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ἐλπίζω, ἐλπίς
elpizō, to hope; elpis, hope
elpizō, S 1679; TDNT 2.517–533; EDNT 1.437–441; NIDNTT 2.238–246; MM 204; L&N 25.59, 30.54; BDF §§14, 74(1), 187(6), 233(2), 235(2), 337(2), 338(3), 341, 350, 397(2); BAGD 252 | elpis, S 1680; TDNT 2.517–533; EDNT 1.437–441; NIDNTT 2.238–246; MM 204–205; L&N 25.59, 25.61, 25.62; BDF §§14, 235(2), 400(1); BAGD 252–253; ND 2.77
We note that the noun elpis is absent from the four Gospels and thus that the Lord did not use the word hope.1 The verb elpizō is used only twice in its secular sense (“If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive …” [Luke 6:34; cf. elpizōn … apodōsei, L. Robert, Gladiateurs, n. 55]; “Herod hoped to see Jesus perform some miracle” [Luke 23:8]) and three times in its religious sense,2 all in accord with the OT meaning.3 The more the V 1, p 481 proclamation of the gospel of salvation advanced in Asia Minor and in Europe, the more the apostles, especially St. Paul, came in contact with pagans, whom they defined as “those who have no hope.”4 These pagans are amazed by the unique elpis (Eph 4:4; Heb 3:6; cf. P.Brem. 1, 1: mia ēn elpis kai loipē prosdokia; UPZ 42, 39; C.P.Herm. 116; Josephus, War 5.64; 6.160) that animates all the members of the new religion.5 They cry for help (Acts 16:9—boēthēson hēmin), so that the preaching of the faith is oriented more and more toward a preaching of hope (cf. Heb 11:1), and the confession of faith becomes a homologia tēs elpidos aklinē (“unwavering confession of hope,” Heb 10:23).
V 1, p 482 I.—Secular objects of hope.—If hope is defined as “expectation of something good,”6 then there are many good things (Sir 2:9): returning to one’s country (Jer 44:14; Philo, Spec. Laws 4.17; Polybius 3.63.7), freedom (Isa 25:9; cf. Jdt 6:9; Ps 112:7), receiving a teaching (Isa 42:4; cf. Philo, Change of Names 8), help (2 Macc 3:29), a wage (Wis 2:22, misthon), money,7 a harvest (Philo, Virtues 159; Rewards 129; 1 Cor 9:10); escaping an illness (2 Macc 3:29; Philo, Sacr. Abel and Cain 123; Josephus, War 1.657; Ant. 17.172), a shipwreck (Acts 27:20), a disaster (Job 2:9); what in Greek is called salvation (Philo, Flacc. 11; To Gaius 151, 329; 4 Macc 11:7). Philo specifies that people hope for useful goods, like wealth, health, reputation (Alleg. Interp. 3.86; Decalogue 91; To Gaius 11), pleasures (Dreams 2.209), favors and compliments (Abraham 128; To Gaius 137), a calm and tranquil life (Moses 1.214), a contemplative life (Migr. Abr. 70), wellbeing (Joseph 162), freedom (Alleg. Interp. 3.194; Moses 1.171, 193; Virtues 123), fatherhood (Alleg. Interp. 3.85; Spec. Laws 1.138; 4.203; Decalogue 126; Virtues 207), motherhood (Spec. Laws 3.62), marriage (Husbandry 158; Prelim. Stud. 5; Aristaenetus 1.21.14: elpizomenos estin ho gamos hēdys), victory (Spec. Laws 4.28; Good Man Free 111; To Gaius 356; Husbandry 162; Joseph 138), booty (Cherub. 75), happiness (Flight 145; Abraham 7; To Gaius 82), perfection (Heir 311; Decalogue 113). St. Paul and St. John express several times their desire to visit a community, to prolong a visit, to be free to meet a disciple.8 This meaning is in conformity with common usage as expressed in the papyri: “Tell Longinus that I hope to meet him again.”9 The desire is expressed that a certain order will be carried out (P.Ant. 188, 10), that a guilty person will be imprisoned (SB 9616, 28), that a certain person will make an effort V 1, p 483 (P.Brem. 5, 8: dōsein ergasian; a Latinism, cf. Luke 12:58), that someone will carry out our business (P.Oxy. 3147, 8, hoti poiei to pragma hēmōn), that a field will be sown (P.Ryl. 243, 8), that certain things will be pleasing (PSI 1242, 3: auta hēdista; first century; cf. SB 9528). Someone counts on receiving money (P.Mich. 480, 15; Pap.Lugd.Bat. XI, 28, 10; P.Oslo 50, 7; P.Laur. 39, 8) or help.10 Soldiers hope for promotion.11 In the midst of trials, the danger is that one will lose all hope.12 Is a happy life not sustained by hope?13 In contracts for divorce by mutual consent, the spouses recognize that they were united in a legal marriage and in a common life “for the procreation of children, according to the human custom, with good hopes” (epi chrēstais elpisin, C.P.Herm. 29, 10 = SB 9278; C.Pap.Jud. 513). In all these texts, we can conclude on the one hand that human hope is the expectation—uncertain, confident, or anguished—of a desired good; it glimpses as possible or probable the realization of that which it counts on. On the other hand, the birthright of every human being, man or woman, but above all of the poor and unfortunate, is to retain hope. “Thales, when asked what the commonest thing was, answered, ‘Hope—for even those who have nothing else still have this.’ ”14
V 1, p 484 Otherwise, in biblical as in secular Greek, elpizō (en) means to hope in someone, to place one’s confidence in people or in earthly realities: the people of Shechem put their hope in Gaal (Judg 9:26; cf. 20:36), Hezekiah put his in Egypt and his horsemen (2 Kgs 18:24), the Assyrians put theirs in their shields and spears;15 Israel in Bethel (Jer 48:13) and Egypt (Ezek 29:16); but Jer 17:5 curses the person who trusts in a human (Philo, Flacc. 22). This same meaning, “placing one’s confidence,” is found in the papyri: “For we would not have expected him to perish (future infinitive of diapiptō) in so short a time” (ou gar an ēlpisamen en houtō brachei chronō diapesein auton, SB 6787, 39; third century BC); “but I hope that I shall be saved through your prayers” (elpizō de diasōthēsesthai me dia tōn euchōn sou, ibid. 7872, col. II, 10; C.P.Herm. 5, 11). It is attested especially in Jewish and Christian tomb inscriptions: “I expect a good hope of mercy”;16 but then the verb has a religious meaning.
II.—Religious objects of hope.—Pagans placed their confidence in God to obtain earthly goods.17 In the first century AD, according to Orphic and mystery traditions,18 souls aspire to immortality, to a blessed survival after death, and it was thought that Dionysus would protect his faithful ones after death. But this hope was never named as such, and it is only V 1, p 485 Plutarch who states that the initiates into the mysteries undergo “a sudden thrill mixed with hope” (met’ elpidos idias echousi, De fac. 28; 943 c), when they are in the act of clinging to the moon.
