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Bible Dictionaries
Promise
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or PROMISE . Although the OT is the record of God’s promises to lowly saints and to anointed kings, to patriarchs and to prophets, to the nation of His choice and to the world at large, the word itself is rarely used in the EV [Note: English Version.] , and less frequently in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] than in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] . The Heb. noun dâbhâr is generally rendered ‘word,’ but ‘promise’ is found in 1 Kings 8:56 , Nehemiah 5:12 f. In Psalms 105:42 the change made in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] reminds us that God’s ‘holy word’ is always a ‘holy promise.’ Similarly, the Heb. verb dâbhar is usually tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘speak’; but ‘promise’ is found in Exodus 12:25 , Jeremiah 32:42 etc. In several passages, as, e.g. , Deuteronomy 10:9 , Nehemiah 9:23 , the RV [Note: Revised Version.] gives ‘speak’ or ‘say’ instead of ‘promise.’ A complete study of the subject would therefore require a consideration of the whole question of OT prophecy. ‘For thy word’s sake’ is the ultimate appeal of those who can say ‘thou art God, and thy words are truth, and thou hast promised’ ( 2 Samuel 7:21; 2 Samuel 7:28 ). See Prophecy.
1. In a few passages ( Joshua 9:21 , Nehemiah 5:12 f., Esther 4:7 , Matthew 14:7 , Mark 14:11 , Acts 7:5 , 2 Peter 2:19 ) the reference is to a man’s promises to his fellow-man; once only ( Acts 23:21 ) the noun has this meaning in the NT. In Deuteronomy 23:23 the verb refers to man’s promises to God , and is synonymous with vowing unto God. This passage is instructive, on account of the stress that is laid on the voluntary nature of the obligation that is incurred by him who promises or makes a vow. Driver renders ‘according as thou hast vowed freely unto Jehovah, thy God, that which thou hast spoken (promised) with thy mouth’ ( ICC [Note: CC International Critical Commentary.] , in loc .). The thought of spontaneity is an essential part of the meaning of the word when it is used of God’s promises to man , and especially of ‘the promise’ which comprises all the blessings of the Messianic Kingdom ( Acts 2:39; Acts 7:17 etc.).
2. The Gr. word epangellesthai , tr. [Note: translate or translation.] ‘promise,’ is found only in the middle voice in the NT; its root-meaning is ‘to announce oneself,’ hence it comes to signify ‘to offer one’s services,’ and ‘to engage oneself voluntarily to render a service.’ Dalman derives the NT conception of the ‘promise’ from the Rabbinic phraseology concerning ‘assurance.’ A typical example is Ber. R . 76: ‘for the pious there is no assurance (promise) in this age’; cf. Apoc. [Note: Apocalypse, Apocalyptic.] Bar 53. 8, ‘the promise of life hereafter’ ( The Words of Jesus , p. 103). The promises of God are numerous ( 2 Corinthians 1:20 ); they are also ‘precious and exceeding great’ ( 2 Peter 1:4 ). ‘His every word of grace’ is a promise; even His commandments are assurances of grace, conditional only upon men’s willingness to obey. When God commanded the children of Israel to go in to possess the land, it was as good as theirs; already He had ‘lifted up’ His hand to give it them; but the promise implied in the command was made of no effect through their disobedience. The possession of Canaan, the growth of the nation, universal blessing through the race, are examples of promises of which the patriarchs did not receive the outward fulness ( Hebrews 11:18 ). On the one hand, Abraham ‘obtained the promise,’ because the birth of Isaac was the beginning of its fulfilment ( Hebrews 6:15 ); on the other hand, he is one of the fathers who ‘received not the promise,’ but ‘with a true faith looked for a fulfilment of the promises which was not granted to them’ (cf. Westcott’s note on Hebrews 11:39 ).
3. The NT phrase ‘inherit the promises’ ( Hebrews 6:12; cf. Hebrews 11:9 , Galatians 3:29 ) is found in Ps. Sol 13:8 (b.c. 70 to b.c. 40). This passage is probably ‘the first instance in extant Jewish literature where the expression “the promises of the Lord” sums up the assurances of the Messianic redemption’ (Ryle and James, Com., in loc .). In the Gospels the word ‘promise’ is used in this technical sense only in Luke 24:49 , where ‘the promise of the Father’ refers to the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:4; Acts 2:33; Acts 2:39 , Galatians 3:14 , Ephesians 1:13 ). The Ep. to the Hebrews is especially rich in passages which make mention of promises fulfilled in Christ ( Hebrews 4:1; Hebrews 6:17; Hebrews 7:8; Hebrews 9:15 etc.); but both in his speeches and in his Epistles St. Paul looks at the Christian gospel from the same point of view ( Acts 13:28; Acts 13:32; Acts 26:6 f., Romans 9:8 , Galatians 4:28 , Ephesians 3:6; cf. the only Johannine use of ‘promise’ in 1 John 2:25 ). There are promises to encourage believers as they strive to perfect holiness ( 2 Corinthians 7:1 ), whilst ‘to them that love him’ the Lord hath ‘promised the crown of life’ ( James 1:12 ); there is also the unfulfilled ‘promise of his coming’ ( 2 Peter 3:4 ). But ‘how many so ever he the promises of God, in him is the Yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us.’
J. G. Tasker.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Promise'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/p/promise.html. 1909.
