greek of the Septuagint announces that Hezekiah HOPED in the G-d of Israel (εν κυρίω θεώ Ισραήλ ήλπισε), in contrast to Israel’s kings and his own predecessors. In Job 17:15, despairs of finding hope (ωχετό μου η ελπίς ώσπερ πνεύμα και ώσπερ νέφος η σωτηρία μου). In Psalm 55 (which is Psalm 56 in the Hebrew text), David asserts that he will HOPE in the LORD (εγώ δε κύριε ελπιώ επί σε). And finally, Micah warns us not to HOPE in leaders (μη ελπίζετε επί ηγουμένοις), which is less an indictment of leaders than it is a reminder of where one should place one’s hope.

 

ELPIZÓ gives us the Greek noun ELPIS (ἐλπίς), which is variously translated as hope, expectation, trust, and confidence. It occurs 53 times in the New Testament, including in the previously mentioned “love chapter” of 1 Corinthians 13: “And now these three remain: faith, HOPE, and love.” We will end this post with words from Paul, who when speaking with Jewish leaders in Rome, he said, “It is because of the HOPE of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

 

The Hope of Israel… τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ

 

Next, we will take up the other Greek word used for “hope”…