(I.) Use of the words Faith and, believe in Scripture. — JTio-nc- 1. In profane Greek, Trtunc means pri- marily trust or confidence, such as one man can have in another; more seldom fideliti/ or faithfidness which one pledges or keeps ; and also the pledge of fidelity, e. g. Sophocles, 0. C. 1632; ooq pov x^poQ ni'ic —iartv. Examples of the primary meaning (trust or confidence) are : Herodotus, iii, 24 ; Sophocles, 0. Col. 950; Xen. I/ier. iv, 1. In the passive tense (credit) it is found e. g. Aristotle, Eth. x, 8. Parallel with the primary meaning (trust or confidence) stands that of conriction, e. g. -iTiarii' txitv rn-oQ (to have fti.'h in a thing); but this conviction is liased upon trust, and not upon knowledge : so that in this sense o TTiarivoiv stands opposite to (icioQ, and -nianQ to tTnarljpi] (comp. Plat. liepub. X, 001). In this sense Triorts is used (in the sphere of religion) of belief in the gods, and of acknowl- edgment of them, not based upon knowledge (eomp. Plutarch, Mor. 756, B ; Plato, Legg. 076, C, D ; luirip. Med. 413, 41 1). Rather cliaracteristic is the fact that this faith is not designated as in the N. T. by the verb TiinTivuv, but by vopi'Ctiv (Xen. Mem. I, i, 1).
This clement of "acknowledgment," as distinct from knowing (fich'ai), is found also in the N. T. significa- tions of the word as used liy Paul and others; e. g. 2 Cor. V, 7, " For we walk by ftith (-iffrnor), not hy sight;" Heb. xi, 27. ''Byfiih (-igtii) he forsook Egypt;" Heb. xi; 1, " Xov.'/rWt (-lartg) is the sub- stance of things hoped for, the evidence of things mt seen ,-" Rom. iv, IS, " AVho against hope believed (rVi'iT- Ttvaw) in hope;" John xx^, 20, "Blessed (are) they
FAITPI
453
FAITH
that have not seen and (yet) have believed" (jriarfviyav- rtc). But this opposition to " Ivnovvledge" or " siglit" Ls not essential to the idea of faith, as is seen from John iv, 42 ; xi, 45 ; 1 Tim. iv, 3 ; Phileni. G, et al. In fact, the N. T. faith dift'ers from the profane Triimc gener- ally in that it is not a conviction held without refer- ence to anv ground or authority (compare 1 Pet. iii,15; i, 21).
In the 0. T. the word "faith" is comparatively sel- dom used ; the relation of man to God and to his rev- elation is generally designated bj' some other term be- fitting the economy of the law, e. g. "doing God's will," "keeping the commandments," " remembering the Lord" (lixod. iii, 15), et al. Nevertheless, we do find (as ona species of phrases among many to express this re- lation) terms denoting "trusting," "hoping," "waiting on the Lord" (nuS, nOPI, il^p, iXni'Cti-v, TrnrotSrsvai, v!ro).dvnv, etc.). But in some of the most important passages of the Old-Test, history the Avord " faith" occurs ; e. g. with regard to Abraham (Gen. xv, G), " he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness;" of the people of Israel (Exod. iv, 31 ; compare 1, 5, 8 ; xiv, 31) ; with regard to the possession of Canaan (Deut. ix, 23 ; comp. i, 32 ; Psa. Ixxviii, 22, 32; cvi, 24); with regard to the covenant of the law (Exod. xix, 9). In view of these pregnant passages, we maj' say that the foundation laid for the N. T. in the Old is laid in " faith" (comp. 2 Chron. xx, 20 ; Isa. liii, 1 ; vii, 9 ; xxviii, IG ; Jonah iii, 5). But unbelief IS far oftener spoken of in the 0. T. than faith (oomp. Psa. xxvii, 13; 2 Kings xvii, 14; Psa. Ixxviii, 22, .32; cvi, 24; Numb, xx, 12 ; Deut. ix, 23 ; Isa. vii, 9 ; liii, 1 ; Numb, xiv, 11 ; Psa. cvi, 12 ; cxix, 66). The verb used in all these- passages is '"wNn, Hiph. of ""2X, to fasten, build to make firm. From the last of these signitications follows that of to support, to rely upon, to ti-ust (Job xxxix, 11, 12 ; iv, 18 ; xv, 15) ; holding a thing for ce^-titin and reliable (1 Kings x, 7 ; 2 Chron. ix, G ; Lam. iv, 12 ; Jer. x], 14 ; Deut. xxviii, 66; Job xxiv, 22). Used with relation to God, it de- notes a cleaving to him, resting nj)on his strength, sure confidence in God, wliich gives fixedness and sta- bility (2 Chron. xx, 20 ; Isa. vii, 9).
But there is apparently no corresponding noun to the verb "p''2Xil. For njiT'aX corresponds to the par- tic, in Kal and Niphal, '^"^X, ""^XS, and denotes stead- fastness, stability (as an objective qualitj' ; e. g. Isn. xxxiii, G). In other passages it denotes the personal qualit}' of fidelity, faitl fulness (but not oi holding fast hyfaitli), e. g. 1 Chron. ix, 22; 2 Chron. xxxi, 18 (sense wrong in English version) ; 2 Kings xxii, 7 ; Jer. vii, 28. In these passages, where the word refers to man, the Sept. translates it rriariv; but where it refers to God it makes it aXijQua, e. g. Psa. xxxiii, 4. Here it may lie remarked that the reference to this llSTaN {faithfulness of God) by Paul (Rom. iii, 2 sq.) helps us to fix his idea of faith as definitively trust. As a designation of the religious relation of man to God, ilw1"X, iriuTiQ is only seldom used in the 0. T. (sec 1 Sam. xxvi, 23; Jer. v, S). In these passages it de- notes not simpl}^ candor, honesty, but rather faithful- ness, i. c. faithfulness to the covenant (comp. Jer. v, 3 with 1, 5, and Matt, xxiii, 23). But, after all, we have not yet found our idea of faith. But Habakkuk ii, 4 aftbnls a passage in wliich is decidedly to \>o. found the Paulina idea: tT^n';' ir2^^N3 pi'H^T (Sept. 6 ck ci- i:aioc Ik 7ri(7Te(o^ pov Zh'^trai. Apparently this pas- sage was not understood b}' the Sept., which changed the suffix of the third person to that of the first, and referred it to the faithfulness and tlie reliability of God. But riJI'-X stands here with regard to the re- lation in which the just man, compared with the haughty Chaldrean, holds himself to the divine prom- ises ; and it refers, therefore, not to the relation it-