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It will not be possible to examine the references in the Old Testament in
detail, but it will give us some idea of what `hope' meant in the days of old
if we (1) examine the different Hebrew words used, and (2) note what Hebrew
words are translated elpizo or elpis in the LXX.
Betach. `Therefore ... my flesh also shall rest in hope' (Psa. 16:9).
This word means: to cling as a child to its mother's breast (Psa. 22:9), and to
trust, to rely upon, and then to be confident.
Batach, the verb, is translated mostly `trust'.
Kesel. `That they might set their hope in God' (Psa. 78:7). The radical
idea of this word is stiffness or rigidity, and this can be used in more senses
than one. Kesel indicates the loins (Psa. 38:7), and by an easy transition it
can mean confidence (Prov. 3:26), but as stiffness and rigidity can be used of
evil as well as good, kesel is often translated `fool' or `folly'.
Machseh. The letter `M' often indicates that a verb has been turned into
a noun, as for example the Hebrew shaphat `judge' becomes mishpat `judgment'.
The verb from which machseh is formed is chasah, to take refuge, to trust (Ruth
2:12). Machseh is translated `hope' in Jeremiah 17:17 and Joel 3:16.
Miqveh. This too is a noun derived from the verb qavah `to wait for,
expect'. Jeremiah uses the word when he speaks of `the hope of Israel' or `the
hope of their fathers' (Jer. 14:8; 50:7). The idea of confidence or hope seems
to lie in the fact that the basic meaning of qavah, which means to twist or
stretch, came to mean a gathering together (Gen. 1:9) and linen yarn (1 Kings
10:28), the idea of confidence or trust being developed from the sense of unity
suggested.
Seber. `Whose hope is in the Lord' (Psa. 146:5). Little can be said of
this word. In Nehemiah 2:13,15 it is translated `view', and so the link
between the two meanings `view' and `hope' seems to be the idea of looking with
expectancy, or, as Hebrews 9:28 puts it, `them that look for Him'.
Tocheleth. `My hope is in Thee' (Psa. 39:7).
Yachal.
`In Thee, O Lord, do I hope' (Psa. 38:15).
The root idea of these two related words is that of `waiting'.
`All the days of my appointed time will I wait' (Job 14:14).
`I will wait for the God of my salvation' (Mic. 7:7).
Tiqvah. `Thou art my hope, O Lord God' (Psa. 71:5). This word belongs
to the same group as miqveh already considered. Its usual translation is
`expectation'. It is of interest to note that the first two occurrences of the
word use it as a figure of speech. It is translated `line' in Joshua 2:18 and
21.
`Thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window'.
`She bound the scarlet line in the window'.
That line was the concrete evidence and pledge of Rahab's hope, even as in its
great antitypical sense it is the pledge of hope for all the redeemed.
Chul, `to stay'. `It is good that a man should both hope and quietly
wait' (Lam. 3:26). This word is related to yachal, already examined.