Hope is an important idea in the Bible. David’s hope in God was cause for gladness and rejoicing (Ps 16:8–11). Matthew points to Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the Gentile’s hope (Matt 12:21). And Paul’s hope in God included resurrection to eternal life (Acts 24:15). The goal of this study is to better understand the overall sense of hope in the Bible as a basis for future studies.

The word ‘hope’ occurs 78 times in the Old Testament (NKJV).¹ There are two primary Hebrew words for hope. They are tiqvah (8615, 26x) and yachal/yachiyl (3176/2175, 23x). Once, ‘hope’ is implied (but not present) in the Hebrew but supplied in the English (Jer 3:23).

Tiqvah occurs 33 times. It is also translated expectation (5x: Ps 9:18; 62:6; Prov 10:28; 11:7; 11:23), thing (1x: Job 6:8), and long for (1x: Job 6:8).

Yachal/yachiyl occurs 43 times. It is also translated wait/waited (16x: Gen 8:10, 12; 1 Sam 10:8; 13:8; 2 Kgs 6:33; Job 14:14; 29:21, 23; 30:26; 32:11, 16; Ps 69:3; Isa 42:4; Ezek 19:5; Micah 5:7; 7:7), trust (2x: Job 13:15; Isa 51:5), caused (1x: Ps 119:49), and linger (1x: 2 Sam 18:14).

Several other Hebrew words are also translated hope (28x), some as a primary meaning and many as a secondary meaning:

• towcheleth (8431, 6/6x, hope),²
• miqveh (4723, 5/12x: things hoped for, collection),
• sabar/seber (7663/7664, 5/10x: wait, tarry),
• qavah (6960, 2/49x: wait, look, collect),
• kecel (3689, 2/13x: flank, folly),
• yaʾash (2976, 2/6x: no hope, despair),
• habal (1891, 1/5x: vain),
• betach (983/986 1/42x: safety, securely),
• sheqer (8267 1/113x: lie, deception, falsehood),
• mibtach (4009, 1/15x: trust, confidence), and
• machaceh (4268, 1/20x: refuge, shelter).

The general sense of hope in the Old Testament is a sense of longing or waiting for something in the future not yet possessed in the present. It can refer to the act of hoping or the things that are hoped for. It can be placed in a person or events. It can include a sense of safety or trust.

The word ‘hope’ occurs 76 times in the New Testament. There is one primary Greek word for hope. It is elpis/elpizo (1680/1679, 73x). Twice, ‘hope’ is implied (but not present) in the Greek but supplied in the English (Acts 17:27; Heb 6:19).

Elpis/elpizo occurs 85 times. Elpis is always translated hope/hopes/hoped/hoping. Elpizo is also translated trust/trusted/trusts (12x: Jn 5:45; 2 Cor 1:10, 13; 5:11; 13:6; Phil 2:19; 1 Tim 4:10; 5:5; 6:17; Phlm 22; 1 Pet 3:5).

There is one other Greek word also translated hope, apelpizo (560, 1x). It occurs only once and is translated hoping (Luke 6:35). It is a conjunction of the preposition apo (apart, from) with elpizo.

The general sense of hope in the New Testament is a sense of trusting for something in the future not yet possessed in the present. It can refer to the act of hoping or the things that are hoped for. It can be placed in a person or events. It has a primary sense of longing.

The Old Testament has many Hebrew words for ‘hope,’ while the New Testament has basically one Greek word for ‘hope.’ But there is general agreement about the sense of hope throughout the Bible across the Old and New Testaments.

‘Hope’ in the Bible means a sense of longing, trusting, or waiting for something in the future that is not yet possessed in the present. It can refer to the act of hoping or the things that hare hoped for. It can be placed in a person or events. It can include a sense of longing, safety, or trust.

Hope is an important theme in the Bible. It is often placed in God or the outcome of His promises. I have included a spreadsheet of my search results for those interested in that kind of thing. I hope to look at some of these passages more in depth in future posts.

Notes

1. Search results and Strong’s numbers from Logos Bible Software version 29.1 (Nov 2023).
2. Counts, glosses, and transliterations taken from James Strong, Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon (Woodside Bible Fellowship, 1995). Logos Bible Software.