What did Paul mean by the word Hope?
By Jonathan Mitchell
This essay will, of necessity, share a long list of NT verses as the criterion for the answer to this question.
The jumping-off point of this investigation is 1 Thes. 4:13,
"Now then, we are not wanting (or: willing, intending) you to continue ignorant, brothers, concerning the folks who are from time to time falling asleep [other MSS: those having been put to sleep (= passed away; died), and continuing made to be sleeping], to the intent that you would not continue being pained, grieved or sad, according as even (or: just like also) the rest (those remaining) - the folks normally holding no expectation (or: not presently having hope; not habitually possessing an expectant hope)."
Our focus will be on the last participial clause, where I render the Greek word, elpis, first as "expectation," then as "hope," and finally as "expectant hope," this latter phrase conflating the English ideas in the semantic range of the Greek word. Observe that the participle is in the present tense, and that I rendered it "normally holding," "presently having," and "habitually possessing."
Paul begins this verse by stating that he did not want or intend the Thessalonians
"to continue ignorant" (or, to be without gnosis - insightful knowledge) concerning "the dead."
Next he gave them a purpose clause,
"to the intent that YOU would not continue being pained, grieved or sad..."
Then he gives a contrasting example of those who DID continue being pained, grieved and sad concerning those who had died:
"according as even (or: just like also) the REST (those remaining [alive])."
Finally he explains who he meant by, "the REST":
"the folks normally holding no expectation."
Why were these folks
"not presently having hope,"
or
"not habitually possessing an expectant hope"?
Because either they had not heard the Good News, or they had not yet embraced the Gospel. Many would likely not have believed in an afterlife. Or, in this present life, they saw no hope for their future, in this life. They may have just presumed that their miserable lives would continue being miserable, until they died, and that would be the end for them. Hope was a concept that was foreign to them, it was not a part of their lives.
Paul definitely was not saying that "there was no hope" for these people! That would be contrary to the Gospel! He was contrasting "the REST" to those who, like these Thessalonians, had received hope and expectation through hearing and receiving the Good News of Christ, becoming alive from the previous dead condition (Eph. 2:1, 5, 6). The basis for our understanding of what Paul meant will be unpacked from the NT data, which follows:
Paul used the verb cognate in Acts 26:6-7,
"And yet now I stand being repeatedly (or: constantly) judged (or: put on trial) based upon [the] expectation (or: hope) of the promise having been birthed into our fathers (= ancestors) by God - unto which [promise] our twelve-tribed [people], constantly rendering sacred service in earnest perseverance night and day, is continuously hoping and expecting to attain. Concerning this expectation I am now being indicted (or: charged) by the Jews, O king." [cf Acts 28:20]
The coming of Israel's Messiah was the expectation to which he was referring. But of course, Paul knew that the coming of the Messiah also meant something more:
"Now Paul, knowing from personal experience that in the Sanhedrin (High Council) the one part (or: party) is of [the] Sadducees, yet the different part [is] of [the] Pharisees, suddenly cries out, 'Men! Brothers (= Fellow Jews)! I myself am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I myself am presently being judged (or: am now standing on trial) concerning [the] expectation - even [the] resurrection of dead people!'" (Acts 23:6)
You see, the Sadducees did not have this expectation, or hope. They had a different mind-set. They, like others, needed to change their thinking and frame of mind (e.g., Mat. 3:8, metanoia). In a different context, Paul used the verb in connection with his essay on Love (agape), in 1 Cor. 13:7,
"[Love] continuously covers all mankind; it is habitually loyal to all humanity; it constantly has an expectation for all mankind; it is continuously remaining under and giving support to all people. [cf 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:10] (or, since "all" can also be neuter: It [i.e., unambiguous acceptance] progressively puts a protecting roof over all things; it is habitually trusting in, and believing for, all things; it is continually hoping in or for all things; it keeps on patiently enduring all things.)"
