Hebrews 11:1

George Blaisdell maqhth at hotmail.com
Fri May 7 02:04:16 EDT 1999




>From: "Kevin L. Barney"

>I have several questions regarding Hebrews 11:1, which reads as follows:

>ESTIN DE PISTIS ELPIZOMENWN HUPOSTASIS PRAGMATWN ELEGXOS OU BLEPOMENWN.

>2.  Does PRAGMATWN belong with ELPIZOMENWN, BLEPOMENWN, or both?  Could it
>possibly have a stronger force than "things" here; maybe something like 
>"realities"?

>3.  My main question is whether HUPOSTASIS should be taken as "substance" 
>or "assurance" here.

>So does HUPOSTASIS in Hebrews 11:1 mean substance,
>real nature, essence, as in the KJV, or the foundation
>or ground of hope, confidence, assurance, as in the
>RSV

>Any thoughts on this?  Am I missing any evidence that is relevant to the 
>question?  And if the translation should be "substance,"
what is that supposed to mean?

Kevin ~

I've been mulling this one over, and noticed the very chiastic syntax of 
this little passage:

ESTIN DE PISTIS:

a]  ELPIZOMENWN
b]    UPOSTASIS
c]      PRAGMATWN
b']   ELEGCOS
a'] OU BLEPOMENWN

Notice the enclosing by participles of the whole of the definition [a and 
a'], and the participial center [c].  Faith is pragmatic and ongoing 
[present participles]!

Also notice the alternating progression of enclosures by threes ~ abc, bcb', 
cb'a'.

I have a hard time understanding faith as the 'substance' of matters unseen. 
  That would seem to make the object of faith into faith itself.  I don't 
think so...  But it is possible...

And it's still hard to translate!  So I don't know if this helps...



George Blaisdell
Roslyn, WA


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