I. The Philological Expression of Faith
The verb ‘to believe’ in the Authorized Version of the Old Testament uniformly represents the Hebrew ֶה ֱאִמ ין, Hiphil of ָא ַמ ן, except, of course, in Dan. 6:23 where it represents the corresponding Aramaic form. The root, which is widely spread among the Semitic tongues, and which in the word ‘Amen’ has been adopted into every language spoken by Christian, Jew, or Mohammedan, seems everywhere to convey the fundamental ideas of ‘fixedness, stability, steadfastness, reliability.’ What the ultimate conception is which underlies these ideas remains somewhat doubtful, but it would appear to be rather that of ‘holding’ than that of ‘supporting’ (although this last is the sense adopted in “Oxf. Heb. Lex.”). In the simple species the verb receives both transitive and intransitive vocalization. With intransitive vocalization it means ‘to be firm,’ ‘to be secure,’ ‘to be faithful,’ and occurs in biblical Hebrew only in the past participle, designating those who are ‘faithful’ (2 Sam. 20:19, Ps. 12:1, 31:23). With transitive vocalization it occurs in biblical Hebrew only in a very specialized application, conveying the idea, whether as participle or verbal noun, of ‘caretaking’ or ‘nursing’ (2 Kings 10:1, 5, Est. 2:7, Ru. 4:16, 2 Sam. 4:4, Num. 11:12, Isa. 49:23, Lam. 4:5; cf. 2 Kings 18:16 ‘pillars’ and [the Niphal] Isa. 60:4), the implication in which seems to be that of ‘holding,’ ‘bearing,’ ‘carrying.’ The Niphal occurs once as the passive of transitive Qal (Isa. 60:4): elsewhere it is formed from intransitive Qal, and is used very much in the same sense. Whatever holds, is steady, or can be depended upon, whether a wall which securely holds a nail (Isa. 22:23, 25), or a brook which does not fail (Jer. 15:18), or a kingdom which is firmly established (2 Sam. 7:16), or an assertion which has been verified (Gen. 42:20), or a covenant which endures for ever (Ps. 89:28), or a heart found faithful (Neh. 9:8), or a man who can be trusted (Neh. 13:13), or God Himself who keeps covenant (Deut. 7:9), is ֶנֱאָמ ו. The Hiphil occurs in one passage in the primary-physical sense of the root (Job 39:24). Elsewhere it bears constantly the sense of ‘to trust,’ weakening down to the simple ‘to believe’ (Ex. 4:31, Ps. 116:10, Isa. 7:9, 28:16, Hab. 1:5). Obviously it is a subjective causative, and expresses the acquisition or exhibition of the firmness, security, reliability, faithfulness which lies in the root-meaning of the verb, in or with respect to its object. The ַמ ֲאִמ יןis therefore one whose state of mind is free from faintheartedness (Isa. 7:9) and anxious haste (Isa. 28:16), and who stays himself upon the object of his contemplation with confidence and trust. The implication seems to be, not so much that of a passive dependence as of a vigorous active commitment. He who, in the Hebrew sense, exercises faith, is secure, assured, confident (Deut. 28:66, Job 24:22, Ps. 27:13), and lays hold of the object of his confidence with firm trust.
The most common construction of ֶה ֱאִמ יןis with the preposition ב, and in this construction its fundamental meaning seems to be most fully expressed. It is probably never safe to represent this phrase by the simple ‘believe’; the preposition rather introduces the person or thing in which one believes, or on which one believingly rests as on firm ground. This is true even when the object of the affection is a thing, whether divine words, commandments, or works (Ps. 106:12, 119:66, 78:32), or some earthly force or good (Job 39:12, 15:31, 24:22, Deut. 28:66). It is no less true when the object is a person, human (1 Sam. 27:12, Prov. 26:25, Jer. 12:6, Mic. 7:5) or superhuman (Job 4:18, 15:15), or the representative of God, in whom therefore men should place their confidence (Ex. 19:9, 2 Chron. 20:20). It is above all true, however, when the object of the affection is God Himself, and that indifferently whether or not the special exercise of faith adverted to is rooted in a specific occasion (Gen. 15:6, Ex. 14:31, Num. 14:11, 20:12, Deut. 1:32, 2 Kings 17:14, 2 Chron. 20:20, Ps. 78:22, Jon. 3:5). The weaker conception of ‘believing’ seems, on the other hand, to lie in the construction with the preposition ל, which appears to introduce the person or thing, not on which one confidingly rests, but to the testimony of which one assentingly turns. This credence may be given by the simple to every untested word (Prov. 14:15); it may be withheld until seeing takes the place of believing (1 Kings 10:7, 2 Chron. 9:6); it is due to words of the Lord and of His messengers, as well as to the signs wrought by them (Ps. 106:24, Isa. 53:1, Ex. 4:8, 9). It may also be withheld from any human speaker (Gen. 45:26, Ex. 4:1, 8, Jer. 40:14, 2 Chron. 32:15), but is the right of God when He bears witness to His majesty or makes promises to His people (Isa. 43:10, Deut. 9:23). In this weakened sense of the word the proposition believed is sometimes attached to it by the conjunction ( ִּכ יEx. 4:5, Job 9:16, Lam. 4:12). In its construction with the infinitive, however, its deeper meaning comes out more strongly (Judg. 11:20, Job 15:22, Ps. 27:13), and the same is true when the verb is used absolutely (Ex. 4:31, Isa. 7:9, 28:16, Ps. 116:10, Job 29:24, Hab. 1:5). In these constructions faith is evidently the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.