ὑπόστασις hupostasis lit.
that which stands under something. KJV “substance” is the Latin-derived
equivalent, and comes from the Vulgate’s sperandarum substantia rerum substance
of things hoped for. In classical GR, ὑπόστασις hupostasis is used
concretely for that which stands beneath something, thus forming its basis. So,
for example, the ground under water on which one can get a foothold is ὑπόστασις
hupostasis. From this basic conception the word came to have a wide
variety of meanings, from the value of property (ie its economic basis) to the
sidereal hour of one’s birth (life’s starting point). From here the word came
to have reference to concrete reality, that which is permanently constituted.
Therefore, thought and appearance were thought to have existence,
but not reality (ὑπόστασις hupostasis). In the LXX the word was used
about 20 times to render a wide variety of HEB terms, such as maamad (ground
under water on which one can stand, Ps. 68:3), yequm (living being, Dt.
11:6), cheled (duration of life, Ps. 38:6, 88:48), michyah (food,
sustenance, Judg. 6:4), kenaah (load, pack, Jer. 10:17), matstsab (outpost,
1 Sam. 14:4), matstsebah (pillar, Ez. 26:11), tekunah (arrangement
Ez. 43:11), sod (council, group of intimates, Jer. 23:22), massa (burden,
Dt. 1:12), tochelet (expectation, hope, Ps. 38:3), tiqwah (hope,
Ez. 19:5). There is a fundamental split among scholars as to whether the word
should be understood in an objective or subjective sense in this passage. The
objective sense is that represented by the KJV, and understands the word as it
was used by GR philosophers, as the ground of reality: “Faith gives substance
to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we do not see” (NEB); “In faith
things hoped for become realized, or things hoped for take on reality” (BDAG).
The subjective sense (“sure confidence”) was favored by Luther and Tyndale, based
on some of the LXX usages for HEB terms meaning “hope,” and is reflected in the
RSV’s “assurance”: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of
what we do not see” (NIV); “Human faith doesn’t create the reality of things
hoped for; unseen realities have independent and objective validity. Faith
gives us assurance, evidence, etc.” (Interpreter’s Bible). In other
words, is faith the reality of things hoped for/not seen (as in Plato’s world
of ideas), or is faith a sure confidence we have in things hoped for/not seen
(which have their own, objective reality)? The JST changes “substance” to
“assurance,” as does the RSV, which may suggest that the subjective
interpretation is the preferable one. In any event, the definition is not meant
to be comprehensive, but to advance the author’s argument. (Kevin L. Barney, “The
Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews,” in Footnotes to the New
Testament for Latter-day Saints, ed. Kevin L. Barney, 2 vols. [2007], 2:322
n. a)
