HOPE

Hope:  130 times in the Bible

Definition:  a strong and confident expectation

Hebrew : Tik.va;(#8615)  Hatikva is Israel's national anthem.  Read the English words at the end of this article.*

Greek: Elpis (#1680)expectation ( of evil or good)

Hope is mentioned only once in the Gospels (Luke).

“Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.”
-Alexander Pope,
An Essay on Man, Epistle I, 1733

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson

“I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars.”
― Stephenie Meyer, Twilight

“We dream to give ourselves hope. To stop dreaming - well, that’s like saying you can never change your fate.”
― Amy Tan, The Hundred Secret Senses

“It is often in the darkest
skies that we see the brightest stars.”
― Richard Evans

“Hold fast to dreams,
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird,
That cannot fly.”
― Langston Hughes

“I don't think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Walk on with hope in your heart,
and you'll never walk alone”
― Shah Rukh Khan

“Shoot for the moon, even if you fail, you'll land among the stars”
― Cecelia Ahern, P.S. I Love You

“It's the children the world almost breaks who grow up to save it.”
― Frank Warren

“They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.”
― Tom Bodett

The Hope Diamond is owned by the Smithsonian Museum, $250,000. 45.52 carats. The Hope Diamond, also known as "Le bleu de France" or "Le Bijou du Roi", is a large, 45.52-carat (9.10 g), deep-blue diamond, now housed in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. It is blue to the naked eye because of trace amounts of boron within its crystal structure, but exhibits red phosphorescence after exposure to ultraviolet light. It is classified as a Type IIb diamond, and is notorious for supposedly being cursed, although the current owner considers it a valuable asset with no reported problems associated with it. It has a long recorded history with few gaps in which it changed hands numerous times on its way from India to France to Britain and to the United States. It has been described as the "most famous diamond in the world".

Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life.
Despair is the opposite of hope.  Hope is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "looking forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence" or "feeling that something desired may happen". Other definitions are "to cherish a desire with anticipation"; "to desire with expectation of obtainment"; or "to expect with confidence". In the English language the word can be used as either a noun or a verb, although hope as a concept has a similar meaning in either use.^]

In Psychology:

Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson, Principal Investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab and Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, argues that hope "...comes into play when our circumstances are dire", when "things are not going well or at least there’s considerable uncertainty about how things will turn out". She states that "hope literally opens us up...and removes the blinders of fear and despair and allows us to see the big picture [, thus allowing us to become creative" and have "belief in a better future".

Philosopher Richard Rorty understands hope as more than goal setting. Hope assumes a metanarrative, a story that serves as a promise or reason for expecting a better future.

In Philosophy:

Alfred Adler said: “We cannot think, feel, will, or act without the perception of a goal.

Dr. Barbara Frederickson states that, “Because positive emotions arise in response to diffuse opportunities, rather than narrowly focused threats, positive emotions momentarily broaden people’s attention and thinking, enabling them to draw on higher-level connections and a wider-than-usual range of percepts or ideas through cognitive, psychology, physical, or social resources”. Frederickson is explaining hope in a moment of great need. With the sense of hope come positive emotions such as happiness and joy, courage, and empowerment. She describes these “positive emotions” as coming from four different areas of one’s self: from a cognitive, psychological, social, or physical perspective.

"Hope springs eternal" taken from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man, the phrase reading "Hope springs eternal in the human breast, Man never is, but always to be blest:" Another popular reference, "Hope is the thing with feathers," is from a poem by Emily Dickinson.

“Hope” in the Holy Bible means “a strong and confident expectation.” Though archaic today in modern terms, hope is akin to trust and a confident expectation". The author of the book of Romans, Paul the Apostle, argued that hope was a source of salvation for Christians. Romans 8:24-25 states "For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one also hope for what he sees?  But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it".

According to the Holman Bible Dictionary, hope is a "trustful expectation, particularly with reference to the fulfillment of God's promises. Hope, is the anticipation of a favorable outcome under God's guidance;... the confidence that what God has done for us in the past guarantees our participation in what God will do in the future.