A veritable semantic revolution is effected by the LXX, which gives elpis and elpizō a strictly religious meaning. Hope, which is always directed toward God, is no longer any expectation whatsoever, but a sure and certain confidence in Yahweh. It is not only the virtue of certain individuals19 but also the faith, piety, and spirituality of Israel, as these are expressed by the psalmists and the sages: “The hope of the righteous is full of immortality” (Wis 3:4). “The hope of those who fear God is placed in the one who saves them.”20 No object is given to elpis. It is only a matter of finding one’s refuge in Yahweh21 and having full and complete confidence in him.22 The twelve prophets have throughout history strengthened the chosen people “by certitude and constancy of hope” (en pistei elpidos, Sir 49:10). Just as pagans denounce the vain and deceptive hope that animates humans without God—for destiny laughs at hopes (Josephus, War 1.233)—so does Israel affirm the blessedness of elpis based on the true God: “Happy is the one whose hope is in Yahweh, his God” (Ps 146:5; cf. Sir 14:2); “Yahweh of Hosts, blessed is the person who hopes in you” (Ps 84:12). “Blessed is the person who trusts in Yahweh; the Lord is his hope” (Jer 17:7); “The hope of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.”23
V 1, p 486 St. Paul—who would be imprisoned “because of the hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20)—is the faithful heir of this language, this lexicon, and this faith: “God, in whom we have placed our hope (eis hon ēlpikamen) … will deliver us, with you helping us through prayer.”24 “It is for this reason that we toil and strive, that we have placed our hope in the living God (ēlpikamen epi theō zōnti), who is the Savior of all people, especially of believers” (1 Tim 4:10). The verb in the perfect emphasizes that the hope is immutable and is the source of all the efforts, like that of the widow who “has placed her hope in God” (ēlpiken epi theon, 1 Tim 5:5) and whose prayer is almost constant, because God is her only help.25 This is the example given by the holy women of Israel who “placed their hope in God” (gynaikes hai elpizousai eis theon, 1 Pet 3:5). This is still the traditional contrast: expecting the pleasures that this world can offer or expecting from God alone the regard and recompense of virtuous conduct.
The object of this hope is rarely specified and never defined. 2 Thess 2:16 is content to say that Christ and God our Father have given us “a good hope graciously” (elpida agathēn en chariti),26 but Heb 7:19 states that the V 1, p 487 new covenant introduced “a better hope (kreittonos elpidos) whereby we draw near to God”; not only is the certitude complete, but the things hoped for are far superior.27 We may distinguish hope in the realization of the promises of the Messiah and his kingdom,28 the fervent expectation of salvation,29 eternal life,30 glory, (Rom 5:2; 8:21; Eph 1:18; Col 1:27), resurrection,31 the appearing-epiphany of Christ32 and of all the good V 1, p 488 things implied in the concept of the heavenly inheritance (Rom 8:17; 1 Cor 15:50; Eph 1:18; Titus 3:7) or kingdom (2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 4:18), notably the vision of God (1 Cor 13:12; 1 John 3:2), which is presently impossible (2 Cor 4:18). The specific character of the Christian elpis is to expect not only a future good but “what we do not see” (ou blepomen elpizomen, Rom 8:25; cf. 2 Cor 4:18).
Whatever the diversity of these objects of hope, they are all summed up in Christ “our hope” (elpis hēmōn, 1 Tim 1:1), not only because his disciples await the coming (1 Thess 1:10; Phil 3:8–13, 20; 1 Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 4:8) of the victorious one (Rev 2:21; 5:5; 6:2; 17:14), who will lead to glory the multitude of the children of God (Heb 2:10; 10:22; 12:22–24; “to be with him,” Phil 1:22–23), but especially because it is through him alone—and no longer through Moses (John 5:45)—that they may obtain the future glory (Col 1:27). They are “those who have placed their hope in Christ” (1 Cor 15:19; cf. Rom 5:1) or in the grace that he has brought (1 Pet 1:13). He is the “pioneer of salvation” (archēgos tēs sōtērias, Heb 2:10). Their religious life is summed up in the person of the one who is the “living hope” (Heb 10:23).33
V 1, p 489 So NT hope is not only a personal feeling (peri tēs en hymin elpidos, 1 Pet 3:15), nor even the thing awaited (1 Thess 2:19; Eph 2:12), but the whole economy of the new covenant, the dispensation under which all believers live, the goal and the meaning of their calling (Eph 4:4), whose full actualization they await (Gal 5:5). They are exhorted to “hold fast to the hope set forth” (Heb 6:18), to “keep their confession of hope unshakable” (tēn homologian tēs elpidos, Heb 10:23), that is, their profession of faith.34
III.—Hope as a virtue.—A feeling of confidence, hope resides in the heart (Jdt 6:9; Ps 28:7); it is a virtue35 infused by “the God of hope” (Rom 15:13) or the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13; cf. 5:5)—the pledge of the world to come (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5)—and by means of the Scriptures (Rom 15:4). It is associated with faith and charity.36 Being confident of the future (chrēstas peri tōn mellontōn echein elpidas, Josephus, Ant. 6.275), it is a source of optimism: “charity hopes all things” (1 Cor 13:7), sure of the triumph of the good. This hope is always joyful,37 since it already possessed V 1, p 490 the pledge of the promised blessedness (Rom 14:17; Gal 5:22). It eliminates timidity and hesitation and gives the hopeful person “great boldness,”38 made up of assurance and pride, letting one keep the “head high” (cf. Lev 26:13) and remain unshakable before criticisms and even fearless before God’s judgment (1 John 2:28; 3:21; 4:17). This certitude and confidence which belong to “sharers in a heavenly calling” (Heb 3:1) are for them a kauchēma, a subject of pride and honor, a claim to glory, attributed again by Heb 3:6 to hope.39 But this essentially dynamic virtue demands the sanctification and purification of the Christian, because the end demands the use of means to attain it: “Whoever has such a hope in God purifies himself, as he himself is pure” (1 John 3:3). Only the pure, after all, will see God (Matt 5:8; Heb 12:14), and nothing impure will ever enter into the heavenly city (Rev 21:27; 22:11). So those whose entire hope is to draw near to God, and to see God, purify themselves from every evil (Acts 24:15–16; 2 Cor 5:9).
IV.—The certitude of the Christian hope.—Unlike human hope, whose props are often weak, whose goals are often bad,40 whose expectations are often disappointed,41 NT elpis is sure and certain first of all by virtue of its semantic origin in the LXX (Hebrew bāṭaḥ), where it means essentially having confidence, being assured. Then, by virtue of its object V 1, p 491 and its own nature, it is solid (bebaia, 2 Cor 1:7; Heb 6:19), indefectible (aklinēs, Heb 10:23); since it places its confidence in God it cannot be disappointed. What is more, it is sure because it is based on many statements in inspired Scripture.42 Finally, it is sure because St. Paul expressly states it and justifies it: “Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”43 Hope’s certitude is the certitude of God’s unchanging and efficacious love and of his infinite mercy, in which he has willed that none should perish and set in motion the whole economy of forgiveness and salvation.44 Now this divine agapē comes to indwell the souls of the faithful—justification is already present, actual—because the Holy Spirit has poured it out in them, so that it becomes their possession. They abide in God (1 John 2:5–6). So there is no break between earth and heaven (cf. the metaphor of the anchor, Heb 6:19). Divine love is like a spring that wells up to eternal life (John 4:14; 7:38).
