COMMENTARY.

18) Who against hope believed in hope, that is, who against all appa- rent grouna of hope, confidently believed. In hope, with hope, or confi- dently. Acts 2 : 26. 1 Cor. 9 : 10, &c. &c. That he might become the father of many nations. This clause, as it stands in the Greek, may ex- press either the design with which he believed, or the result of his believ- ing, or finally the object of his faith. ' He believed in order that he might be the father ;' or, '• He believed, and hence became the father,' &c. ; or, ' He believed that he should be the father,' &c. The last would seem best to suit the context, but it is not so consistent with the con- struction of the passage. Jlccording to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. This is a reference to the promise which was the object of Abraham's faith. It is a quotation from Gen. 15 : 5. The word so refers to the stars of heaven, mentioned in the passage as it stands in the Old Testament. The promise, therefore, particularly intended by the apostle, is, that Abraham should be the father of many nations, or that his seed