In NT the noun is U*it and the vb. iXr-T*. alwavs of favour- able expectation (contrast 'O.Tit Trerrfxt of LXX. Is '28'^). In He 1021 ' the profession of our faith' should be 'the confession of our hope' (t>,» iLt*X.eyia* TTf iXriiot).
The second in St. Paul's triumvirate of graces (1 Co 13") has attracted less attention than its companions. With respect to the nature of hope in general, faith is its inseparable condition ; in He 11' 'foundation' might almost be substituted for 'assurance.' But its distinctive feature is desire of future good. Hope may accordingly be defined as desire of future good, accompaniecl by faith in its realization. The object both of faith and of hope is something tmseen. Faith has regard equally to past, present, or future, while no doubt in Scripture referring mainly to the future (see, however, He IP). Hope is directed only to the future. Expectation differs from hope in referring either to good or evil things, and there- fore lacks the element of desire.
In the nature of things the grace of hope is peculiarly prominent in OT. That was the time of promise and prophecy, ours is the time of fulfil- ment (Mt 13"). Everything then had a forward look. The Heb. golden age lay in the future. The pious Hebrew was a minor (Gal 4^). It is quite in keeping with the old economy that the element of faith or confidence which is latent in hope was e.specially active. In OT Luther often renders ' hope' by ' trust.' It is often hard to say whether faith or desire is most prominent (Ps 38''
HOPHNI
HOPHEA
413
78' etc.). 'Tliese all died in faith ' is almost equi- valent to 'Tliese all died in hope '(He II"). They 'endured as seeing him who is invisible' (v.'-''). It is often said that the ho[ie of OT believers was directed les.s to spiritual tlian to temporal good, Bueli as health, riches, victory ; but this is only partially true. Spiritual aspiration cannot well be purer or strontjer than in pass.-igcs like Ps O.*!' 17'*; and temjioral good is not forliiildcn to Chris- tian hope (Mt (J™). Ileb. hope, no less than Chris- tiiin, was set on God (Ps 33"- 224011 etc.). Jeremiah beautifully addresses J" as 'the hope of Israel' (14« 17''). If in NT St. Peter is the apostle of hope, — not so mucli becau.se of frequent exjiress references (1 P P- ''•'-' 31') as from the general strain of his teaching, — in OT Jeremiah may be called the prophet of hope for the same reason (17'- 50'); his hope was deeply spiritual in nature (SI--"'-, He 10").
In NT hope is wider in range, more definitely spiritual in contents, and is attended with greater certainty. It is a ' better hope,' because grounded on 'a better covenant which hath been enacted on better promises' (He 7'° 8"). The blessings it seeks are not limited to the future life, but include all that is iiromi.sed to faith in the present life. Or, to speak more correctly, distinctions of present and future are often ignored in Scripture. The divine promises and Christian aspiration refer to both (1 Co i", I'll 3'=-"). Still, the perfect blessings of the future life are often definitely referred to, giving peculiar magnificence to Christian hope (Ro 5- S-'--^, Tit2'»etc.). If St. Peter is the apostle, St. Paul is the theologian of this grace. Very .significantly, as the prophets make J" the ground of human hope, St. Paul makes Christ the ground (1 Co I5'», 1 Ti 1', Col I-''). More specifically, Clirist's re.surrection is the irrefragable seal of hope (I Co 15, 1 P 1'); hence it is a 'living hope.' Christian hope accompanies a state of peace with t;oil, is attested by experience, and certain of glorious fullilment because arising out of a sense of Cod's fatherly love to us (Ro 5'''). It is e(iually with faith a factor in the process of salvation (Ro 8-^'). It is a spring of ceaseless joy (Ro 5' 12'-'). Its object is salvation or eternal life, or the glory of Goil (Tit 12 8', 1 Th .1", Ro 5-). Its expression is patient doing and sullcring (1 Th 1», He 6'"- 12'). llope is aptly called ' an anchor of the soul,' stay- ing it amid the bulletings of earthly change (He 6"). St. Paul puts the final honour on this grace by placing it above faith, and only below love (1 Cor 13"). Like its sister gra<-es, it con- tinues in the future life, because the bliss of that life is capable of endless increase. When tiod is called ' the God of hojie,' it must be as the author, not the subject of ho|)e (Ro 15"). St. John has only one reference to hope, describing it as a motive to personal .sanctification (1 Jii 3'). ' Fulness of hope' (He G") accompanies 'fulness of faith' (10--) and ' fulness of understanding' (Col 'J'). Hope stands sometimes for its object (Eph 1", Col P, Tit 2").
J. S. B.\NKS.
HOPHNI ("tn, B '0<t>yel, A 'Oc^W ; the meaning 'lighter' suggesti'd by Gesenius [Thi:.i. p. 50l>] is very doubtful), ami Phinehas, 'the two .sons of I'.li, priests unto the KiiHI) at Sliiloh' (IS I').* They are desrribed as 'men of lielial (i.e. worth- less, uiiprincijded men) who knew not the LoHO, nor the due of the priests from the peoiile' (1 S 2'-'- RVni, following the reading of the \ ersions and most moderns). The particular sin of which the sons of Eli were guilty lay in their abuse of their