Thus it is certain that hope placed in God will not be disappointed. The verb kataischynō, used almost eighty times in the LXX,45 expresses the idea of disappointment in a context of confidence (Luke 13:17). The wicked person who plots evil but cannot actualize his plans is embarrassed by his failure, but the faithful person who waits on God for salvation will not be confounded—a litotes—will not regret having entrusted his whole life to God. A “dis-grace” means being rejected by one’s Lord—this would be opprobrium, shame (cf. aischynomai; Phil 1:20); it would mean becoming the object of mocking by unbelievers who would laugh at the unfortunate, disappointed righteous person. It is as with the man who wanted to build a tower and had laid the foundation, but was unable to complete the project: “everyone ridiculed him” (Luke 14:29, empaizō). For a member of the new and eternal covenant in Jesus Christ, V 1, p 492 such an emptying out of hope is unthinkable (cf. Rom 8:32), since it is God himself who has given us this “good hope.”46
S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.
TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.
EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.
NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.
MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.
L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.
BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Trans. and rev. of the 9 th–10th German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner by R. W. Funk. Chicago, 1961.
BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.
S J. Strong. Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Reprint. Peabody, n.d.
TDNT G. Kittel and G. Friedrich, eds. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Trans. G. W. Bromiley. 10 vols. Grand Rapids, 1964–1976.
EDNT H. Balz and G. Schneider, eds. Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, 1990–1993.
NIDNTT Colin Brown, ed. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, 1986.
MM J. H. Moulton and G. Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources. 2 vols. London, 1914–30. Reprint. Grand Rapids, 1985.
L&N J. P. Louw and E. A. Nida, eds. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2 d ed. New York, 1989.
BDF F. Blass and A. Debrunner. A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Trans. and rev. of the 9 th–10th German edition incorporating supplementary notes of A. Debrunner by R. W. Funk. Chicago, 1961.
BAGD W. Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 2 d ed. Trans. W. F. Arndt and F. W. Gingrich. Revised and edited F. W. Danker. Chicago, 1979.
ND G. H. R. Horsley and Stephen Llewelyn, eds. New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity. North Ryde, N.S.W. 6 vols. 1981–.
1 That is to say that in working out a NT theology of hope we have to take other terms into account: ἀναμένω, ἀπεκδέχομαι, γρηγορέω, ἐκδέχομαι, ἐπέχω, προσδέχομαι, προσδοκάω, ὑπομονή, etc.; cf. ἀπελπίζω (Luke 6:35), προελπίζω (Eph 1:12). Cf. C. Spicq, Théologie morale, vol. 1, pp. 292–380; J. de Guibert, “Sur l’emploi d’ἐλπίς et ses synonymes dans le N.T.,” in RSR, 1913, pp. 565–569; A. Gelin, Les Idées maîtresses de l’Ancien Testament, Paris, 1949, pp. 27ff.; T. C. Vriezen, “Die Hoffnung im Alten Testament,” in TLZ, 1953, col. 577–586; J. van der Ploeg, “L’Espérance dans l’A.T.,” in RB, 1954, pp. 481–507; W. Grossouw, “L’Espérance dans le N.T.,” ibid., pp. 508–532; J. Guillet, Thèmes bibliques, Paris, 1954, pp. 160ff.; D. L. Fidele, La speranza cristiana nelle lettere de S. Paulo, Naples, 1960; C. F. D. Moule, The Meaning of Hope (Facet Books, 5), Philadelphia, 1963; H. Schlier, Essais sur le Nouveau Testament, Paris, 1968, pp. 159–170, 356ff.; K. Hanhart, “Paul’s Hope in the Face of Death,” in JBL, 1969, pp. 445–457; F. Raurell, La esperanze en la Biblia (XXX Semana Biblica Española), in Analecta sacra Tarraconensia, 1970, pp. 325–359; J. R. Flecha Andrés, Esperanza y moral en el Nuevo Testamento, Léon, 1975; H. Zimmermann, Das Bekenntnis der Hoffnung: Tradition und Redaktion im Hebräerbrief, Cologne, 1977; P. Grelot, L’Espérance juive à l’heure de Jésus, Paris, 1978.
2 Matt 12:21 (Rom 15:12), a quotation of Isa 42:4—“My servant … in his name the nations shall place their hope”; Luke 24:21—the disciples from Emmaus hoped that Jesus would deliver Israel; John 5:45—the Jews place their hope in Moses (the perfect form ἠλπίκατε has a parallel in P.Oslo 159, 18, ἤλπικα, in the third century).
3 Ἐλπίζω is construed with the accusative, the dative (Thucydides 3.97.2:“Demosthenes hoped in his fortune,” τῇ τύχῃ ἐλπίσας), or the infinitive; or with ὅτι and many prepositions: εἰς τινα, ἐν τινι, ἐπί τινα, ἐπί τι, ἐπί τινι. In the LXX, it translates the Hebrew words qāwâh, “await, hope” (cf. P. A. H. de Boer, “Etude sur le sense de la racine QWH,” in Oudtestamentlische Studiën, vol. 10, 1954, pp. 225–246); bātaḥ, “have confidence in, feel secure”; yāḥal, “wait for someone”; ḥākâh, “wait with confidence or certitude”; ḥāsâh, “entrust oneself to someone, find shelter (maḥaseh, refuge, shelter), have recourse to someone.” While in secular Greek ἐλπίς and ἐλπίζω especially mean wait for, count on, expect, suppose (notably in Josephus), hope for, in the LXX, the preponderant nuance is trust, have recourse to, place one’s hope in someone.
4 1 Thess 4:13; Eph 2:12. Certainly the Romans had a cult of Hope, for whom they had many temples (PW, vol. 3, A, 2, col. 1634ff.; K. Thylander, Inscriptions du port d’Ostie, Lund, 1952, n. B, 335, 32); they thought that the cult of Hope restored courage (Cicero, Nat. D. 2.23; Dio Cassius 2.23). At Rome, A. Atilius Calatinus had built a temple to Spes (Hope) on the Forum Holitorium during the First Punic War; later a temple to Spes Vetus was erected on the Esquiline (Cicero, Leg. 2.11.28); but Elpis does not have a place in the index of Stoic technical terms or in that of E. des Places’ La Religion grecque (Paris, 1969), since it is a passion and as such as little desirable as any other passion. According to the myth of Pandora, the jar from which escaped all the evils that spread among humankind was closed before Hope, which was still down inside it, could get out (Hesiod, Op. 42–105). Certainly some religious souls hoped in the gods’ help (Philemon: οἱ γὰρ θεὸν σέβοντες, ἐλπίδας καλὰς ἔχουσιν εἰς σωτηρίαν, in J. M. Edmonds, Attic Comedy, vol. 3 A, p. 82), but in the first century, sadness and discouragement are constant: “We can no longer bear either our vices or their cures” (Livy, preface). Archias of Mitylene thought that it was good to bewail the birth of sons, who would advance relentlessly among evils of all sorts, and that the dead were blessed in that they had left life and found in death the cure for all ills (Anth. Pal. 9.11; cf. P.Oxy. 115). It has been observed that in the sculpture of the first century, the eyes often express sadness, “a sort of desperate numbness” (J. P. Milliet, “Les Yeux hagards,” in Mélanges Nicole, Geneva, 1905, pp. 357–366). A common epitaph: “I was not, I came to be, I am no longer; it amounts to nothing” (MAMA, vol. 8, 353; cf. R. Lattimore, Epitaphs). Cf. A. J. Festugière, Idéal religieux, pp. 163–164; idem, Vie spirituelle, pp. 159ff. C. Spicq, Vie morale, pp. 10ff. = ET, Trinity, pp. 3 ff.; J. M. Aubert, “La Voix de l’espérance dans l’âme grecque antique,” in BAGB, 1961, pp.205–216.