The concept is considered one of the three theological virtues of the Christian religion. "Hope is an essential and fundamental element of Christian life, so essential indeed, that, like faith and love, it can itself designate the essence of Christianity".

• Faith - belief in God, and in the truth of His revelation as well as obedience to Him (cf. Rom 1:5:16:26)
• Hope - expectation of and desire of receiving; refraining from despair and capability of not giving up
• Charity - selfless, unconditional, and voluntary loving-kindness such as helping one's neighbours.

They occur in the Bible at 1 Corinthians 13:13:

"And now abideth faith, hope, and love, even these three: but the chiefest of these is love".

More than one vice can be the opposite of each theological virtue:

• Lack of faith may give place to incredulity (as in atheism and agnosticism), blasphemy or apostasy.
• Lack of hope may give place to despair or cynicism.
• Lack of love may give place to hatred, wrath or indifference.

Verses on Hope from the Bible:

Job 7:6

⁶ “My days fly faster than a weaver’s shuttle.
They end without hope.

 Job 14:7

⁷ “Even a tree has more hope!
If it is cut down, it will sprout again
and grow new branches.

Psalm 22:9

King James Version (KJV)

⁹ But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

Psalm 31:24

New Living Translation (NLT)

²⁴ So be strong and courageous,
all you who put your hope in the Lord!

Psalm 33:18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

Psalm 38:15

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ For in thee, O Lord, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God

Psalm 39:7

King James Version (KJV)

⁷ And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

Psalm 42:5,11; 43:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

 

Psalm 71:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.

Psalm 71:14

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁴ But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.

Psalm 119:49

King James Version (KJV)

⁴⁹ Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

Psalm 119:81

King James Version (KJV)

⁸¹ My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

Psalm 119:114

King James Version (KJV)

¹¹⁴ Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.

Psalm 119:116

King James Version (KJV)

¹¹⁶ Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

Psalm 130:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

Psalm 146:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

Psalm 147:11

King James Version (KJV)

¹¹ The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

Proverbs 10:28

King James Version (KJV)

²⁸ The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.

Proverbs 13:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Proverbs 14:32

King James Version (KJV)

³² The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.

Proverbs 29:20

King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

Ecclesiastes 9:4

King James Version (KJV)

⁴ For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.

Jeremiah 14:8

King James Version (KJV)

⁸ O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

Jeremiah 17:7

King James Version (KJV)

⁷ Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.

Jeremiah 17:17

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁷ Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil.

Lamentations 3:18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord:

Lamentations 3:26

King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Joel 3:16

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.

Zechariah 9:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee;

Acts 2:26

King James Version (KJV)

²⁶ Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

Acts 23:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

Acts 24:15

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Acts 26:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God, unto our fathers:

Acts 27:20

King James Version (KJV)

²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

Romans 4:18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

Romans 5:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 8:24-25

King James Version (KJV)

²⁴ For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

²⁵ But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Romans 12:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Romans 15:4

King James Version (KJV)

⁴ For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Romans 15:13

King James Version (KJV)

¹³ Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

1 Corinthians 9:10

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁰ Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

1 Corinthians 15:19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

2 Corinthians 3:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:

Ephesians 1:18

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁸ The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 2:12

King James Version (KJV)

¹² That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Colossians 1:5

King James Version (KJV)

⁵ For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

Colossians 1:23

King James Version (KJV)

²³ If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Colossians 1:27

King James Version (KJV)

²⁷ To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

1 Thessalonians 4:13

King James Version (KJV)

¹³ But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

1 Timothy 1:1

King James Version (KJV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

Titus 1:2

King James Version (KJV)

² In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Titus 2:13

King James Version (KJV)

¹³ Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Hebrews 3:6

King James Version (KJV)

⁶ But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Hebrews 6:19

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁹ Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

1 Peter 1:3

King James Version (KJV)

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

1 Peter 3:15

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

1 John 3:3

King James Version (KJV)

³ And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

*Hatikva (Israel's National Anthem)

As long as in the heart, within,
A Jewish soul still yearns,
And onward, towards the ends of the east,
An eye still looks toward Zion;
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.