Language Studies

Greek Thoughts

arrabon - αρραβων (Strong's #728)
Payment of part of a purchase price in advance, first installment, deposit, down payment, pledge

This week our word comes from the pen of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:22: "Who has sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge." The Greek word arrabon translated "pledge," is a commercial term^F1, which literally, means "a payment of part of a purchase price in advance, first installment, deposit, down payment, pledge^F2. In our NT literature, this word is only found in the Pauline corpus, here, and two other places, 2 Corinthians 5:5 and Ephesians 1:14. In all three occurrences, Paul says that the Holy Spirit has been given to the believer as an arrabon, "a first installment."

In a world that thrives itself on materialism and godless pride, the believer has reason to remain committed to the Lord and to remain committed that inner peace. The believer has the Holy Spirit as a "first installment." Let us explore the implications of this great truth, the indwelling Holy Spirit as a "first installment."

A few months after his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes them a second letter to instruct and advice them about the Christian conduct, to defend his apostolic ministry and to give further instructions about an offering for the poor believers in Jerusalem. With the above in mind and a possible trip to Corinth, Paul tells the Corinthians that Timothy, Silas and himself were given the Spirit as a "seal" and as a "first installment," and that they had all authority to be among them and work as God's emissaries.

First, the word arrabon denotes that God has made an investment in the believer's soul. The believer must take courage, in the fact, that he or she is treasured in the eyes of God. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that we are bough with a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). A great transaction has taken place. The believer is no longer enslaved to sin, no enslaved to self.

Second, arrabon, a "first installment" suggests that there are other installments to follow. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says that our other installments are our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:14, NASB). The believer may not enjoy the luxuries of this life, may not own the finest house on the block, but he or she has a heritance that awaits on sweet day. And as Simon J. Kistemaker adds, "God has given us the Holy Spirit as a deposit, a first installment. We have the assurance that after the initial deposit a subsequent installment follows."^F3

Finally, arrabon, a "first installment" affirms that the believer has a living hope within. There is no doubt in the diligent reader's mind that the Pauline letters carry an eschatological element on each page. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says, "For in hope we are saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?"(Romans 8:24, NASB). The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us that living hope of which Peter also writes (1 Peter 1:3). We can, in the midst of hostility, hurt, disasters and distress, live with this living hope within our soul because of our arrabon, the Holy Spirit.

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1964), 475.
F2: W.F. Arndt, F.W. Gingrich, and F.W. Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1979), 134.
F3: Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997), 80.

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