P.Brem. Die Bremer Papyri. Ed. U. Wilcken. Berlin, 1936.
UPZ Urkunden der Ptolemaerzeit (altere Funde). Ed. U. Wilcken. 2 vols. Berlin-Leipzig, 1927–1957.
C.P.Herm. Corpus Papyrorum Hermopolitanorum. Ed. C. Wessely. Leipzig, 1905. (= Stud.Pal. V)
War The Jewish War
5 1 Pet 3:15. Cf. E. Cothenet, “Le Réalisme de l’espérance chrétienne selon IPierre,” in NTS 27, 1981, pp. 564–572.
6 Ps.-Plato, Def. 416: ἐλπίς· προσδοκία ἀγαθοῦ; cf. Xenophon, Cyr. 1.6.19.
Spec. Laws On the Special Laws (De Specialibus Legibus)
Change of Names On the Change of Names (Mut. nom.)
7 Acts 24:26—ἐλπίζων ὅτι χρήματα δοθήσεται αὐτῷ; Luke 6:34—ἐλπίζετε λαβεῖν; a profit (ἐργασία, Acts 16:19; cf. κέρδος, Josephus, War 2.587; 6.383; Ant. 18.7; Life 325). The poor person who has hope (Hebrew tiqwâh; Job 4:16; Pss. Sol. 5.13; 15.2; 18.3; Philo, Abraham 47: “The one who hopes is poor”) directs his desire to what is due him (Deut 24:15). The hope for a tree is that it will renew itself (Job 14:7; 19:10); the merchant’s hope is profit (Philo, Rewards 11).
Virtues On the Virtues (De Virtutibus)
Rewards On Rewards and Punishments (De Praemiis et Poenis)
Sacr. Abel and Cain On the Sacrifice of Abel and Cain (De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini)
War The Jewish War
Ant. Antiquities of the Jews
Flacc. Against Flaccus (In Flaccum)
To Gaius On the Embassy to Gaius (De Legatione ad Gaium)
Alleg. Interp. Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoriae)
Decalogue On the Decalogue (De Decalogo)
To Gaius On the Embassy to Gaius (De Legatione ad Gaium)
Dreams On Dreams (De Somniis)
Abraham On Abraham (De Abrahamo)
To Gaius On the Embassy to Gaius (De Legatione ad Gaium)
Moses On the Life of Moses (De Vita Mosis)
Migr. Abr. On the Migration of Abraham (De Migratione Abrahami)
Joseph On Joseph (De Iosepho)
Alleg. Interp. Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoriae)
Moses On the Life of Moses (De Vita Mosis)
Virtues On the Virtues (De Virtutibus)
Alleg. Interp. Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoriae)
Spec. Laws On the Special Laws (De Specialibus Legibus)
Decalogue On the Decalogue (De Decalogo)
Virtues On the Virtues (De Virtutibus)
Spec. Laws On the Special Laws (De Specialibus Legibus)
Husbandry On Husbandry (De Agricultura)
Prelim. Stud. On the Preliminary Studies (De Congressu Quaerendae Eruditionis Gratia)
Spec. Laws On the Special Laws (De Specialibus Legibus)
Good Man Free Every Good Man Is Free (Quod Omnis Probus Liber Sit)
To Gaius On the Embassy to Gaius (De Legatione ad Gaium)
Husbandry On Husbandry (De Agricultura)
Joseph On Joseph (De Iosepho)
Cherub. On the Cherubim (De Cherubim)
Flight On Flight and Finding (De Fuga et Inventione)
Abraham On Abraham (De Abrahamo)
To Gaius On the Embassy to Gaius (De Legatione ad Gaium)
Heir Who Is the Heir (Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres)
Decalogue On the Decalogue (De Decalogo)
8 Rom 15:24—ἐλπίζω θεάσασθαι ὑμᾶς; 1 Cor 16:7—ἐλπίζω ἐπιμεῖναι; Phil 2:19, 23; Phlm 22; 1 Tim 3:14; 2 John 12; 3 John 14; cf. Tob 10:8—Tobias’s parents have no more hope of seeing him again. In the sense “expect, count on,” St. Paul uses the verb ἐλπίζω to express his confidence in the good feelings of his correspondents (“I hope that you will understand.…” [2 Cor 1:13; 5:11; 8:5; 10:15; 13:6]) or in their faithfulness (2 Cor 1:7). Cf. the letter of Sempronius in the second century: “I expect (ἐλπίζω) that our brother Valerius realizes how deep the sorrow is that we feel” (P.Wisc. 84, 12).
9 P.Mich. 476, 25 (third century); 481, 14; P.Gron. 18, 7; P.Oxy. 1829, 7, 17; 1940, 3; 2190, 9. A son’s hope is that upon his return he will find his mother in good health (letter of Ammon, edited by W. H. Willis, in Proceedings XV, p. 108, l. 17).
P.Ant. The Antinoopolis Papyri. 3 vols. London, 1950–1967.
SB Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten. 14 vols. 1915–1983.
P.Brem. Die Bremer Papyri. Ed. U. Wilcken. Berlin, 1936.
P.Oxy. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. 51 vols. London, 1898–1984.
P.Ryl. Catalogue of the Greek Papyri in the John Rylands Library. 4 vols. Manchester, 1911–1952.
PSI Papiri greci e latine. 15 vols. Florence, 1912–1979.
SB Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten. 14 vols. 1915–1983.
P.Mich. Michigan Papyri. 15 vols. 1931–1982.
Pap.Lugd.Bat. Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava. 24 vols. Leiden, 1941–1983.
P.Oslo Papyri Osloenses. Ed. S. Eitrem and L. Amundsen. 3 vols. Oslo, 1925–1936.
P.Laur. Dai Papiri della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Ed. R. Pintaudi and G. M. Browne. 5 vols. Florence, 1976–1984.
10 P.Mich. 529, 15: Aurelius ἐλπίζων τῆς τοῦ κυρίου μου βοηθείας, hoping for my lord’s assistance (the lord in question being the prefect of Egypt, Maevius Honoratianus); P.Tebt. 787, 15: ἐλπίδα ἔχοντες τῆς σῆς ἀντιλήψεως.
