995
a ϱ) μου ἐν αὐτῷ. ‘
39. Ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ ἐσμὲν ὑποστολῆς εἰς ἀπώλειαν,
ἃ Rom. viii, ἀλλὰ πίστεως εἰς περιποίησιν ψυχῆς.
ἜΝ ΕΣ A Wiis δραπέτης. But we are of faith whose end is περιποίησις ψυχῆς the ac- quisition of one’s soul. Very similar is Luke xxi. 19, “ΒΥ your endurance win your souls”. See also James v. 20, and I Thess. v. 9. Like our word ‘“‘acquisi- tion” περιποίησις sometimes means the acquiring as ini Thess. v. 9 and 2 Thess. ii. 14; sometimes the thing acquired. as in Eph. i. 14. [In Isocrates, 2nd Ep., occurs the expression διὰ τὸ περιποιῆσαι τὴν αὐτοῦ ψυχήν (Wetstein)].
CHaps. XI. 1—XII. 3. That the Hebrews may still further be encouraged to persevere in maintaining faith the writer exhibitsin detail its victories in the past history of their people and especially in the life of Jesus. (Cf. Sivach, 44-50.)
Ver.1. Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπ- ιζομένων ὑπόστασις . - - “Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof [manifestation] of things not seen”. When ἔστι stands first in a sentence it sometimes means ‘‘ there ex- ists,” as in John v. 2; 1 Cor. xv. 44. But it has not necessarily and always this significance, cf. 1 Tim. vi. 6; Luke viii. 11; Wisdom vii. 1. There is therefore no need to place a comma after πίστις as some have done. The words describe what faith is, although nota strict defini- tion. “Longe falluntur, qui justam fidei definitionem hic poni existimant: neque enim hic de tota fidei natura disserit Apostolus, sed partem elegit suo instituto congruentem, nempe quod cum patientia semper conjuncta sit’ (Calvin). ὑπό- στασις, literally foundation, that which stands under; hence, the ground on which one builds a hope, naturally glid- ing into the meaning “ assurance,” “ con- fidence,” as in iii. 14; 2 Cor. ix. 4, xi. 17; Ruth i. 12; Ps. xxxix. 7, 4 ὑπόστασίς µου παρὰ σοί ἐστιν. Ἔλεγχος regu- larly means ‘‘ proof”. See Demosthenes, passim ; especially Agt. Androtion, p. 600, ἔλεγχος, ὧν ἂν εἴπῃ τις καὶ τἀληθὲς ὁμοῦ δείξῃ. It seems never to be used in a subjective sense for ‘‘ conviction,” ἐς persuasion”; although here this mean- ing would suit the context and has been adopted by many. To say with Weiss that the subjective meaning must be given to the word that it may correspond with ὑπόστασις is to write the Epistle, not to interpret it. Theophylact renders
"ἜΣΤΙ δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων
the clause φανέρωσις ἀδήλων πραγ- μάτων. Faithis that which enables us to treat as real the things that are unseen. Hatch gives a different meaning to both clauses: ‘“ Faith is the ground of things hoped for, z.e., trust in God, or the con- viction that God 1s good andthat He will perform His promises, is the ground for confident hope that the things hoped for will come to pass... . So trust in God furnishes to the mind which has it a clear proof that things to which God has testified exist, though they are not visible to the senses.” The words thus become a definition of what faith does, not of what it is. Substantially the words mean that faith gives to things future, which as yet are only hoped for, all the reality of actual present existence; and irresistibly convinces us of the reality of things unseen and brings us into their presence. Things future and things unseen must become certainties to the mind if a balanced life is to be lived. Faith mediating between man and the supersensible is the essential link be- tween himself and God, “ for in it lay the commendation of the men of old,” ἐν ταύτῃ yap ἐμαρτυρήθησαν of πρεσβύ- τεροι. ‘That is, it was on the ground ot their possessing faith that the distin- guished men of the O.T. received the commendation of God, being immortal- ised in Scripture. It might almost be rendered ‘‘ by faith of this kind,” answer- ing to this description. ἐν ταύτῃ has an exact parallel in r Tim. v. το, the widow who is to be placed on the Church register must be ἐν ἔργοις καλοῖς pap- τυρουµένη, well- -reported of on the score of good works. ot πρεσβύτεροι, those of past generations, men of the Ο.Τ. times; as Papias [Euseb., Η.Ε., ili. 39] uses the term to denote the “‘Fathers of the Church” belonging to the generation preceding his own. “The idea that faith 1s that which God finds pleasure in (x. 38) and is that which truly unites to God under the old dispensations as well as under the new is a Pauline thought, Gal. 11. 6. This general state- ment of ver. 2 is exhibited in detail in the remainder of the chapter; but first the writer shows the excellence of faith in this, that it is by it that we recognise that there is an unseen world and that out of things unseen this visible world has taken