Word study
Hope
9 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
In brief
Biblical hope is expectation, not a wish. The Greek elpis and its verb elpizō mean to look forward with confidence. The Hebrew words lean toward waiting: tiqvah, hope, comes from a word for a cord or line, and the verbs yahal and qavah mean to wait for. That is why the same Hebrew verb can be translated "hope" in one verse and "wait" in another.
Written and reviewed by our editorial team.
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: hope, hoping, hoped, hopes. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “hope” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- תִּקְוָה tiqvâhcordtranslated this way 31 times of its 34 uses · Strong’s H8615Noun · Translated: hope 28, cord 2, more hope 2, expectations 1Full study and all 33 verses →
Ruth 1:12 Return home, my daughters. Go on, for I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was hope for me to have a husband tonight and to bear sons,
Job 4:6 Is your reverence not your confidence, and the uprightness of your ways your hope?
- יָחַל yâchalwaittranslated this way 22 times of its 40 uses · Strong’s H3176Verb · Translated: hope 8, wait 8, Put your hope 5, put my hope 3Full study and all 40 verses →
Job 6:11 What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?
Psalm 31:24 Be strong and courageous, all you who hope in the LORD.
- קָוָה qâvâhwait fortranslated this way 10 times of its 48 uses · Strong’s H6960Verb · Translated: wait 20, hope 6, waited 4, hoped 3Full study and all 45 verses →
Job 6:19 The caravans of Tema look for water; the travelers of Sheba hope to find it.
Psalm 37:9 For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
- תּוֹחֶלֶת tôchelethhopetranslated this way 6 times of its 6 uses · Strong’s H8431Noun · Translated: hope 5, along with my hope 1Full study and all 6 verses →
Job 41:9 Surely hope of overcoming him is false. Is not the sight of him overwhelming?
Psalm 39:7 And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.
- מִקְוֶה miqvehhopetranslated this way 5 times of its 12 uses · Strong’s H4723Noun · Translated: hope 5, Kue 4, gathering 1, reservoirs 1Full study and all 10 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
Ezra 10:2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
- מַבָּט mabbâṭexpectationtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H4007Noun · Translated: hope 2, source of hope 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Isaiah 20:5 Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
Zechariah 9:5 Ashkelon will see and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, as will Ekron, for her hope will wither. There will cease to be a king in Gaza, and Ashkelon will be uninhabited.
- הָבַל hâbalact emptily, become vaintranslated this way 2 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H1891Verb · Translated: became worthless 2, false hope 1, filling you with false hopes 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Psalm 62:10 Place no trust in extortion or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
Jeremiah 23:16 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are filling you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.
- שֵׂבֶר sêberhopetranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H7664Noun · Translated: hope 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Psalm 119:116 Sustain me as You promised, that I may live; let me not be ashamed of my hope.
Psalm 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
- שָׂבַר sâbarinspect, examinetranslated this way 2 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s H7663Verb · Translated: wait 2, inspected 2, look 2, hoped 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Esther 9:1 On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, the king’s command and edict were to be executed. On this day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, but their plan was overturned and the Jews overpowered those who hated them.
Isaiah 38:18 For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἐλπίς elpíshope, expectationtranslated this way 51 times of its 52 uses · Strong’s G1680Noun · Translated: hope 51, expect 1Full study and all 48 verses →
Acts 2:26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell in hope,
Romans 4:18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
- ἐλπίζω elpízōI hope, hope for, expecttranslated this way 26 times of its 31 uses · Strong’s G1679Verb · Translated: hope 13, put their hope 4, hoping 4, hopes 2Full study and all 31 verses →
Matthew 12:21 In His name the nations will put their hope.”
Luke 23:8 When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased. He had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had heard about Him and was hoping to see Him perform a miracle.
- εἰ eiiftranslated this way 2 times of its 441 uses · Strong’s G1487Conjunction · Translated: if 318, except 38, only 13, but 11Full study and all 415 verses →
Acts 27:12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided to sail on, hoping that somehow they could reach Phoenix to winter there. Phoenix was a harbor in Crete facing both southwest and northwest.
Romans 11:14 in the hope that I may provoke my own people to jealousy and save some of them.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about hope: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.