11 In 107, the soldier Apollinarus writes to his brother Sabinus that the consular Claudius Severus has told him: “I will make you a secretary of the legion, with hope of advancement” (ἐφʼ ἐλπίδων, P.Mich. 466, 30); “I hope to be promoted soon” (BGU 423, 27). Cf. SB 6717, 7: ἐλπίζω σε στεφανωθήσεσθαι; P.Lond. 1941, 8.
12 Ἄλλην ἐλπίδα οὐκ ἔχομεν, P.Giss. (ed. H. Kling) 31, 14; P.Oxy. 1678, 7; P.Mich. 502, 12: μάλιστα δέ τις ἄλλη ἐλπὶς οὐκ ἔστιν ὡς ἡ παρησία τῶν ἀδελφῶν (second century); Josephus, Ant. 10.11: τῷ μηδεμίαν ἄλλην ἐλπίδα ἔχοντι σωτηρίας. An insolvent debtor saw his children seized by creditors; he himself was arrested; it could be said that he had been almost forced to lose blessed hope: ὥστε ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἀναγκασθῆναι τῆς μακαρίας ἐλπίδος (cf. Titus 2:13; Antiochus I of Commagene, in IGLS 1, 108); ἡμῶν ἀποστερηθῆναι (P.Lond. 1915, 9). The legal ἀνάπαυσις was not respected in the assigning of a leitourgia to a complainant who thus lost “the time to have good hopes” (ἔχειν περὶ ἐμαυτῷ χρηστὰς τὰς ἐλπίδας, SB 10199). En route to Hades: εἰς φλόγα καὶ σποδιὴν ἐλπίδας ἐξέχεεν (CIRB 141, 5). The author of a letter, in a difficult situation, has no hope other than the help of his correspondent: νῦν ἐν σοὶ μοί εἰσιν αἱ ἐλπίδες τοῦ σωίζεσθαι (sic), P.Cair.Zen. 59844, 6. It is hoped that some evil will not happen: ὅπερ ἐλπίζω μηδὲν τούτων γενήσεσθαι (P.Mil.Vogl. 76,8).
13 Βίον ἀγαθὸν εἰς ἐλπίδα (Antiochus I of Commagene, in IGLS 47, col. VI, 14); ἐλπίδα τοῦ βιώσεσθαι (Josephus, Ant. 15.204; cf. 17.1). New fruits give the best hopes (BGU 486, 6; cf. education, Philo, Post. Cain 97; Heir 310). SB 9528, 11; PSI 1312, 9 (letters of Chomenis to his brother): ἀγαθὰς οὖν ἐλπίδας ἔχε; UPZ 13, 28.
C.P.Herm. Corpus Papyrorum Hermopolitanorum. Ed. C. Wessely. Leipzig, 1905. (= Stud.Pal. V)
SB Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten. 14 vols. 1915–1983.
C.Pap.Jud. Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum. 3 vols. Ed. V. A. Tcherikover. Cambridge, Mass., 1957–1964.
14 Θάλης ἐρωτηθεὶς τί κοινότατον, ἀπεκρίνατο· ἐλπίς· καὶ γὰρ οἷς ἄλλο μηδέν, αὕτη πάρεστιν, Stobaeus, Flor. 110.46, n. 24 (vol. 5, p. 1001); Plato, Phlb. 39 e: “Throughout our lives, we do not cease to be full of hope”; Theocritus 4.42: “There is hope as long as one is living; it is when one is dead that there is no more hope”; Xenophon, An. 7.6.11: “When one is human one must expect everything” (cited by Bultmann, “ἐλπίς,” in TDNT, vol. 2, pp. 517–518). Philo, Worse Attacks Better 138–139: “Is there is anything more properly human than the hope or expectation of possessing goods that God will give? … Those who do not hope in God do not share in a rational nature … only humans have hope … whoever despairs is not human”; Rewards 14: “No one could be taken for a human being who does not hope in God”; 72; Abraham 8, 10.
15 Jdt 9:7; Ps 44:6; Hos 10:13—“You hoped in the multitude of your valiant men.” A person may have confidence in dreams (Sir 34:7; cf. hope through magic, Rhetorius, ἐλπίσι χρησμῶν ἀναλαμβανομένους, in CCAG, VIII, IV, p. 165, 8), in a lie (Isa 28:15; Jer 13:25), wickedness (Isa 47:10: ἐλπίς τῆς πονηρίας σου) or extortion (Isa 30:12). Fools put their hope in dead things: ἐν νεκροῖς = in idols (Wis 13:10; cf. 15:6, 10).
Flacc. Against Flaccus (In Flaccum)
SB Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten. 14 vols. 1915–1983.
C.P.Herm. Corpus Papyrorum Hermopolitanorum. Ed. C. Wessely. Leipzig, 1905. (= Stud.Pal. V)
16 Ἐλέους ἐλπίδα ἀγαθὴν ἐγὼ προσδέχομαι, epitaph of a Jew of Rachelis, dead at age 30, CII 1513, 7 = SB 6650, 4. In classical Greek, ἔχειν τὴν ἐλπίδα ἐπί = place one’s hope in someone; cf. Euripides, Or. 1059; Diodorus Siculus 14.101.
17 Ἐλπίζω σὺν θεῷ, παρὰ θεοῦ, μετὰ θεόν, εἰς θεόν. In the papyri, most of these attestations are Christian and late, P.Iand. 11, 2; P.Ant. 198, 6–7; PSI 301, 9; SB 7655, 15; 9139, 15; 10269, 5; IGLS 2546.
18 Cf. M. J. Lagrange, Les Mystères: L’Orphisme, Paris, 1937; A. Boulanger, “L’Orphisme,” in REA, 1937, pp. 45–48; especially F. Cumont, Lux Perpetua, pp. 240ff., 401ff. A. J. Festugière, Etudes de religion, pp. 13–63. For Cicero (Leg. 2.14.36), Eleusis brought men nothing better than a reason to live with joy and to die “with good hope.”
De fac. De Facie in Orbe Lunae
19 2 Kgs 18:5 (Hezekiah); Ps 21:7; 26:1; 28:7; 32:10; 34:8, 22; 56:2, 4, 11; 91:2; 147:11; Sus 60: “God saves those who hope in him”; 1 Macc 2:61; Judas Maccabeus “holding an unshakeable confidence had full hope of obtaining help from the Lord” (2 Macc 15:7); 4 Macc 17:4.
