Greek word study on Hope: Additional section from previous post, TDNTA

elpís [hope], elpízō [to hope], apelpízō [to despair], proelpízō [to be the first to hope] elpís, elpízō. A. The Greek Concept of Hope. 1. Plato says that human existence is determined not merely by acceptance of the present and recollection of the past, but also by expectation of the future, either good or bad. Hopes are subjective projections of the future. Good elpídes are hope in our sense, though later elpís is often used for this. Hope for the Greeks is a comfort in distress, but it is also deceptive and uncertain except in the case of the wise who base it on scientific investigation. 2. For Plato, what is at work in hope is the impulse toward the beautiful and the good. Hopes extend beyond the present life, so that one need not fear death. The p 230 mysteries play on hope with their promise of a life of bliss after death, and hope may be grouped with faith, truth, and eros as one of the elements in an authentic life. 3. Earthly hopes are also important. Zeus gives hope, and Augustus is lauded for fulfilling old hopes and kindling new ones. Stoicism, however, has no interest in hope. Thus Epictetus uses the group only in the sense of expectation, and hope is shunned as no more than subjective projection of the future. B. The OT View of Hope. 1. Normally the LXX uses elpízein and elpís for bāṭaḥ, but also for such terms as yāḥal, qāwâ, and tiqwâ (for full details see TDNT, II, 521–22). 2. In this usage there is no neutral expectation. Hope is expectation of good. It is linked with trust and yearning, and differentiated from fear. So long as there is life there is hope (Eccl. 9:4). It is not a dream that offers comfort but may also be illusory. The life of the righteous is grounded in a hope that implies a future because its point of reference is God. To hope is to trust. It is demanded even in good times. It is not our own projection but confidence in what God will do. God is our hope (Jer. 17:7). It has nothing to do with the calculation that may give a false sense of security. We are not to trust in riches (Job 31:24) or righteousness (Ezek. 33:13) or religious inheritance (Jer. 7:4). God can scatter all our planning (Ps. 94:11; Is. 19:3). Politicians who build on calculable forces will be confounded (Is. 31:1). Hope looks to him whom none can control. It is thus freed from anxiety (Is. 7:4) but must be accompanied by fear of God (Is. 32:11). Hence it must be a quiet waiting on God (Is. 30:15); the fault of Job is that he will not wait (Job 6:11). If God helps in present distress, he will finally put an end to all distress (Is. 25:9 etc.). Hope, then, grasps the provisional nature of every earthly present and is increasingly hope in the eschatological future. [R. BULTMANN, II, 517–23] C. Hope in Rabbinic Judaism. 1. Linguistically elpís finds little equivalent in the rabbinic world but materially the concept is a common one, especially in the form of messianic hope. The form of this expectation explains the linguistic phenomenon. 2. Messianic Expectation. a. Positively this is expectation of the fulfilment of Jewish hopes and negatively it is expectation of judgment on the wicked. The promises belong to the people as a whole; individuals share in them only as members of the people. The basis is that the future belongs to God, but for participation in the promises there must be observance of the law as well as trust in God. The law reveals God’s will, but as a way of life, not a theoretical system. This will does not change with the future aeon. The difference is that the Messiah, who keeps and teaches the law, will extend it to the Gentiles. But the messianic age will come only when Israel itself keeps the law. b. The future then, while resting in God’s hands, depends on his people’s relationship to him. The messianic fulfilment may be hastened or delayed by human action, and an element of uncertainty thus attaches to it, or at least to the time of its coming. Only a strict devotion to keeping the law can dispel this uncertainty, as one may see from the example of Aqiba. c. The resultant attitude, however, differs from what is really meant by hope, for a calculated attempt is made here to guarantee the expectation; the divine sovereignty, which is the basis of true hope, is to that extent abrogated. d. The emphasis on personal achievement which the demand for legal observance entails also brings with it uncertainty as to personal salvation. 3. The Problem of Assurance of Salvation. a. Individual expectation accompanies the people’s expectation, but since this expectation includes the separation of the p 231 righteous and the wicked, doubt remains as to whether one will qualify for eternal felicity, as the pessimism of some rabbis in face of judgment bears witness. Moses accuses those who do not keep the law (Jn. 5:44). b. Attempts are made to overcome the lack of assurance by pointing to prayer, or noting the manner of death, or developing a theology of suffering whereby the suffering of the righteous pays in this life for the guilt that would otherwise have to be paid for after death. These measures fail to produce true hope, however, for they focus on the self instead of referring to the divine grace and gift which alone can give a true and certain hope. [K. H. RENGSTORF, II, 523–29] D. The Hope of Hellenistic Judaism. 