Bible Dictionaries
Hope, Hope

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

in the NT, "favorable and confident expectation" (contrast the Sept. in Isaiah 28:19 , "an evil hope"). It has to do with the unseen and the future, Romans 8:24,25 . "Hope" describes (a) the happy anticipation of good (the most frequent significance), e.g., Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:21; (b) the ground upon which "hope" is based, Acts 16:19; Colossians 1:27 , "Christ in you the hope of glory;" (c) the object upon which the "hope" is fixed, e.g., 1 Timothy 1:1 .

Various phrases are used with the word "hope," in Paul's Epistles and speeches: (1) Acts 23:6 , "the hope and resurrection of the dead;" this has been regarded as a hendiadys (one by means of two), i.e., the "hope" of the resurrection; but the kai, "and," is epexegetic, defining the "hope," namely, the resurrection; (2) Acts 26:6,7 , "the hope of the promise (i.e., the fulfillment of the promise) made unto the fathers;" (3) Galatians 5:5 , "the hope of righteousness;" i.e., the believer's complete conformity to God's will, at the coming of Christ; (4) Colossians 1:23 , "the hope of the Gospel," i.e., the "hope" of the fulfillment of all the promises presented in the Gospel; cp. Colossians 1:5; (5) Romans 5:2 , "(the) hope of the glory of God," i.e., as in Titus 2:13 , "the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ;" cp. Colossians 1:27; (6) 1 Thessalonians 5:8 , "the hope of salvation," i.e., of the rapture of believers, to take place at the opening of the Parousia of Christ; (7) Ephesians 1:18 , "the hope of His (God's) calling," i.e., the prospect before those who respond to His call in the Gospel; (8) Ephesians 4:4 , "the hope of your calling," the same as (7), but regarded from the point of view of the called; (9) Titus 1:2; 3:7 , "the hope of eternal life," i.e., the full manifestation and realization of that life which is already the believer's possession; (10) Acts 28:20 , "the hope of Israel," i.e., the expectation of the coming of the Messiah. See Notes on Galatians by Hogg and Vine, pp. 248,249.

In Ephesians 1:18; 2:12; 4:4 , the "hope" is objective. The objective and subjective use of the word need to be distinguished; in Romans 15:4 , e.g., the use is subjective.

In the NT three adjectives are descriptive of "hope:" "good," 2 Thessalonians 2:16; "blessed," Titus 2:13; "living," 1 Peter 1:3 . To these may be added Hebrews 7:19 , "a better hope," i.e., additional to the commandment, which became disannulled (ver. 18), a hope centered in a new priesthood.

In Romans 15:13 God is spoken of as "the God of hope," i.e., He is the author, not the subject; of it. "Hope" is a factor in salvation, Romans 8:24; it finds its expression in endurance under trial, which is the effect of waiting for the coming of Christ, 1 Thessalonians 1:3; it is "an anchor of the soul," staying it amidst the storms of this life, Hebrews 6:18,19; it is a purifying power, "every one that hath this hope set on Him (Christ) purifieth himself, even as He is pure," 1 John 3:3 , RV (the Apostle John's one mention of "hope").

The phrase "fullness of hope," Hebrews 6:11 , RV, expresses the completeness of its activity in the soul; cp. "fullness of faith," Hebrews 10:22 , and "of understanding," Colossians 2:2 (RV, marg.).

"to hope," is not infrequently translated in the AV, by the verb "to trust;" the RV adheres to some form of the verb "to hope," e.g., John 5:45 , "Moses, on whom ye have set our hope;" 2 Corinthians 1:10 , "on whom we have set our hope;" so in 1 Timothy 4:10; 5:5; 6:17; see also, e.g., Matthew 12:21; Luke 24:21; Romans 15:12,24 .

The verb is followed by three prepositions: (1) eis, rendered "on" in John 5:45 (as above); the meaning is really "in" as in 1 Peter 3:5 , "who hoped in God;" the "hope" is thus said to be directed to, and to center in, a person; (2) epi, "on," Romans 15:12 . "On Him shall the Gentiles hope," RV; so 1 Timothy 4:10; 5:5 (in the best mss.); 6:17, RV; this expresses the ground upon which "hope" rests; (3) en, "in," 1 Corinthians 15:19 , "we have hoped in Christ," RV, more lit., "we are (men) that have hoped in Christ," the preposition expresses that Christ is not simply the ground upon whom, but the sphere and element in whom, the "hope" is placed. The form of the verb (the perfect participle with the verb to be lit., "are having hoped") stresses the character of those who "hope," more than the action; "hope" characterizes them, showing what sort of persons they are. See TRUST.

"to hope before" (pro, "before," and No. 1), is found in Ephesians 1:12 .

lit., "to hope from" (apo, and No, 1): See DESPAIR.