In his commentary on Hebrews, Craig Koester offers the following translation
of Heb 11:1:
Now, faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen.
In his commentary, Koester offers the following discussion of ὑπόστασις
(“assurance”;
KJV: “substance”):
(a)
Objective sense: Assurance and What Is Hoped For. Hypostasis often referred to property, which was the material basis
that undergirded daily life, and it could be used for the title deed that
assured future possession of something (MM, 659-60; TLNT 3.423). In an objective sense “assurance” comes to people from
a source beyond themselves. Hebrews 11:1 could encourage dispossessed listeners
(10:32-34) to trust that faith was the “guarantee” (NJB) that they would
receive an eternal inheritance (cf. Luther, LuthW
29.230). Although the guarantee is finally God’s faithfulness rather than human
faith (10:23; 11:11). God gives that is promised to people of faith (6:12;
11:6, 7; cf. Roe, Wolke, 104-5).
Others who favor the objective sense stress
that hypostasis is the “reality” behind
appearances (Ps.-Aristotle, On the Cosmos
4 [395a]; Philo, Dreams 1.188; Eternity 88, 92) or the solid footing on
which one stands (Ps 69:2 [68:3 LXX]; cf. Pss.
Sol. 15:3). The Objective sense is also suggested by the parallel between hypostasis (“assurance”) and elenchos, which was the “proof” of something’s
existence or truth (Heb 11:1b; Attridge; Hamm, “Faith,” 278-79; Hegermann; H.W.
Hollander, EDNT 3.407; Lane;
Mengelle, “La estructura”; Thompson, Beginnings,
70-71). Some suggest that the object of one’s hope finds “realization” in faith
(NAB2; cf. Chrysostom), yet this is awkward since the object of faith remained
unrealized for people like Abraham (11:13, 39). More plausible is that Heb 11:1
uses metonymy, which defines something by what produced it (Rhet ad her. 4.32 §43; Attridge). Thus “faith
is the assurance” of what is hoped
for because what is hoped for produce assurance.
(b)
Subjective sense: Assurance and Faith. Luther and Tyndale took hypostasis to mean “sure confidence,” since
the LXX used it for “hope” (Ruth 1:19; Ezek 19:5; Dōrrie, “Υποστασις,” 89-91). There is little evidence
that hypostasis referred to a state
of mind (“being sure,” NIV), but it could indicate steadfastness. Soldiers
showed “the immovability of heir steadfastness [hypostasis]” in the face of death (Josephus, An. 18.24). Such “steadfastness” (hypostasis) is the “resolute endurance that comes from hope of
support” (Polybius, Histories
4.50.10; c. 6.55.2; Ps 39:7 [38:8 LXX]). Hebrews has connected “endurance” with
“faith” (10:36, 38) and now identifies faith (pistis) with the steadfast assurance (hypostasis) that is the opposite of "shrinking back” (hypostolē, 10:39) and “abandoning” (apostasies, 3:12). Israel’s ancestors
were “attested” (11:2) because of their steadfast reliance on what cannot be
seen (Rose, Wolke, 99-117; H.-F.
Weiss, Grässer; Bénétrau). (Craig R. Koester, Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary [AB 36;
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001], 472-73)
It is
interesting to note that, as with Koester and many others, Joseph Smith used “assurance”
in JST Heb 11:1.