Let us now consider a passage in Rom. 5, where Paul uses the noun:
2. through Whom, also, we have had and now hold the conducted approach, introduction and access (or: the act of bringing toward to gain entree), by [His] Faithfulness (or: in this trust; with that confidence; for loyalty and fidelity), into this Grace and joyous Favor within which we have stood, and in union with, and in the sphere of, which we now stand, and so we keep on celebrating, speaking loudly and boasting upon the basis of the expectation (or: about an expectant hope) of God's glory (or: of the manifestation from God which calls forth praise; from the splendor, which is God [in His Temple]; from God's good reputation; of God's assumed appearance; from the imagination of this God).... [cf Eph. 2:18; 3:12]
4. Yet the remaining and abiding under [produces] a quality of being approved by testing (examined and tested approval; a state of seeming to be fit for use, from having passed its testing); in turn, the quality of being approved by testing [produces] expectation and hope.
5. Now the expectation (or: this expectant hope) does not habitually bring down shame (disgrace; dishonor; thus: disappointment), because God's Love (the urge toward reunion and the unambiguous, uniting acceptance from God; God's giving of Himself to [us]; the Love, which is God,) has been poured out in a gush and shed forth so that it now floods within our hearts, permeating the core of our being, through [the] Set-apart Breath-effect (or: Holy Spirit; a Sacred Attitude) being given to us, in us, and for us. We have hope and an expectation because of God's Love gushing into us by the work of Christ, via His Spirit. Until we existentially experience rebirth (Jn. 3:7) in Christ, we do not possess hope or an expectation that is only in Him.
In Rom. 12:12 we find expectation as a part of our existence in Christ:
"In the sphere of, and with, this expectation (or: By the expectant, anticipating hope) [be] people continuously rejoicing; when enveloped within the pressure (squeezing; tribulation; compression; ordeals; oppression)..."
Rom. 15:13 gives us the expression, "the God of The Expectation (or: the God Who is this Expectation, and from the Hope)."
Visiting 1 Cor. 13, once again, we read Paul saying:
"So, at the present time, Trust (or: faith; loyalty; faithfulness), Expectation (or: expectant hope) [and] Love (unrestricted acceptance which overcomes existential separation - Paul Tillich) - these three - continue remaining and habitually dwell [with us], yet the greatest of these [is] the Love ([God's] urge toward unambiguous, accepting reunion - Tillich; self-giving - Rohr). You folks make haste to progressively run after and continuously pursue this Love!" (v. 13)
Let us now consider a verse that parallels Paul's statement in 1 Thes. 4:13, above. In Eph. 2:12-13a, we read:
"that (or: because) you were, and continued on being for that season (or: in that appointed situation), apart from Christ ([the] Anointed One): people having been alienated from the state of being a citizen (or: estranged from citizenship in the commonwealth and society; [cf Col. 1:21]) of, and which is, Israel and [being] strangers pertaining to the arrangements of (or: foreigners from covenants and testamentary dispositions whose origin is) The Promise and the pledged assurance, continually HAVING NO EXPECTATION (or: hope), and [were] folks without God (or: godless) within the ordered System (centered in the world of culture, religion and governments; or: in union with the aggregate of humanity). [cf Gal. 4:8]But NOW, within, in union with, and centered in, Christ Jesus..."
You see, those who presently "have no hope or expectation" are just like we were, before our union with Christ Jesus.
In Col. 1, Paul speaks of,
a) "the expectation (or: expectant hope) - the one deposited in you (continuously lying stored away as a reserve for you, and with you) - resident within, and in union with, the atmospheres (or: centered in the sphere of the heavens), which you folks previously heard within the Word..." (vs. 5)
b) "being ones having been provided with a foundation so as to continue grounded, even seated so as to be settled and stabilized folks, and not people being repeatedly moved elsewhere (shifted; removed; or, as a middle voice: shifting yourselves) away from the expectation (or: this expectant hope) pertaining to, belonging to and having its source in the message of ease, goodness and well-being (or: from, and which is, this Good News) of which you hear (or: heard)..." (vs. 23).
c) "Christ within you folks, the expectation of, and from, the glory..." (vs. 27).
Returning to 1 Thes., in 5:8 we find our word "expectation/hope" as a part of our spiritual armor:
"putting on (or: clothing ourselves with; enveloping ourselves in; entering within) a breastplate of faithfulness and Love (or: a thorax which is faith and trust, along with acceptance urging toward union; from fidelity and a giving of self) and, as a helmet, an expectation (or: expectant hope) from deliverance (which is health and wholeness; of rescue and being kept safe; pertaining to salvation)." [cf Eph. 6:10-17]
Thus, expectation is something which we possess, in Christ Jesus, as we find in 1 Tim. 1:1,
"an imposed arrangement from (an injunction of; a decree and charge set upon [me] pertaining to) God our Savior, even (or: and) from Christ Jesus, our Expectation (or: concerning the expectant Hope which belongs to us)."