20 Sir 34:13; Dan 3:28—“His servants trusted in him”; Ps 22:4, 5; 25:20.
21 Ps 7:1; 13:5; 14:6; 16:1; 17:7; 18:2, 30; 31:1; 61:3; 62:7; 71:1; 73:28; 91:1–3, 9; 94:22; Prov 14:26.
22 Ps 4:5—Have confidence in Yahweh; 9:10; 40:4; 52:5, 11; 43:5; 71:5; 115:9–11; Isa 26:4; Bar 4:22; Sir 2:6. God is “the hope of all the ends of the earth” (Ps 65:5); even “the islands will hope” in him and will count on his arms (Isa 51:5). With Noah, “the hope of the world found refuge on a raft” (Wis 14:6). This confidence, which will not be disappointed (Prov 23:18) contrasts with the vain hope of fools (κενὴ ἡ ἐλπίς αὐτῶν, Wis 3:11, 18; 5:14), which is empty and deceitful (Sir 34:1), which is never fulfilled (Job 8:13; 27:8; Prov 11:7, 23; 26:12; 29:20). “The hope of the wicked is to breathe their last” (Job 11:20); that of the ingrate melts “like the wintry frost” (Wis 16:29).
War The Jewish War
23 Prov 10:28. This hope-confidence is found in all the writers who share in the faith of Israel: Pss. Sol. 5.13; 6.8; 8.37; 9.19; 17.3, 38, 44. The Qumran psalmist hopes in the love, the goodness, the grace of God (1 QH 9.10, 14; 10.16; 11.31; cf. 3.20; 6.6); Philo: “Only the one who has placed his hope in God is worthy of approval” (Rewards 13); “Holy and praiseworthy is the one who hopes” (Abraham 14–16); “Those who are truly well-born are full of hope” (To Gaius 195); “The greatest hope is hope in God” (Spec. Laws 1.310; cf. Virtues 67, 75; Flacc. 176). The faithful place their hope in God’s merciful nature (Spec. Laws 2.196; cf. Abraham 9; Flight 99). Josephus: to place one’s hope in God (τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχειν ἐν τῷ θεῷ, Ant. 8.282) is to have confidence in his help (βοηθὸν ἐλπίζειν τὸν θεόν, 2.331; cf. War 2.391; 6.99–100) and to find salvation (Ant. 12.344). Moses had confidence that God would save his people (Ant. 2.276) and Darius hoped that the deity would save Daniel (10.258); cf. T. Job 37.1, 5.
24 2 Cor 1:10–11. Prayer obtains God’s granting of the thing hoped for (Job 6:8); hence the association of ἐλπίς and εὐχή, P.Berl.Zill. 14, 16: ἐλπίδας ἔχω εἰς τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὰς εὐχὰς ὑμῶν (sixth century); P.Oxy. 939, 9–10; P.Lond. 1928, 15: διὰ τῶν ὑμῶν εὐχῶν προσδοκομένη ἐλπίς; Dittenberger, Syl. 364, 5; Phlm 22. In 1 Cor 15:19, the Christ-mediator or God-man is substituted for God as the basis of hope: “If we have hoped in Christ (ἐν Χριστῷ ἠλπικότες) in this life only, then we are of all people most to be pitied,” since we would be deprived of the very point: future blessedness (cf. IGLS 2546: “O Christ, help Helenis, your servant, for the one who hopes in you [will not perish?]”).
25 Cf. 1 Tim 6:17—“Command the rich in this age … not to place their hope in (μηδὲ ἠλπικέναι ἐπί) the uncertainty of wealth but in God who procures all things richly for our enjoyment.” Earthly goods are unstable and deceptive. A Christian must count only on God, who is the rich one par excellence (2 Cor 8:9; Eph 2:4) and loves to give.
26 The adjective ἀγαθή is constantly used to describe hopes of happiness; cf. Socrates (in Stobaeus, vol. 5, p. 1002, n. 26); Xenophon, Cyr. 1.6.19; Josephus, Ant. 1.325; 5.222; 8.214; 13.201; 14.96. (Cf. the numerous uses collected by F. Cumont, Lux Perpetua, especially in relation to the mysteries of Eleusis.) It alternates with καλή (Ep. Aristides 261; Plutarch, Brut. 40.1), γλυκεῖα (Bion, in Stobaeus, vol. 5, p. 1000, 17), ἱλαρά (Critias, frag. 6, ed. Diels; Josephus, War 1.616; 2.106); cf. εὔελπις (Plato, Ap. 41 d; Phd. 64 a).
27 Κρεῖττον (Josephus, Ant. 2.110; 3.83) alternates with μεγάλη (War 7.76; Ep. Aristides 18), βέλτιον (Dittenberger, Syl. 731, 35), χρηστή (Ant. 6.275; 7.234; 8.419; 13.421; 15.302; 18.284; P.Oxy. 1070, 10), and βεβαία (2 Cor 1:7; 4 Macc 17:4; Josephus, War 7.165, 413; Ant. 8.8), sometimes in the superlative βεβαιοτάτη (Philo, Plant. 88; Josephus, Ant. 8.280). 1 Pet 1:3—“God has regenerated us εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν”; 1:13—τελείως; Heb 10:23—ἀκλινής; Titus 2:13; P.Lond. 1915, 9: μακαρία. To express firm hope, one can say πολλὴ ἐλπίς (2 Macc 9:22).
28 Acts 26:6–7. Cf. Col 1:23—“the hope promised by the gospel”; Heb 6:17–18. Thus Abraham, trusting in God’s promise, hoped against all hope (παρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι, Rom 4:18). The expression “saved against all hope” (σωθεὶς … παρʼ ἐλπίδα), used with respect to Mithridates (Josephus, War 1.192; cf. Ant. 17.331), is common in this author (War 1.331, 580; 4.657, etc.).
29 1 Thess 5:8—ἐλπὶς σωτηρίας (objective genitive; cf. Job 2:9; T. Job 24.1; Aeneas Tacticus, prol. l. 14; Philo, To Gaius 329). The expression recurs constantly in Josephus, especially with regard to military victories (War 1.390; 3.194, 204; 4.312, 338; 5.64, 306, 512, 535; 6.160, 181; 7.165, 331, 413; Ant. 1.327; 2.140; 7.158; 13.399; 15.153; 16.238, 389); cf. 2 Thess 2:13; Rom 5:9–10; 1 Tim 4:10. In Rom 8:24 (τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν), “hope” can be understood in the objective sense of a salvation fully realized, consummated (cf. Gal 5:5—“We await the hope of righteousness”); already saved now (the aorist ἐσώθημεν; cf. 1 Cor 1:18), Christians are on the way to to definitive salvation, to complete possession, what Heb 6:11 calls the πληροφορία τῆς ἐλπίδος. They live, then, under a dispensation of hope. Some understand “hope” in the subjective and instrumental sense: salvation is realized through hope-patience. For the discussion cf. M. F. Lacan, “ ‘Nous sommes sauvés par l’espérance’ (Rom. VIII, 24),” in A la rencontre de Dieu: Mémorial A. Gelin, Le Puy-Lyon-Paris, 1961, pp. 331–339; J. Cambier, “L’Espérance et le salut dans Rom. 8, 24,” in Message et mission: Recueil commémorative du Xe anniversaire de la Faculté de Théologie (of Kinshasa), Louvain-Paris, 1968, pp. 77–107.
30 Titus 1:2—“Paul, an apostle … for the hope of eternal life (ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίου), which God, who cannot lie, has promised”; 3:7; cf. Rom 6:22; 1 Cor 15:22; Gal 6:8.