1. Hope is part of life and is cut off only by death. We hope for healing when sick, or for reunion when separated. The hope of the wicked is vain. So is the hope fixed in military might. The righteous hope in God, and fearing him need fear nothing else. What is hoped for is his protection, or some special blessing, or help even in death. Eschatologically the restoration of Israel is the theme of hope. See especially Sirach, Wisdom, and 1, 2, and 4 Maccabees for these aspects of hope. 2. Greek psychology influences Philo. Hope for him is neutral expectation, though usually of the good. It is the counterpart of recollection. It offers comfort in distress, but as our own projection of the future. Yet for Philo hope reaches beyond human projection to the perfection of true humanity. In this regard it must be directed to God and his forgiveness and salvation, thus taking on an aspect of trust. E. The Early Christian Concept of Hope. 1. The NT concept of hope is essentially governed by the OT. Only when the sphere is secular does the group denote (good) expectation; cf. “counting upon” in Lk. 6:34; 1 Cor. 9:10, etc., or with more of an accent on “hoping” Lk. 23:8; 24:21; Acts 24:26; Rom. 15:24; 1 Cor. 16:7. The OT element of trust is strong when the relation is to persons, as in 2 Cor. 1:3; 5:11; 13:6. Trust in persons is the point in 1 Cor. 13:7, though it rests on trust in God (v. 13). 2. When fixed on God, hope embraces expectation, trust, and patient waiting. It is linked to faith, as in Heb. 11:1, which stresses the certainty of what is divinely given. Rom. 8:24–25 makes not only the formal point that we do not hope for what is visibly present but also the material one that what is visibly present offers no basis for hope since it belongs to the sphere of the sárx. Hence we have to wait patiently, in hope believing against hope, i.e., unable to count on controllable factors and hence thrown back on God (Rom. 4:18). Patient endurance is the main point in Rom. 5:4; 1 Th. 1:3; Heb. 6:11, but sure confidence is meant in 1 Cor. 15:19; 2 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 1:20; Heb. 3:6; 1 Pet. 1:21. The main difference from the OT is that the act of salvation has now been accomplished in Christ, so that hope itself is an eschatological blessing, and there is every reason for confidence such as Paul has in the Corinthians (2 Cor. 1: 12ff.). Hope rests on faith in the act of salvation (Rom. 8:24–25) and is sustained by the Spirit (vv. 26–27). It is an integral part of the Christian life (Rom. 15:13; 12:12). As such it goes closely with faith and love (1 Th. 1:3; 1 Cor. 13:13). It endures even when we attain to sight, for its focus is not on what is to be given but on the God who gives it and will maintain it when it is given. Endurance may be stressed in this life (Rom. 5:2, 4–5), but our waiting is confident, for we are saved by hope (Rom. 8:24). 3. elpís occurs only rarely in John (cf. Jn. 5:45; 1 Jn. 3:3), but is embraced here by pístis, or by endurance in Revelation. The element of waiting for the eschatological p 232 future is prominent in Col. 1:5; 1 Tim. 4:10; Acts 23:6 (the resurrection), but hope is itself an eschatological blessing in Mt. 12:21; 1 Pet. 1:3, and cf. Christ as our hope in Col. 1:27 and hope as a gift in 2 Th. 2:16. No pictures of the future are given (except in Revelation), so that trust in God’s act is always a constitutive element in the Christian’s hopeful expectation. apelpízō. This later word means “not to believe or hope,” e.g., that an illness will be cured. In the LXX it can mean “to give up hope.” In the NT it occurs in some versions of Eph. 4:19 in depiction of the heathen. There is a singular use in Lk. 6:35, where it means “without expecting to receive again, or to receive any return.” The normal meaning would be “without despairing,” i.e., “hoping for a heavenly return,” but this does not fit the context. proelpízō. This word means “to hope before or first.” In Eph. 1:12 the sense depends on the reference of the “we.” If the “we” are Jewish Christians, the point is that they hoped before the Gentiles, or prior to Christ’s coming. If the “we” are all Christians, the before refers to the present in relation to the consummation. [R. BULTMANN, II, 529–35] LXX Septuagint LXX Septuagint Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, and Geoffrey William Bromiley, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1985), 229–232.

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