This description clearly sets in view the reality of what Paul meant by "expectation," and "hope." Further reference to this is found in Titus 1:1b-3a,
Christ, our Expectation, is here now, and within Him we can live, and are moved, and we exist (Acts 17:28a). We have eonian life here and now. Titus 2:13 explains even more:
"being folks continuously receiving with welcoming focus, and granting access and admittance to, the happy expectation - even the full manifestation (the complete display in clear Light) of the Glory (or: which is the assumed Appearance) of, from, and which is, our great (eminent; extraordinary; outstanding) God and Deliverer (or: Savior; Rescuer): Jesus Christ ([the] Anointed Jesus)."
And then, in Titus 3:7,
"to the end that, being eschatologically delivered, rightwised, rectified, set in right relationship in the Way pointed out, and set in covenant participation - by and in the Grace and Favor of, from, and which is, That One - we would (could; should; may) come to be (or: be made to exist being) heirs (possessors and enjoyers of the allotment), corresponding to, in line with, and down from, and in the sphere of, an expectation (or: an expectant hope) which comes from, and is, eonian life (or: of life whose character and realm is the Age [of Messiah]; or: from "life of the new Aeon" - A. Nygren; or: which is life of, and for, the ages; of indefinite living existence in the ages)."
Turning now to other texts, and other NT writers, we have the following verses which speak of "hope," and "expectation":
Heb. 6:18-19a, "we - those fleeing to this sphere, for refuge and safety - may be constantly having (would keep on holding; can be continuously possessing) a strong consolation (or: calling alongside with relief, aid and encouragement; service of, and from, the Paraclete) to take hold of, strongly grasp and possess might from the prescribed and settled expectation (or: of this fixed, expectant hope) continuously lying in front of [us], on public display for all to see, which we continuously have (constantly hold; keep on possessing) as an anchor of, and pertaining to, the soul (or: from the inner life, being and consciousness)..."
Heb. 7:19, "yet, on the other hand, [This is] a Full and Precise Leading-in-upon (or: an additional bringing in into the midst; an introduction) of a Superior (stronger and better) Expectation (or: expectant hope) through which we are progressively drawing near to be at hand for, to, in, by, and with, God."
Next is 1 Pet. 1:3,
"Well-spoken of (or: Eulogized; Blessed; or: Well-gathered, laid-out with ease, and worthy of praise; or: One characterized by a Good Blueprint) [is] the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ (or: Who is our Owner, Jesus Christ), the One bringing us to birth again (regenerating us; begetting us back up again; causing us to be born again) - down from, dominated and impelled by, in line with, in correspondence to, to the degree of, and following the pattern of, His abundant Mercy (or: the much-existing, sympathizing and active compassion, which is Him; [cf Rom. 11:32]) - through means of Jesus Christ's resurrection forth from out of themidst of dead folks! [We are born again]: INTO a progressively living expectation (or: into the midst of continuously living hope)."
In 1:21, Peter joins the concept of trust (or: faith) with expectation, and in 3:15 speaks of, "the expectation within you folks." All of these witnesses present the same explanation of both the possession and the source of our expectation and expectant hope: Christ with us, and we within Christ.
Our final witness is 1 Jn. 3:3,
"So everyone, who in continuously having this expectation [placed; resting; set; based] (or: by habitually holding this expectant hope) upon Him is [by this] constantly (repeatedly; or: progressively) purifying himself..."
We have limited the interpretation of these texts in order to let the authors speak for themselves. But what has become manifest is that Expectation and Expectant Hope are both for the here and now as well as for the ages to come, for Heb. 13:8 instructs us that,
"Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday and today and on into the ages."
He will always be our hope, and our expectation.Those who are dead (Eph. 2:1) are incapable of having hope or an expectation, for one must be ALIVE in order to have any kind of outlook or mindset. On the natural plane of life, the homeless and the jobless are often of the mind that there is no hope for them, and their expectation is usually for only a continuation of their present situations. Only Christ manifest to them, and then living within them, can bring hope to them.
Jonathan
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