31 Acts 23:6—“It is on account of the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial”; 24:15—“Having this hope in God … that there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust”; 2:26 (= Ps 16:9)—“My very flesh will rest in hope (of the resurrection)”; Phil 3:20–21; Rom 8:23. Even the creation, subjected to vanity, retains a hope of renewal (8:20). Cf. 1 Enoch 46.6—unbelievers “will have no hope of rising from their slumber.”
32 Titus 2:13 (cf. marana-tha, 1 Cor 16:22; C. Spicq, Agapè, vol. 3, pp. 83ff.; C. F. D. Moule, “A Reconsideration of the Context of Maranatha,” in NTS, vol. 6, 1960, pp. 307–310; S. Schulz, “Maranatha und Kyrios Jesus,” in ZNW, 1962, pp. 125–144). The Christian hopes for the coming of Christ (1 Cor 1:7; 1 Pet 1:13) as the servant hopes for that of his master (Luke 12:36); it is his reason for living. His whole watchful and patient life is determined by this waiting (1 Thess 1:10; Phil 3:12, 20; cf. C. Spicq, Théologie morale, vol. 1, pp. 311ff.).
33 Jer 17:7 had stated: ἔσται κύριος ἐλπὶς αὐτοῦ (cf. P.Oxy. 1059, 1, a Christian prayer from the fifth century, κύριε θεέ καὶ ἐλπίς μου); Ps 71:5—κύριος ἡ ἐλπίς μου; Sir 34:14—“The one who fears the Lord will not be timid, for his hope is in him”; Thucydides 3.57.4: “You Lacedaemonians, our only hope.” According to 1 Enoch 48.4, the Son of Man “will be the hope of those who suffer in their heart.” Hesiod personifies Ἐλπίς (Op. 96), like the allegorists who “call Moses’ sister Elpis because she observes from afar” (Philo, Dreams 2.142), and many women named Elpis are known (BGU 632, 20; GVI, n. 1103, 1; L. Robert, “Les Inscriptions,” in J. des Gagniers, Laodicée, p. 352) or Elpidis (L. Robert, “Bulletin épigraphique,” in REG, 1953, p. 188, n. 218). A physician of Corinth is named Gaius Vibius Euelpistus (I.Cor. VIII, 3, n.206); the same name in upper Pannonia, cf. V. Hoffiler, B. Soria, Antike Inschriften aus Jugoslawien, Amsterdam, 1970, I, n. 517, 4. In the fourth century, a Christian servant asks for prayers for his sick mistress, ἐν γὰρ αὐτῇ πάντες τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχομεν (P.Oxy. 939, 9; cf. 1 Thess 2:19). For Theognis 1135 (“Elpis is the only deity who is beneficent toward humans”) people must count on her; for this parthenē appears to them, like Artemis or Athena (Artemidorus Daldianus, Onir. 2.44). In 1 Tim 1:1; Col 1:27, the personification of Hope = Christ seems to intend an anti-imperial apologetic, because the Romans applauded their sovereign as the hope of the universe: “Caesar Augustus at his appearing realized the hopes of our ancestors.… He leaves future benefactors of humanity no hope of surpassing him” (I.Priene 105; Dittenberger, Or. 458, 37–40). “…. So that with greater confidence you may hope for everything (πάντα ἐλπίζητε), the salvation as well as the material happiness of the benefactor Augustus, Emperor Galba” (edict of Tiberius Julius Alexander; ibid. 669 = BGU 1563, 15). In 54, Nero is referred to as ὁ τῆς οἰκουμένης καὶ προσδοκηθεὶς καὶ ἐλπισθείς (P.Oxy. 1021, 6). In 37: ἐπεὶ ἡ κατʼ εὐχὴν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐλπισθεῖσα Γαΐου Καίσαρος Γερμανικοῦ Σεβαστοῦ ἡγεμονία κατήγγελται, οὐδὲν δὲ μέτρον χαρᾶς εὕρηκεν ὁ κόσμος (Dittenberger, Syl. 797, 5).
34 1 Pet 3:15 (cf. the two lamps of Antinoöpolis bearing this inscription: Πίστις ἐλπίς [τοῦ ἁγίου Σεργίου?], in SB 6023). Hope is part of the description of faith: πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις (Heb 11:1), cf. C. Spicq, Hébreux, vol. 2, pp. 336ff. To believe is to hope, Rom 4:18; 2 Cor 1:9; 2 Tim 1:12.
35 Rom 5:4—“Virtue when tested produces hope.”
3 In 1 Thess 1:3; 5:8; 1 Cor 13:13—“Now there abide (or remain valid; μένω, Rom 9:11; Isa 14:24; cf. W. Grossouw, “L’Espérance dans le N.T.,” RB, 1954, p. 517) faith, hope, and charity.” On this triad, cf. C. Spicq, Agapè, vol. 2, pp. 104ff., 365–378; trinitarian sequences are common in the Orac. Chald. (5.26; E. des Places, Jamblique: Les Mystères d’Egypte, Paris, 1966, p. 182, n. 2), in language, and in music (Philo, Husbandry 136–137; Alleg. Interp. 1.3; Abraham 122ff.; Quest. Gen. 4.8); cf. H. Usener, Dreiheit: Ein Versuch mythologischer Zahlenlehre, 2 d ed., Hildesheim, 1966; E. von Dobschütz, “Zwei-und dreigliedrige Formeln: Ein Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte der Trinitätsformel,” in JBL, 1931, pp. 117–147.—On 1 Cor 13:13, the Pauline triad taking precedence over justice, peace, truth, etc. (Christian inscription from Tafeh, in SB 8705); cf. F. M. Lacan, “Les Trois qui demeurent,” in RSR, 1958, pp. 321–348 (with the critique by A. Feuillet, in NTS, vol. 6, p. 513, n. 2); J. Moss, “I Cor. XIII,” in ExpT, vol. 73, 1962, p. 253; F. Dreyfus, “ ‘Maintenant, la foi, l’espérance et la charité demeurent toutes les trois,’ ” in Studiorum Paulinorum Congressus, Rome, 1963, pp. 403–412; W. Marxsen, “Das ‘Bleiben’ in I Kor. XIII, 13,” in Neues Testament und Geschichte (Festgabe O. Cullmann), Zurich, 1972, pp. 223–229; E. Miguens, “I Cor. XIII, 8–13 Reconsidered,” in CBQ, 1975, pp. 76–97.
6 In 1 Thess 1:3; 5:8; 1 Cor 13:13—“Now there abide (or remain valid; μένω, Rom 9:11; Isa 14:24; cf. W. Grossouw, “L’Espérance dans le N.T.,” RB, 1954, p. 517) faith, hope, and charity.” On this triad, cf. C. Spicq, Agapè, vol. 2, pp. 104ff., 365–378; trinitarian sequences are common in the Orac. Chald. (5.26; E. des Places, Jamblique: Les Mystères d’Egypte, Paris, 1966, p. 182, n. 2), in language, and in music (Philo, Husbandry 136–137; Alleg. Interp. 1.3; Abraham 122ff.; Quest. Gen. 4.8); cf. H. Usener, Dreiheit: Ein Versuch mythologischer Zahlenlehre, 2 d ed., Hildesheim, 1966; E. von Dobschütz, “Zwei-und dreigliedrige Formeln: Ein Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte der Trinitätsformel,” in JBL, 1931, pp. 117–147.—On 1 Cor 13:13, the Pauline triad taking precedence over justice, peace, truth, etc. (Christian inscription from Tafeh, in SB 8705); cf. F. M. Lacan, “Les Trois qui demeurent,” in RSR, 1958, pp. 321–348 (with the critique by A. Feuillet, in NTS, vol. 6, p. 513, n. 2); J. Moss, “I Cor. XIII,” in ExpT, vol. 73, 1962, p. 253; F. Dreyfus, “ ‘Maintenant, la foi, l’espérance et la charité demeurent toutes les trois,’ ” in Studiorum Paulinorum Congressus, Rome, 1963, pp. 403–412; W. Marxsen, “Das ‘Bleiben’ in I Kor. XIII, 13,” in Neues Testament und Geschichte (Festgabe O. Cullmann), Zurich, 1972, pp. 223–229; E. Miguens, “I Cor. XIII, 8–13 Reconsidered,” in CBQ, 1975, pp. 76–97.
Ant. Antiquities of the Jews
37 1 Thess 2:19; Rom 12:12—τῇ ἐλπίδι χαίροντες; 15:13. Philo brings it up over and over again: Alleg. Interp. 3.87; Change of Names 161, 163; Worse Attacks Better 138; Rewards 161.
38 2 Cor 3:12; Phil 1:20; Heb 3:6; P. Joüon, “Divers sens de παρρησία dans le N.T.,”in RSR, 1940, pp. 239–241. A. M. Denis, “L’Apôtre Paul, Prophète ‘messianique’desGentils,” in ETL, 1957, pp. 249–259; D. Smolders, “L’Audace de l’apôtre selon saintPaul: Le Thème de la parrèsia,” in Collectanea Mechlinensia, 1958, pp. 16–30,117–133; W. C. van Unnik, “ ‘With Unveiled Faces’: An Exegesis of 2 Corinthians III, 12–18,” in NovT, vol. 6, 1963, pp. 159ff. (= idem, Sparsa Collecta, Leiden, 1973, pp. 200ff.). Cf. G. J. M. Bartelink, “Quelques observations sur Παρρησία dans la littérature paléo-chrétienne,” in Graecitas et latinitas Christianorum primaeva, Supplementa, vol. 2, Nijmegen, 1970, pp. 7–57. L. Engels, “Fiducia dans la Vulgate: Le Problème de traduction παρρησία-fiducia,” ibid., Supplementa, vol. 1, 1964, pp. 99–141.
39 Heb 3:6. J. S. Bosch, ‘Gloriarse’ según San Pablo y teologia de καυχάομαι (AnBib 40), Rome, 1970. E. Fuchs, “Gloire de Dieu et gloire de l’homme: Essai sur les termes kaukastai … dans la Septante,” in RTP, 1977, pp. 321–332.
40 Cf. Josephus, Ant. 15.79: τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς πλεονεξίας.
41 Sir 13:6—the wicked rich person gives (deceptive) hope to the poor. The pejorative adjectives for this hope are many: κακή (Euripides, in Stobaeus, vol. 5, p. 999, 13; Menander, ibid., p. 998, 8), ἄδηλος (uncertain, 2 Macc 7:34), ματαία (Isa 31:2; Lucian, Alex. 47), ἀπάτη (Philo, Rewards 147), πονηρά (Isa 28:19; 47:10; Socrates, in Stobaeus, 5, p. 1001, n. 21; Josephus, Ant. 11.247), κενή (Job 7:6; Wis 3:11; Sir 31:1; Philo, Moses 1.195), ἀτελής (Philo, Spec. Laws 4.158; Virtues 29; Rewards 149; CIRB 130, 16), ψευδής (Euripides, in Stobaeus, vol. 5, p. 1004, n. 5), ἀβέβαια (Philo, Flacc. 109), ἀλόγιστος (ill-considered, Josephus, War 2.346), ἀναιδής (ibid. 6.337), σφαλερά (1.357), μικρά (7.77; Ant. 15.232). A distant hope is abandoned (Plutarch, Arat. 4.3).
42 “Your expectation (Hebrew tiqwâh) will not be disappointed” (Prov 23:18; 24:14). God does not look upon us with scorn (Jdt 8:20; cf. 2 Macc 2:18). Those who hope in him have not been confounded (Ps 22:6; 25:3, 20; 31:1, 6, 14, 19, 24; 71:1; 119:116; Sir 2:6). He saves them (Sus 60; Bar 4:22; Isa 25:9).
43 Rom 5:5 (a verse that was cited 201 times by St. Augustine; cf. A. M. Bonnardière, “Le Verset paulinien Rom. V, 5 dans l’œuvre de Saint Augustine,” in Augustinus Magister, Paris, 1954, vol. 2, pp. 657–665); Phil 1:20.
44 Eph 2:4–5; Titus 3:4–5; 1 Pet 1:3; John 3:6; 1 John 4:9–10.
45 In the sense “dishonor, taint” (2 Sam 16:21; 19:6; Prov 19:26; Sir 22:4–5; 42:11; 1 Cor 11:5, 22), humiliate and molest (Ruth 2:15), expresses simultaneously the ideas of punishment and derision: Mic 3:7 (linked with καταγελάω); Ps 44:8; 1 Cor 1:27; 1 Pet 3:16; cf. C. Spicq, Agapè, vol. 2, pp. 173ff.; J. M. Lochmann, Trägt oder trügt die christliche Hoffnung?, Zurich, 1974.
46 2 Thess 2:15 (cf. P. Otzen, “ ‘Gute Hoffnung’ bei Paulus,” in ZNW, 1958, pp. 283–285). St. Thomas Aquinas glosses this text: “We look for a good hope, that is, the certainty of eternal goods” (“Expectamus spem bonam, id est bonorum aeternorum infallibilitatem”). On 2 Cor 5:5—“He has given us the Spirit as a pledge,” St. Thomas comments: “That is, the Holy Spirit giving us certainty of this good thing with which we wish to be filled.… A pledge is kept and held as a surety that something will be had. That is how it is with the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is worth as much as heavenly glory, but the mode of possession is different in each case: because we have the Spirit now as a surety that that glory will follow; in heaven, however, we will have that glory as something that is already ours and possessed by us.” (“Id est Spiritum Sanctum causantem in nobis certitudinem hujus rei qua desideramus impleri.… Pignus servatur et tenetur quasi pro certitudine rei habendae. Ita est de Spiritu Sancto, quia Spiritus Sanctus tantum valet quantum gloria coelestis, sed differt modo habendi, quia nunc habemus eum quasi ad certitudinem consequendi illam gloriam; in patria vero habebimus ut rem jam nostram et a nobis possessam.”)
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